Allen Kleine Deters

I have struggled with this whole Christian Day school issue since my kids were small. They've attended about half and half of their school careers. Without getting too deep into it, I see inherent problems with the current state of most Christian school philosophies especially when it comes to the mission of the church to the world around it.
I have watched parents abdicate their responsibilities to Deut 6:6-9 and leave it up to the school to educate. I've seen many schools try to play the role of the church by using church curriculum. And there is an issue at hand of parents having to scrape every dime together to pay for Christian ed at the detriment of tithing to the ministry of the church which is first and foremost.
I do not believe that sending your children to Christian school should be a requirement for serving in office. Anyone who says so is reading much more into "ruling your household well" than Paul ever intended.

Just came across this resource recently.  I've been reading M. Scott Boren's blog lately and happened upon this gem.  If you are not familiar with his two books, Missional Small Groups and one he cowrote Introducing the Missional Church, get them and read them.  They are exceptionally valuable.

Here's the gem.  Scott has a website of FREE stuff including video teaching via You Tube.  If you have Real Player Pro and something similar with the ability to capture online video you're set to burn them to DVD for your groups.  And Scott gives permission to do this.  

A couple of great studies to check out are The Journey Together: Training Groups for Effective Group Life.  This study is not just training for leaders but the whole group.  It is an excellent study for a new group.  It's similar to Zondervan's ReGroup: Teaching groups to be groups, but is more extensive.  Each person brings something different, both good and bad, to the group.  The Journey Together helps the whole group understand its function and dysfunctions and how to work together.

Another study goes along with the book Missional Small Groups and leads the group toward a more practical understanding and commitment to making a difference in one another's lives and their community.

Here's the link to the FREE stuff on the site. Click Here

Free awesome curriculum?  Who can pass that up?

Enjoy!

I Tweet and Facebook. Those are my main social networks where I have actually done ministry with other people in my congregation and friends. I mainly use Twitter for colleagues in ministry across denom lines, but I do follow some interests such as homebrewing, cooking and music.
I have learned about online webinars and valuable resources that I would have otherwise missed.
Social networking is not for everyone, especially the less computer and internet savvy who would most likely find it an infringement on their time.
For me it is part of my ministry tool set.

thanks Jane,

Just ordered them.  They look great.

Allen

I'm not sure about this new hymnal.  I understand that there are many established churches out there who will dole out the cash for them because that's what you do.  But I'm not sure our church will go for it -- I'd be surprised if they did.  We have a ton of music available through the old hymnal, supplements and lots of CCLI stuff.  I can hear people saying they'd rather put their $$ toward local mission.

I agree completely. I have always felt that way and it disturbed me greatly when church members would say they tithing currently goes to Christian school but will change when their kids are out. I'm not sure why people think that Christian school is the extension of the church's ministry, because it is not. As a church we may support the school as important for a healthy world and life view in our child's education, but it is not meant to replace the teaching ministry of the church or the home.

Along with this, I think Christian schools should stop using curriculum meant for the church as part of their teaching curriculum, especially in religion and Bible classes. This was a thorn in my flesh when I was a youth pastor. It is not the schools responsibility to do the church's job.

WOW, how did it take me this long to read this post?  My apologies livingcrc.

If you read my blogs in this section of the CRC Network, you will certainly find that I believe very strongly that the the primary calling of the church is to make disciples who partner with God in his mission to redeem the world.  Of course the primary calling of the pastor is to equip the saints to works of ministry.  But as a pastor I very much believe that part of the equipping is discipling others.  But of course we must all primarily work within our giftings, that is to say discipling another person(s) may not be our passion, but it is still a calling for all Christians.

I am always mentoring one or two people at different levels in their discipleship journey.  I believe that every small group plays a part in the discipling process for every member in the congregation because everyone must be a disciple.  Too many people are locked into a "Bible Study" and know a lot about the Bible but have never lead someone to Christ nor ventured into  serving outside of their comfort zone or the four walls of the church.  I do not believe that is partnering in the mission of God.  So yes, I am out their doing it and modeling it for my congregation.... as best I can.

BTW, did those elders get the groups going?  Be sure to look at the resources on the small group page here for articles on starting groups, coaching leaders etc.

Let me know if there is a particular resource you are looking for.

Certainly.  Now that I am a Network guide, I will check it a number of times during the week.

:-)