What is a Learning Community?We are often asked if a Learning Community is like a conference. Itʼs not. While there is nothing wrong with conferences, the famous pastor with the great story on the main stage isnʼt going to come down and walk with you week-by-week or month-by-month as you go to the places God is calling your community to. A Learning Community, on the other hand, is a series of 4-day immersion experiences with a team of 3-7 people from your church that incorporates main stage teaching with tactical training, expert coaching, a chance to experience Missional Communities and Huddles, all concluding with the creation of a six month plan your team innovates for your local ministry context. At the end of the day, every church, leader and city is different and your plan needs to reflect those nuances.

These immersion experiences happen every six months, with four sessions over a 2-year period. In addition, there is an annual Senior Pastor and Spouseʼs Retreat and bi-weekly coaching on a Huddle conference call. This might sound like a significant investment of time over a two year period. It is. If it were possible to impart the skills, tools and vehicles necessary to achieve everything God is calling you to with a smaller investment of time, weʼd do that. But after working with nearly a thousand churches in both the United States and Europe, we know there is no short-circuiting the process.

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FACILITATED Learning Event — 4 Days

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Building a discipling culture

Multiplying missional leaders

launching missional communities

establishing centers of mission

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Arc of Involvement

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How does it work? The 2-year Learning Community track entails a carefully orchestrated process which progresses from discipleship to mission.

Each Learning Community builds on previous immersion experiences. For instance, itʼs incredibly important that discipleship comes before launching Missional Communities. Why? Because if Missional Communities are the car for mission, discipleship is the engine. You wonʼt get anywhere without it.

Each 4-day immersion experience walks through a simple process: First, we spend time answering the question for your church community, ʻWhat is?ʼ Where is there breakthrough? Where is God already working? Where is there frustration? Battle? Second, we ask the question, ʻWhat could be?ʼ We have teaching, discussion, training and processing time with your team where you dream about what the future might hold that God is calling you to.

Last, we ask, ʻWhat will be?ʼ At this point you acknowledge your current reality, look to where God is calling you and then create a 6-month plan that is specific to your church. You will accomplish this through a variety of teaching inputs, worship, Huddles, team exercises, Missional Community experiences, meals together, training, planning, expert coaching, breaks and plenty of fun.discipleship

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The Anatomy of a Learning Community

Teaching Input

Space for Reflection/ Prayer/ Worship

Team Work Sessions / Tactical Planning

Expert Coaching and Consulting

Oikos - Missional Community

Experience

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Expert practitioners provide one-on-one evaluation of your tactical plans with tailored advice for your missional context

Missional Community pioneer and best-selling author lays the theological and sociological framework for the Learning Community experience.

Change for you, Change for your cityOur desire isnʼt to tell you what to do. Our goal is to come alongside and walk with you as you journey to the place God has already called you.

Weʼre sure Discipleship and Mission are already an integral part of your DNA. What we do, as experienced practitioners, is provide the coaching and tools to do these two things in an increasingly post-Christian culture.

At the end of this process, your community will have started a movement of discipleship and mission that not only will change your existing church, but has the potential to change your city as well.

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Leaders experience local Missional Community life, incarnating the information they’ve learned about

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Alan Hirsch | Writer, missional thinker and activistIn all of the missional training I've seen (and I've seen a lot over the years), I have not seen discipleship and mission taken as seriously or as practically as I have in a Learning Community (LC). What 3DM offers is a tremendous wealth of experience, but also great ideas and a great way of delivering them.

Brandon Schaeffer | Southlands Christian Church | 15,000+ peopleThe reality is that without our two-year Learning Community we would have spent 40 years in the desert – wandering, trying to figure out Discipleship and Mission on our own.  Thanks to the 3DM Learning Community we crossed the desert and made the transition in a few years rather than a few decades.  Our Learning Community gave us the teaching, tools and strategies to implement our plans in accordance with Godʼs leading and with the confidence, accountability and support to make it all happen.

Ben Sternke | Christ Church Ft. Wayne | Church plantWe always knew we wanted to plant a church centered on Discipleship and Mission, but until we joined a Learning Community, they were just words on our website. Now we are actually building a culture of discipleship and seeing mission take off from a grassroots level. 3DM's 20+ years of wisdom and experience combined with an innovative and effective approach to learning have helped us feel like we have friends and mentors on the journey.

Scott Marshall | Trinity Church | Medium-sized churchLearning Communities gave us a reproducible model for planning that did two things: First, it helped us look honestly at where we were as a church. Second, it gave us real practical help (as opposed to nice theory) that is helping us move toward where we know God is already calling us.

Word on the Street

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How many people can I bring?  You can choose to bring a team of 3-7 to a Learning Community. Regardless of the size of your church, more team equals more advocacy when you return home. We ask that the core leadership team remains consistent, but there is flexibility to rotate the other spots (e.g., you may bring an elder for one community, a lay leader the next).

How much does a Learning Community cost?  The cost structure for a team is simple: $100/participant/month for the duration of the Learning Community process (2 years). There is a deposit required upon registration of $100/participant which goes toward the cost of the Learning Community over the first year.

Can I add/subtract team members midstream?You can add team members at any time. If you wish to subtract a team member position, we ask you do that at the year break if possible.

What do I need to do to prepare?In preparation for your first Learning Community, your team should have read Covenant & Kingdom and  Building a Discipling Culture.

Can I talk to someone whoʼs done it?Before committing the time and funds to join a Learning Community, some people find it helpful to talk to a pastor whoʼs been through the experience. If thatʼs something youʼre interested in, let us know and we can give you some people to contact.

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A WALK through the week

Teaching INPUTS Prayer/

Reflection

TEAM WORK SESSIONS EXpert

coaching

oikos experience

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Dates for Upcoming Learning Communities

WANT MORE INFORMATION?General QuestionsEric Pfeiffer at 843.461.5934 or eric@weare3dm.com

Logistical QuestionsKandi Pfeiffer at 843.461.6035 or kandi@weare3dm.com

or visit us online at3DMLearningCommunities.com

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facebook.com/WeAre3DM

@mike_breen MikeBreen.wordpress.com< or > DougPaulBlog.com

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Thursday, June 2, 2011