WELCOME!The Practice Discipleship Initiative

September 11, 2014

Introducing…

Dawn TrautmanLutheranLifeCoach.com

Practice Discipleship InitiativeLeadership Development for the sake of Faith Formation

“FRAME”

1. “Framing Life Biblically”

2. “Framing Youth”

3. “Framing Failure with Forgiveness”

4. “Framing Christian Community”

5. “Framing the Vision: Seeing Things New”

6. “Framing the Path: Practicing Things New”

Introducing…

Rev. Josh GraberMission Developer, ALT Yearaltyear.org

Framing Christian Community

FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

SESSION DESCRIPTION:

This lesson will present a way of walking alongside individual young people, communities and families as we help them frame their lives by learning through relationships with surrounding community, learning from an intentional community and learning about yourself through community. We will explore practices of faith that help us frame our lives in solitude and in community.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

OVERVIEW AND FOCUS

This lesson will introduce tools to help participants re-imagine Christian community through deepening an understanding of self and discovery of the gifts revealed in Christian community.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1) Exploring how we live out Lutheran identity with the world.

2) Introducing of tools for self-reflection and honoring those we meet, so that we may be more fully in relationship with them.

3) Understanding the art of listening carefully to another person’s story is counter-cultural and strengthens Christian community.

4) Introducing practices that help us see Luther’s “priesthood of all believers”, by drawing out the abundance of faith practices, gifts, and wisdom already present within our communities.

THE SIMPLEST EXERCISES CAN BE THE BEST TEACHING TOOLS

AFTER THIS PD SESSION:

***Math accuracy not guaranteed.

*Improvement in flexibility and karate skills not guaranteed.

**Studies show that 60% of the time, the crane kick works every time.

REV. JOSHUA GRABERMISSION DEVELOPER FOR ALT YEAR

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

ABUNDANT LIFE TOGETHER IS SHAPED AND GUIDED BY THE FOLLOWING CORE VALUES:

Young Adults: we value the strengths, energy, and questions young adults (age 18-25) bring to God’s ongoing activity in the world.

Cultivating Faith: we are inspired by the joys and challenges of a relationship with Jesus that leads us into an adventure of faith given through the gift of the gospel.

Courageous Experimentation: we promote creativity, curiosity, critical reflection, and proactive initiative as a way of living out discipleship at the intersection of church and culture.

Abundant Community: we value the wisdom and gifts discovered through relationships and collaboration between the host communities, ALT participants, and local congregations, bringing people together of different generations, cultures, and life-experiences.

Vital Partnerships: we value the community and mutuality that forms when trust and respect permeate our relationships with each other and with the local and larger church, allowing for growth, learning, and transformation.

ABUNDANT LIFE

TOGETHER

PURPOSE STATEMENT OF ALT:

As a ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,

Abundant Life Together provides young adults with a year apart in intentional community to explore vocation through theological, practical, and shared learning that transforms communities as participants grow together through personal reflection, rich relationships, leadership, and service.

WHAT DOES “LUTHER” MEAN TO YOU?

A CHURCH CALLED “FREE”

FREED

OM

! For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

AB

UN

DA

NT L

IFE I came that

they might have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

TO

GETH

ER

Community living at the Intersection of Church and Culture.

Free to invite others into Abundant Life Together.

SO WHY LEARN A SMART WORD LIKE “RHETORIC”?

The art of interpreting and persuading.

Those that know how to communicate and care about their audience will have a better chance at persuading them, but rhetoric is also about honoring the other and listening to them.

This is a lost art and is extremely counter-cultural in the ethnically and economically separated, red-blue, us vs. them America of older generations, but youth and young adults understand this concept and are ready for this concept.

EXAMPLE OF RHETORIC IN ACTION

TECUMSEH AND HIS MEETING WITH GENERAL HARRISON

THE MAGICAL RHETORICAL TRIANGLE

A tool for

attentive

meetings and

relationships

EXPERIENCES RELATIONSHIPS

CULTURES/COMMUNITIES

TRADITIONS

MEETINGANOTHER PERSON

CONTEXT

LET’S SHARE SOME OF OUR STORY.DON’T LOOK HERE! LOOK AT THE FEED!

Share Cultures/Communities/Traditions that shape your lens on life and the world.

Share Experiences and Relationships that have changed your life and perspective.

Share the places and setting for this conversation for you [Location, Current Events in Your Life and in the World]

Note whether anyone’s offerings make your curious or interested in hearing more of their stories

COMMON CULTURES/COMMUNITIES/TRADITIONS

Some assumptions:

Mostly U.S. Residents

Christian

Lutheranism

Familiarity with church culture

COMMUNITIES, CULTURES, TRADITIONS THAT

SHAPE THE WAY WE SEE THE WORLD

1977-78 Holden Village Winter

Community

THE MAGICAL RHETORICAL TRIANGLE

A tool for

attentive

meetings and

relationships

EXPERIENCES RELATIONSHIPS

CULTURES/COMMUNITIES

TRADITIONS

MEETINGANOTHER PERSON

CONTEXT

EXPERIENCES AND RELATIONSHIPS THAT CHANGE THE

WAY WE SEE THE WORLD AND OUR CALLS.

Tombotsoa School

Antsirabe, Madagascar

Media Village,

Cape Town,

South Africa

Visits to unique young adult

communities in Europe, Africa,

and U.S. helped Josh

understand his calling to start

ALT Year.

