Just finished reading Zach's thoughts on community and thought they were really interesting. I think my favorite part was...well, actually, I want to know what your favorite thought was. I'll share mine after awhile : )
How do you think we can develop good, trusting, loving, accountable community on our Boston trip?
Make sure to take some time to answer the questions on page 43-45. I think that Zach's questions there will really help you to engage in exploring community.
See you Sunday night!
About Me
- joeldaniel
- i like to pick and choose when i use capital letters. i do middle school youth pastor sorts of things at First Friends, and am also their Instigator of Justice (the job title came with a sweet super hero cape, so i had to say yes). in my free time i give leadership to a small group ministry related to sexuality known as six19 and am an Associate Staff member with the CCO. i grew up in Canton, Ohio and live in a house there where i try to think about what it means to be a good neighbor. i hang out with students at Malone College (the college from whence i graduated), trying to help them think about living lives without compartments. I worked at Camp Gideon for 10 years. i miss the sunsets (among a myriad of other things). i enjoy discussing the emerging church, Quaker theology, HIV/AIDS issues, and the intersection of culture and Christ followers. i love the outdoors, get a kick out of leading worship, and half-heartedly pursue long-distance running.
30 comments:
I really liked the way that Zach compared a community to a family. A community, like a family, has people who require different needs and have different interests. No one family is perfect. Communities also go through many hard times that take "brothers or sisters" to get through. I think that to form a better community with the missions team we need to take time and get to know each other a little more. That way we can get along better as a "family". Knowing the personality of our teamates can allow us to be more tolerant of their different actions.
DJ C. :-o
Since Zach compared a community to a family then my comment is going to be based on that. Our trip is going to be a bunch of us living together, so i think that we just have to trust each other and put everything in God's hands while we are there. If we do this, and be godly teens, then i beleive that God will just make our group like a family on the trip.
I didn't really have a peticular favorite part, because it was all kind of saying the same thing: You should make a really good group of friends that you can talk to about anything.
as for a way to get to know each other the only way to do that is to talk to each other. we all kind of have a group of friends within the group of people on the missions trip, so if we all want to know everyone else on the missions trip than we should devise a way to get us to talk to people other than who we already know.
by the way, joel, did you want our favorite part or favorite thought of this chapter because you said both up there. oh, and on the subject of typing errors, did anyone else notice that on the back of the book they stuck an extra "I" in the jars of clay quote?? it says "i am sure that I when I was 15 I was navigating my world quite differently..."
toodles
I though that kallie W commet was very well written and everything and by the way mine never showed up.
graham arnold
My favorite part was the part "Another Look At Commuinty: Mike, Trey, Jedd, and Matt." I liked how even though they were completely different and sometimes got on eachothers nerves they could still work together on the thingd that the loved to do.
I think that we can develop good, trusting, loving, accountable community on our Boston trip by getting to know everybody and getting comfortable doing things with everybody. That way if we make a mistake in front of everybody we are not really embarrased.
Dawn L.
I like how he compared a community to just a group of friends or like a family.
I think we can develop that kind of community by getting to know the poeple on our teams and our whole group and getting along with each other.
~Gretchen
When I think of a community I think of my school. This may sound strange but I go to CVCA and in my grade almost everyone is friends, we may not be best friends with everyone but we all get along pretty well. There isn't a bunch of little cliques, and everyone is pretty nice to eachother. Everyone, like friends, teachers, and even the upperclassmen, try to help eachother grow closer to God, and that is why i love my school. :]-Kalie H.
