Purpose Driven Ministries

[Doddles]

Well their is an expectant air in the church and I am looking forward to kicking off the first home group on Monday 27th - but alas I had hoped to come on the forum and read of others experiences & tips but my post is all alone - anyone out there care to enlighten me on what to expect as far as group reactions to the videos / discussion. Ta
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The lifting of both hands whilst singing praise songs on your motorcycle may constitute a health hazard.

[Stuart]

Hello Doddles!
Yes this is a BRAND NEW forum. We are looking to get the discussion and feedback started and this is a good place to start.
Our church ran 40 Days of Purpose in the first campaign a couple of years ago. We used all the tools and by the end of the journey saw significant change in the lives of many people in the church. There was some concern about watching a DVD or Video for the teaching aspect in the small groups, but there is a real positive in this. YOU CAN DISAGREE WITH THE LEADER! We found that people were more willing to say they weren't sure they agreed with what was said because 'Rick" wouldn't be offended. This meant discussion got much more real much more quickly. If you have a person lead the group (live) people are probably less likely ot really debate and discuss what was said. The other thing is that Rick is a fantastic communicator which overcomes the 'American' accent 'thing' with ease. People just don't care that he is an American on DVD!! As you will see I am one of the Moderators and we help facilitate these campaigns across the region. I can tell you that the average growth in Small Group attendance within churches during the campaign was well over 200% - so expect lots of new groups!
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Stuart Duncan
CEO Purpose Driven Ministries
AUSTRALASIA

[Doddles]

well we made it through the first night and I thought I'd pass on some tips.....

· Watch the video and read the front & back sections of the study guide before hand
· After the connect session hand out the study guides - and have enough pens available for everyone
· After the video read the verse together and then give them the keyring and let them thread this weeks verse on - interacting with it gives them more chance to read & re-read
· Have some supper available that is suitable for diabetics
· Have some spare bibles out and if your really good have a post it note at Eccles 1 [week1] (I meant to do this one but ran out of time)
· As some people may not have had access to Rick's book you may need to set that day as Day 1 in your reading plan
· We set a start time of 7:30 and a must finish time of 9:30 - we were done by 9:25
· We had supper whilst discussing the video
· We gave everyone a copy of the contact list for the group as soon as all the details were added
· Have a member of your group that owns their own cake shop so you get really yummy desserts (oops - looks like I've got the market cornered on that one)

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The lifting of both hands whilst singing praise songs on your motorcycle may constitute a health hazard.