Prayer needed....
What a night :p ! I attended bible study for the first time in a while (couldn't attended while at networkers) In addition to a nice exercise in literary worship, we were supposed to discuss how the year ahead and what the college group would be doing. There was a lot of positive discussion on group events, the possibility of a seekers group on Sunday nights and a lot of talk about college leadership. It has been real amazing to discuss such possibilities and only real possible through the hard work of our youth pastor and the influx of college freshmen.
The part that was tough was the discussion of the college Sunday school group. This is where things got ugly. First, some background:
The College Sunday school class has had a long history of being brought up and shut down. When I attended orginanly it went from a summer class of 10 or so to a fall class of 1...I was the only college student who didn't leave Fresno to go to school or go to adult bible study. Despite my best efforts to keep the program alive until summer, the program died out. After a second attempt that didn't last very long the program stayed dormant for quite a while and I gave up. A third attempt was headed up with a rather active man in my church who teamed up with my sister to slowly grow a small bible study group. While this continued great for 2 years, the group has been at a crossroads where it needs strong leadership to cotninue growing.
unfortunately the question was proposed to the bible study as to what should be done about the Sunday school. I respect and enjoy many of the people at the bible study, but most of them are just too hard core to be hanging out in a mostly beginner-level Sunday school class, but rather have joined the adult class for the more advanced theological concepts. Which is of course a great thing for a mature Christian, but it means that only a small handful that attend Sunday school attend the bible studies. Rather than fix the issue or include the Sunday school class as part of the expanding college program, the general consues was that the Sunday school program was a destined failure and should not be allowed to continue. Primarily on the idea that most college age Christian should attend the adult classes. This is our last seeker-based college event, the only avenue for college age young Christians to become part of the college group. I fear without it, we will stop growing as a group, relying instead on the high school group to find younger Christians and send them to us.
sometime next week this issue will be debated and decided. I need prayer to help resolve this issue and to keep me and my sister calm as we remember that God's will, not yours, must predominate. Even if it means the loss of this program again.
The part that was tough was the discussion of the college Sunday school group. This is where things got ugly. First, some background:
The College Sunday school class has had a long history of being brought up and shut down. When I attended orginanly it went from a summer class of 10 or so to a fall class of 1...I was the only college student who didn't leave Fresno to go to school or go to adult bible study. Despite my best efforts to keep the program alive until summer, the program died out. After a second attempt that didn't last very long the program stayed dormant for quite a while and I gave up. A third attempt was headed up with a rather active man in my church who teamed up with my sister to slowly grow a small bible study group. While this continued great for 2 years, the group has been at a crossroads where it needs strong leadership to cotninue growing.
unfortunately the question was proposed to the bible study as to what should be done about the Sunday school. I respect and enjoy many of the people at the bible study, but most of them are just too hard core to be hanging out in a mostly beginner-level Sunday school class, but rather have joined the adult class for the more advanced theological concepts. Which is of course a great thing for a mature Christian, but it means that only a small handful that attend Sunday school attend the bible studies. Rather than fix the issue or include the Sunday school class as part of the expanding college program, the general consues was that the Sunday school program was a destined failure and should not be allowed to continue. Primarily on the idea that most college age Christian should attend the adult classes. This is our last seeker-based college event, the only avenue for college age young Christians to become part of the college group. I fear without it, we will stop growing as a group, relying instead on the high school group to find younger Christians and send them to us.
sometime next week this issue will be debated and decided. I need prayer to help resolve this issue and to keep me and my sister calm as we remember that God's will, not yours, must predominate. Even if it means the loss of this program again.
posted by WanderSoul | 7:39 AM
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