I think that Zach's message can really relate to our team. He talks about the four guys who are completely different, but work as a team. As a community, we can help each other with individual needs. I agree with DJ saying that we should get to really know our team, so that we can better help them.-Ben
I think Zach made some really good points. he gets his point out there and saids what hes trying to tell you and i think we can develop good trust love and accountable community on our BOSTON:) trip with making good choices and thinking before we speak and i dont really no what else to say but we can do it.....im so excieted about boston i cant wait only like 85 days until we go!:)
I think that our group can directly compare to how Zach said that community is like a family. If you think about it that is all we are except for that we are not related. Each of us relies on one another to help us in something that maybe we don't know how to do but someone else does. if i need to learn about baseball i would ask someone that plays baseball, if someone needs help on how to play basketball i might be able to help them. It's like pouring cement onto a stone driveway, when we bring other people into our lives and create friendships they can fill the space in between us with the knowledge or skills that they have that we don't. I think that a good way to help us get along as a family would to really get to know each other and find out each other's personalities.
see ya,
Craig M.
i like how zach put things into a perspective that we can use in our everyday lifes, our famiy. Our family and our community are both a part of our daily lifes, i just never thought of it that way before.I think that no matter who u r with you should treat them like family, to make it a better community. Bad times bring people closer together, if we could just open up to eachother a lot more then we would all be closer. If we all participate in our missions meetings then we could get to know eachother a lot better, and i think there are only... 28? of us so it isnt that hard to get to know everyone.
on another note.. the thing with bringing blankets and clothes for the shelter with our extra suicases. Joel is right, its only 1 week so we can live without our hair dryers and straightners (boys i know its tuff but try to resist) i was thinkin we could bring in all of our extra suitcases and the stuff that we can bring for them and try to cram as much stuff into one suitcase as possible. like repack evrything and put someone elses stuff in the empty spaces and then try to fill whatever suitecase are empty at the and and kind-of accumulat stuff over the months b4 the trip, idk its just an idea.
Craig I really liked your cement driveway part other people complete us and fill in the gaps. Taylor I liked your idea on the blankets and stuff like that. I was thinking (And I know that everyone is really busy) but if we went through things that are still in really good condition that we ourselves have and take those things we could probably come up with a lot of stuff. I know that in my closet I have a tone of stuff that is still in good condition that I don't use anymore. Also if they need scarves I can make a couple of those maybe before we go but since it is summer when we go I don't know if they will really need scarves. Well people comment me back and tell me what ya think.
Dawn
i finished reading this chapter and realized that it kinda went along with my groups theme last night. we were "the originals." we explained how we were all different and could bring something new to the team. and thats how i think we should be in Boston. we all have our special talents and we all have our weaknesses. i think we can use these to compliment eachother and work together.
i really liked the part on page 42 where he said "or at least an annoying drizzle." i think that sometimes peoples personalities do clash, but if we want to suceed we should put away our differences to make the most influential change. this way we can have a strong bond and be united as one.
what jesse said about the mistakes...also in the previous chapter on page 30 there was a parenthases that never ended! i think its funny
I agree that Zach's comparison to a family was awesome! Nobody has a perfect family, but we grow close the better we know each other and by working through things together. I think that we can develop good, trusting, loving, accountable community on our Boston trip by being open before during our meetings and getting to know everyone. Also, by working through tough situations together.
brittany m.
I thought it was cool how Zach said a good example of a community was Jesus and his disciples. They were all very different but they worked together to accomplish their goals. I think they are a good model for our missions trip. If we just put together our strengths I think we will be able to accomplish God's will for this trip.
-Sydney B. :)
I like how he compared a community to just a group of friends or like a family.
I think we can develop that kind of community by getting to know the poeple on our teams and our whole group and getting along with each other. But this could take time because some of us do not now each other like another person would so we need to expand are mind to biger and beter things. As brothers and sister it is are duty to help each other when times get rough and the tough get going.
By graham arnold
I liked the paragraph in the book that said, " I think community means a group of people with whom you can be honest about what really matters to you. It's a place where you can be accountable, where you can explore new ideas together, and where everyone is accepted. It's a safe place where you can trust people and know they have your back."
