As the “Growth” paragraph of our Who We Are statement says:
The face-to-face nature of our worship circle allows all to be known by name. We want to create a safe place for questions and honest mutual engagement, where we can discern together what the good news of Jesus means in our context. We also want to welcome newcomers. We are exploring ways of budding new worship circles to welcome growth while also maintaining a small inter-generational worship experience.
From the beginning, Open Table has talked about organic growth models, wanting to welcome newcomers through adding inter-generational worship circles rather than through building bigger. As you remember, our worship circle this past year was pushing the limits of our space at Faith House. Even with many of us away for some or all of the summer, we have usually had about 20 people at Open Table.
So we are exploring the possibility of having an on-going Open Table group at Faith House as an anchor group, continuing much like it has, and spinning off a smaller new group (a bud, a rhizome, a pilot group). We keep experimenting with language, but the idea is that we see if there are 5-7 people who feel a call and some energy for starting something new. They would do the initial planning and organizing and then invite others (from OT and elsewhere) to join them.
We also want to know who continues to feel a call and energy for the on-going Open Table patterns of worship, meal and welcoming new people. Neither group would be starting from scratch. We assume that worship at the new group will be similar to what Open Table has developed. And our overall structures – finances, policies, staffing – would be an umbrella for both groups. The new group would decide when and where to meet (Faith House would be available Sunday evenings, another location could provide accessibility for those with mobility issues, etc.), and if there is any additional focus that draws them together. Together we’ll be figuring out what it means to be an anchor group and a new bud.
So we are exploring the possibility of having an on-going Open Table group at Faith House as an anchor group, continuing much like it has, and spinning off a smaller new group (a bud, a rhizome, a pilot group). We keep experimenting with language, but the idea is that we see if there are 5-7 people who feel a call and some energy for starting something new. They would do the initial planning and organizing and then invite others (from OT and elsewhere) to join them.
We also want to know who continues to feel a call and energy for the on-going Open Table patterns of worship, meal and welcoming new people. Neither group would be starting from scratch. We assume that worship at the new group will be similar to what Open Table has developed. And our overall structures – finances, policies, staffing – would be an umbrella for both groups. The new group would decide when and where to meet (Faith House would be available Sunday evenings, another location could provide accessibility for those with mobility issues, etc.), and if there is any additional focus that draws them together. Together we’ll be figuring out what it means to be an anchor group and a new bud.
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