Saturday, November 01, 2014

Our Most Effective Spiritual Growth Model by Kingswood's Pulse


Why We Do Pulse, Pulse Groups, & Bands?

We care about spiritual growth in and beyond the classroom and church service doors
We care deeply about holistic Spiritual Growth & Transformation
We care deeply about our student experiences resembling and transferring as closely as possible to their regular church life experiences beyond school.

There's an abundance of research  Consistent Spiritual Growth Model Through The Centuries Of Large Group Meetings & Small Group Meetings and an Intimate Inner Circle.
 
Bands- (2-4 students) Our Bands function as core accountability and key to spiritual growth, transformation, and vulnerability in deep relationships. [1]

Band Accountability Questions-  There are common accountability themes discussed in weekly groups of this nature including Scripture, Sin, Evangelism, & Prayer.

Groups- (6-8 students) Our Pulse Groups meet semi-regularly on Wednesdays for in-house discussion and serve alongside each other together out in the community and have 1-2 small group leaders that help to facilitate, lead, and pastor this group.

Pulse- (150ish students) Our Large Group Active Gathering around having a Christlike Head, Hands, Heart, & Habits

Monthly Band Accountability Resources (for 6 months)
Month 1 Handout - The Power of Partnership to Overcome Porn
Band Group Accountability Regular Focuses:
Sin (Confession/Transparency/Communication)
Bible (Personal Reading/Discussion)
Evangelism (Prayerful Opportunities/Sharing)
Prayer ()

Why Lack Of Accountability In These Areas Matters:
Pulse Meetings
Pulse Groups
Bands

A Monthly Tip On Accountability
·      Why: (it matters in leadership)

·      How: (tos)

·      What: (Curriculum or Not?) 

What is Discipleship?
How do you know when you're a disciple, discipling someone, or have discipled or been discipled?  When are you confident you know how or can do it?

What is Evangelism?

End questions of do I know how or have I done it?  Do I know how to Lead effectively?  Pour In Effectively?  Have I done it?  feel confident I can?
Done it.  Confidently/Willing.  Approved.  (...Called Resilience)


Here is a quote from this Article:

It is not alarmist to say that this problem is everywhere. It’s a grim fact.

Last week I spoke at a high school conference for Christian schools. One of the things I like to do to show the teachers and other adults just how essential it is to provide teens with the truth about pornography is to hold an open forum—let the students write down any and all questions they have about the topic and submit them to be answered. Every time, teachers are shocked by what the students are asking as they realize just how far this menace has spread and how badly it has infected our schools.

At the last conference, for example, I had a fourteen-year-old girl ask me what girls should do when their boyfriends pressure them into anal sex (hugely popular in mainstream porn right now.) I had teen boys asking me how to deal with their masturbation problems. I was asked why porn sites were so addicting. I was asked by one girl why so many boys were demanding oral sex. And I was even asked questions about bestiality in porn, questions I even had a hard time believing teens of that age could be asking. 

The World's Simplest Tools for Making Discipleship
4 Features of a Healthy Mentoring Relationship

Some examples of John Wesley's Band Practices and Beliefs:

Wesley believed that spiritual formation was fostered as persons of the same gender met in small groups of five to eight members. The purpose of the weekly band meeting was for testimony and mutual examination. Particular attention was given to overcoming personal faults and achieving a sense of forgiveness and peace with God.[1]

The idea of a weekly class meeting dates back to 1742.[2]

Wesley’s own spiritual pilgrimage had compelled him to seek and/or establish an atmosphere conducive to the cultivation of the inner life. Although he had been a frequent participant in the Religious Societies, they frustrated him by their lack of opportunity to bare one’s soul, to share ones’ spiritual struggles in a secure and accepting group.[3]

This method of “watching over one another in love” was the foundation, the bedrock, of Wesleyan discipleship. One of the most powerful ways that God’s Spirit moved within the early Methodist movement was through this system of small group accountability and support for holiness of heart and life.[4]

The role of “Class Leader” was not to be taken lightly. A few examples of the expectations of the leaders[5]:

  • ·      Clear and sound religious experience
  • ·      He should aim to make himself a master of theology
  • ·      He should seek to know the spiritual dangers to which his members are specially liable.
  • ·      He should continue faithful, earnest, living to God and urge members to advance in the divine life.





[1] Harper, Steve. Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition: A Workbook. Nashville, TN.: Upper Room, 1995, p. 130.

[2] Watson, David Lowes. Covenant Discipleship: Christian Formation through Mutual Accountability. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1998, p. 43.

[3] Henderson, D. Michael. John Wesley's Class Meeting: A Model for Making Disciples. Nappanee, IN: Evangel Pub. House, 1997, p. 65.

[4] Watson, Kevin M. A Blueprint for Discipleship: Wesley's General Rules as a Guide for Christian Living. Nashville, TN: Discipleship Resources, 2009, p. 106.

[5] Watson, David Lowes. The Early Methodist Class Meeting. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1985, p. 103, 104.