I think we could develop a good, trusting, loving, and accountable community be eneracting with everyone. Having a joyful attitude around everyone and treating everyone fairly, how you would want people to treat you. Also, by listening to everyone and their ideas or things instead of being just about yourself. And trying to get along with everyone. And by including everyone and helping each other out.
Stephanie C
One of my favorite parts was when Zack talks about the four guys. They are all different yet they are together as one. Though because they are different they may get frustrated with each other, they still have each other's back when someone was struggling. That is how I think we can get a good community in our team while we are in Boston. We are all different in some way, but if we use each other's differences to our benefit and pick each other up in times of need then, we will build trust and love among each other.
Sorry that last comment was from Kayli W.
I’d like to start by saying “I’m so sorry this is late!” But about Zach’s message, I love that he told that story about the guys that were so different and were able to over come that and excel at their serving. We are all very different, so we can learn from this to know if we work hard at it we can over come our differences. I’ll bet that if we work over these obstacles, we can become a tight group and it will show in Boston.
Great stuff everyone...I've really enjoyed reading what you've been thinking. My favorite parts of this chapter were the following quotes:
"That's how things often get done--a group of friends with different talents and a common goal, working together to accomplish something none of them could do alone."
"community is about--looking out for one another and keeping one another safe and accountable."
and the entire last two paragraphs...I love how he talks about the disciples differences and how he says "It's messy, getting close to other people. It means humbling yourself and sticking your neck out."
A lot for us to think about as we live in community during our trip to Boston.
I think this chapter is important to us as a group. We all have our different opinions and thoughts, but we have to have teamwork. If even one person becomes a problem in some way, that throws us all off. And especially our attitudes. We have to remember that we're doing this for Christ. Not so we can say, 'man did i do an awesome job on that.' we should be saying 'wow...look at how awesome God really is!'
-mike murray
I think that we can try to forget about our diffrences and remember the thing that we all have in common, our faith. If we all try to get to know the people on the team then we will not be afraid of talking to or working with the other team members.
Katie B.
I think in order for us to become a community, we have to get out of our comfort zones a lil bit and really try to learn more about the people we may not know well going to Boston. I also think we should put aside our differences and accept everyone for who they are. Putting others needs before your own is a great way to become united.
when i was in high school (i grew up at the chapel, so i've been sort of where you guys are now) and we were going on summer missions trips, our youth pastor used to talk to us about a concept called "unity" within our team. now unity is not exactly the same thing as community i don't think, but one thing we always said was that to be in unity as a team we would have to try to unify our hearts with God's heart, and that would tie us together - from there our differences would complement us. since we're not perect this is tough... but it is true that the more we make our heart like Christ's heart, the more we will be unified with others who do the same.
kala
i really think that we could look out for one another and make sure that one another are safe.community isn't without its tough days but we learn we can come through the rough spots and be stronger if we stick together and dont give up.
community- a group of people of with whom you can be honest about what really matters to you. its a place where you can be accountable.
it's hard for teens to be in true community but if we work together and really depend on each other we can become a true commutnity.
I thought it was cool how the "Clapham Sect" all had different talents but the same goals. they used their goals and accomplished many important things we have today. with determination, they fought for their cause.
on the trip, we should act like a family and encourage each other. we all hav the same goal and when we work together we could get alot accomplished.
nikki micale
yea, i really liked the way that joel had the confort zone drawing on the white board at the last meeting and how in order to be in a proper community on the trip we are going to have take a few steps out of our confort zone and it wont be normal but in order for it work it cant be just perfect for each of us. and to make this missions trip a success, you need to work as a community, you can't stand alone.
jason
my favorite part was the mike, trey, jedd, and matt section. it was so cool how the four guys all stuck together and came through their differences. this section is the best part, in my opinion, to see what community really is. zach uses very good examples to show community in real life. on the missions trip, we're all gonna have to cope with each other and we need to learn what the other kids are like so we know how to get along with them well for the rest of the trip and in the future.
^^ & that was autumn
Post a Comment