Time for Change by Ellen Cousart
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Back in November 2008, we mentioned about the possibility of undertaking some changes on the way we do things for our Bible Study and fellowship. In January, we convened a small group to pray about and discuss the directions that we will pursue for 2009. Wally will be sharing the details during our Opening Session this Sunday, February 22nd.
One of the things we did during our brainstorming session was to answer the following 4 questions:
- What do you like about our Bible Study/ fellowship?
What don’t you like about our Bible Study/ fellowship? What do you want to stay / remain the same? What do you want to change?
We came up with some interesting answers that I thought I’d share with you.
LIKE 
- Get together/ fellowship/fun/ happy together
- Group activities and outings/ out of town trips
- Games and prizes
Potluck/ food - Bible studies
DON’T LIKE
- Absenteeism
- Some members not bringing food
- Hit & run (Eat & run)
- Disorganized worship team
- Weather
- Group too big, not too much interaction and involvement
REMAIN THE SAME
- Food/ Eating together
- Bible Study
- Praise & worship as a group
- Fellowship/ fun/ camaraderie
CHANGE
- More group activities
- Involve Christians from other churches
- Support other churches/ ministries in the Philippines
- Breaking into groups: Adults/ Couples, Young Adults/ Singles, & Kids
- More practice & organize for praise and worship team
- Formatted topics, invite other speakers
- Testimonies
- Should be time conscious/ Keep activities within the schedule
- Evangelism
- Intercession/ Corporate Prayer
I would also like to appeal to everyone to be more actively involved in our fellowship. We definitely need the extra hands to help us carry out this ministry. We have not assigned any specific tasks in the past (except for the Bible Study leader), and we don’t intend to do so now. But if you want to help but don’t know how you can help, I thought I’d give some ideas. These are some areas we constantly need help on:
- Leading the Bible Study lesson: If you don’t feel confident enough to do this on your own, you can probably team up with a friend or someone you are comfortable with, and 2 or 3 people can do this together.
- Potluck: By God’s grace, we have never been short of our “food supply” but as our numbers grow, every bit counts. If you cannot cook, by all means you can bring something quick and easy and cheap like a tray of cookies, fresh fruits, pop or juice, chips or snack items, dessert (from Safeway, Coop, Superstore, etc.), among others. And if you really want to cook and just shy because you think people may not like it, bring it anyway. Your imagination is the limit! J
- Set-up and clean up of the room: If you are able to come in early or stay late, help for setting up the tables & chairs and the food, tear down, clean up of kitchen, etc. will be appreciated. You don’t have to do this every Sunday, just when you are able.
- Prayer Warriors: We have set up the Prayer Wall on our website and if you can just commit to checking it once a week and praying for the requests, we appreciate that.
And if you have suggestions and ideas, please feel free to come and see us.