AN EXPERIENCE THAT CHANGED AMERICAN CULTURE AND THE WAY WE LIVE OUR LIVES

THE MAGICAL RHETORICAL TRIANGLE

A tool for

attentive

meetings and

relationships

EXPERIENCES RELATIONSHIPS

CULTURES/COMMUNITIES

TRADITIONS

MEETINGANOTHER PERSON

CONTEXT

THE CHALLENGE OF MEETING

What are some of the things that get in the way when we

meet someone new or different

than we are ?

OUR CHRISTIAN CONTEXT FOR MEETING SOMEONE NEW IS HOLY GROUND!We are FREED to meet new people

and this can be a liberating experience for them, and a reminder of the gospel message for us and them.

This place of meeting is where we have an opportunity to celebrate the uniqueness of the other, remembering that Paul in Ephesians calls us God’s “masterpieces” (NLT) and that Jesus says, “wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Mt: 18:20).

BEYOND “LET’S GET COFFEE”

Relational Meetings

Congregation-Based Community Organizing

Questions that stir the soul, unmask the real person, unveil passions, creates new ideas, connections, and possibilities.

The Holy Spirit works through the sharing of our stories to reveal God at work in our lives in the past, present, and future. We are all WITNESSES!

RELATIONAL MEETING QUESTIONS

1) What’s a moment in your life where you felt God’s presence?

2) What are some of your hobbies? Do any of them connect with your faith or your understanding of God?

3) What’s a scripture passage that has spoken to you in your life? Why?

4) Do you think of yourself as a creative person? Do you want to be?

5) Are you free? What holds you back?/How do you remind yourself you are free?

6) What’s a moment when you questioned God’s presence?

7) When do you hear the voice of Jesus in your life? How do you experience the love of God in your life?

HOW CAN YOU CREATE A VENUE FOR THESE PEOPLE

TO SHARE OUR STORIES AND PERSPECTIVES WITH EACH

OTHER AS COMMUNITY (PRACTICE WITNESS)?

A blog, website….

A church service…

An education hour series…

A Lenten series…

A youth group session…

Video interviews after an initial one-to-one…shared in church,

YouTube, etc..

EXAMPLES:

EXPANDING THE WITNESS

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Here’s where you can ask follow up questions by typing them into the Live Feed!

FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CONTACTS:

For more information about Relational Meetings and Congregation-Based Community Organizing:

http://www.elca.org/Resources/Congregational-Based-Organizing

OR

Contact Rev. Susan L. Engh

Director, Synodical Partners for Mission and Congregation-based Organizing

800-638-3522, ext. 2731

FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CONTACTS:

If you know youth or young adults interested in having a relational meeting or if you would like to have further guidance or training in doing relational meetings for

youth and young adult meetings please contact josh@altyear.org

FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CONTACTS:

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ALT YEAR AND WAYS TO SUPPORT THE ALT YEAR MOVEMENT GO TO

www.altyear.orgOR

contact Pastor Josh at

josh@altyear.org

IF YOU KNOW OF ANY YOUTH OR YOUNG ADULTS THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN HAVING AN ALT YEAR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE CONTACT JOSH OR HAVE THEM CONTACT JOSH RIGHT AWAY FOR AN INITIAL CONVERSATION

FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CONTACTS:

L.I.F.E in Service (Lutheran Immersion and Formation Experiences)

GET TO KNOW US!ALT Year (Abundant Life Together)

Toledo, OH and other sites

Border Servant Corps (Spanish Language Immersion)

Texas and New Mexico

Lutheran Volunteer Corps

Service year opportunities in dozens of houses in multiple areas

Urban Servant Corps (Service Year with Debt Relief & mountains)

Denver, CO

Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM)

Provides a growing number of mission of short-term mission experiences around the world

Contact eflomo@lutheranvolunteercorps.org or go to

http://www.ecla.org/en/our-work/congregations-and-synods/young-adult-ministry/ministries

A BIG, BEAUTIFUL, BOLD CHALLENGE

1) Will you have a relational meeting with the youth and young adults you know?

2) Will you listen to them and learn from them, and with your knowledge of the church, help them find the opportunities and people in the church that can help them grow into their calls as a Christian and identity as a child of God?

3) Will you help me in a movement to offer this service to every youth and young adult in the ELCA, and as outreach to others seeking such care and guidance?

THANK YOU!!! GO IN PEACE TO LOVE AND FREE YOUR NEIGHBOR!

God you have created and shaped amazing people and I am one of them. Never let us lose our sense of wonder when we meet another of

your children. As we hear another person’s stories of pain, fears, courage, hope, and faith

help us grow closer to each other and closer to you. Help us share your love, the freedom we know in Jesus, and the abundance of gifts we

know in you! Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER FOR FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

www.practicediscipleship.or

g

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Free Curriculum and Videos

Local Practice Discipleship Events

The Mobile Network•Streaming videos of education

events

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•News and Events

•Local Network Finder

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Leadership Teams and More

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•Contact Info

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NEXT 3RDTUESDAY CONVERSATION

Guests: Josh Graber and

Rozella White

Date: September 16, 2014

Time: 1pm Central Time

Topic: Leadership

NEXT PRACTICE DISCIPLESHIP WEBINAR!

Guest: Mindy Makant

Date: October 9, 2014

Time: 1pm Central Time

Topic: “Framing the Vision:

Seeing Things New”

Thanks for joining us!