bride and prejudiced, week three: love the one you're with

hey gang - thanks again for being involved in the sermon review team. as we wind up our conversation on the bride of christ, i'd like you all to reflect on the following themes:

#1 now that we've heard three weeks, a complete series, on the metaphor how has god shaped and changed your understanding of him? of your relationship to him? of our [the church's] relationship to him?

#2 week 3 took a turn from weeks 1 and 2. how did that shift - from critique and commentary to vision and direction - affect your perception on the whole series? were you personally challenged by what a missional/incarnational church should be? do you feel like you understand "mission" and "incarnation" better because of the talk? what tools do you need to be able to be more missional, or more incarnational? and, are you willing to just go ahead and try without those tools until they are supplied?

#3 putting yourself in my shoes for a moment, what themes/ideas from this series do you think need to be reiterated? and how? i.e. what lessons have we only partially learned here, and how can we better lead our whole church into that understanding?

ok - thanks everyone. i look forwards to hearing from you all!

- dave

bride and prejudiced week two: flirting with other lovers

hey gang - here are the first set of questions i'd like us all to respond to in regards to our bridge and prejudiced series:

#1 how accurate do you feel the portrayal of "the church" is in the series? is it too harsh, or too gentle, in your opinion/experience? and, do you feel like the graphic of "the bride" that we're using for the series art enhances or detracts from the truth/validity of the series?

#2 when we consider the two weeks' talks together, what themes do you begin to see emerging within the series' context? i.e. is there some thematic overlap from week 1 to week 2, and - if so - what do you think it is? in addition, what do you think god is teaching you about how you're a part of the church/bride?

#3 when we speak of the various temptations faced by the bride, which one do you think westwinds [in particular] needs to be most wary of? was there one that resonated for you personally?

#4 if you could wave a magic wand and get whatever you wished for, how would the series wrap up in week three?

ok - thanks everyone for your input!

david

PrayGround

PrayGround

first off, let me say thanks for agreeing to be a part of our team. on our last go-around we had a lot of fun and made some good friendships, while - of course - discussing some very important issues about theological direction, narrative style, and ministry philosophy. i would like to take this early opportunity to try and frame the purpose of the sermon review team through a couple of simple positive and negative statements, so we're all clear about the kind of discussion in which we'll be involved. while some of this may seem a bit obvious, please try and bear in mind that it is important for us to all have the same expectations in order for conversation to flow smoothly.

so,

the sermon review team is NOT:

a. an opportunity to criticize the westwinds community or the westwinds leadership. neither is it really a chance to 'speak openly' about the parts of either my sermons or my personality that you don't like [please realize, i never feel the need to mention this; but, when i neglect to do so i invariably regret that neglect :) ]

b. a forum for comparison, either of westwinds to its past-self or of westwinds to another church. those are conversations that are rarely constructive, and typically one-sided.

c. a place where etiquette and character can be undervalued. despite the majority of our conversation being online - which often leads to uninhibited dialogue/criticism - we must always remember that the people on the other end of the monitor/keyboard are human beings with real feelings, fears, and expectations; so, our conversation must always be managed in such a way as to speak honestly and truthfully without being caustic or hurtful.

the sermon review team IS

a. a place to dialogue constructively about how best to communicate the life-giving message of jesus christ to our ever-changing culture

b. a place for feedback and comment about the clarity and accuracy of our theological underpinnings and direction

c. a place for us to learn from one another, sharing openly and vulnerably without any "fixing" or "saving" or "tough loving"

d. direct one-to-one access to coriolis and our future plans and dreams for westwinds. in many ways, it is teams like this one that best help randy, jvo, and myself keep the pulse of westwinds; so, there is a lot of room here for your opinions and prayerful suggestions.

we will offically begin by having breakfast on saturday morning, september 23 at my home [5580 slayton road] at 8:30am. our online conversation will begin the week following the september 23/24 fusions through my website prayground.tv. when we get together at my house for breakfast, i'll give you all a demonstration about how the online component will work. it's fairly easy, so don't worry, and you can explore the website by going to http://www.prayground.tv

if you would like to reply to this email, please remember to hit "reply all" instead of just "reply." in fact, this is a good rule of thumb for all of our conversations in this cohort so that everyone gets every email and can stay up to date with the group discussion.

again, thanks very much to all of you for agreeing to participate. please feel free to contact me personally with any questions via email [david.mcdonald@westwinds.org] or telephone [936-9546].

cheers!

David McDonald, Coriolis: Narrative

Westwinds Community Church