Sunday Discussion Wrap-Up

We had a great time sharing lunch together at Nancy's house - thanks so much for hosting! We tossed around different ideas for the future of the cohort, and I thought I would just jot down a few of them here (anyone can feel free to edit this post of remind me of things in the comments section). I think the three things that were settled were:

1. Fewer discussion sessions, perhaps only one a month.
   
2. Having an assigned "coordinator" for each month, or perhaps a few months at a time. This person would simply be in charge of making sure the blog info was updated and something was generally "planned" for the week and info was getting out to everyone.
   
3. Having a "planning" meeting that would take place once every three months or so. This meeting would be an informal and open time to discuss and suggest new ideas for the upcoming months. New ideas for different activities/meetings could be any of the following:

• Visiting a church together on a Sunday, and then sharing lunch afterward to discuss/process the experience (this is something we did together a few times in the past, but is hard to do if a discussion session is planned at 3pm)
• Doing joint service projects together. These could be random, or connected to programs people are already involved in (for example, picking up trash in Weinland park area, serving a meal at Bellows Ave. church, or something totally new).
  
• Increased inter-faith dialog, which would involved inviting people of other faiths, other groups from Columbus to be a part of our discussion. For example, inviting a Buddhist to explain and teach meditation practices.
  
• Inviting other "emergent" speakers to share with our cohort (similar to the Rollins event).
  
• Encouraging new people to ask questions or suggest topics that could then be discussed. This would not be "leading" a discussion session, but would give them the opportunity to suggest a topic/author/book/idea, etc.
  

Some of the tensions involve 1) Wanting to accepting, affirming and welcoming of everyone, but also continuing to develop a close bond with each other in the group; 2) Encouraging diversity and differing opinions while recognizing people will naturally stick with people they agree with; 3) Providing a service to Columbus, inviting new people, but we don't feel like the goal of the group is to grow bigger necessarily; 4) being open to other faiths and ideas, but not being ashamed of loving and following Jesus.

As always, the cohort is in the process of becoming and it is a joint experience. We are so thankful to everyone who has been a part of the cohort in the past, and we welcome everyone's continued involvement and input, especially to those new voices who have just entered the conversation in the past months. More than anything, we desire for everyone to feel accepted and welcome, and to grow in the way that they most need to, whatever that might be.

I did record the discussion for those who couldnt' make it but wanted to be there. If you want an .mp3 file, just email me at schroeder.jesse@gmail.com