Spiritual Formation: from Values to Practice

Since groups are small missional teams for the church, Team Building processes are hopefully designed to move members from a healthy understanding of church held Values to -> Mission to -> Vision to -> Strategy to -> Action. It is recommended to start with an exploration and assessment of the five personal C’s for each member: the Christian gospel covenant, the core tenants of belief, the confirmation of call, the competencies of servant leadership, and the character of Christ. Tools vary but may include the recommended Enneagram, Cliffton’s Strength Finders, Kenneth C. Kinghorn’s Spiritual Gifts Inventory, or Peter Wagner’s Wagner-Modified Houts Questionnaire, for example.

Each group needs a Discipleship Program (a custom created curriculum) that honors the unique gifting of God in their midst, the unique missional purpose of their group, and the unique situations in life where they live, and move, and have their being. (Acts 17:28)

Consequently, missional group unity begins by forming a Team Action Plan for leaders experiencing spiritual life, prayer, living unity, and team building together. This is aided by moving deeper toward purpose through an assessment by each team/ministry/equipping group of context (places, experiences, lifecycles), vision toward outreach (big picture, values, mission, sustaining efforts), strategy (systems, measurement, priorities, structure, systems & structure working together, multiplication & evaluation), and finally implementation (sharing a ministry action plan for church-wide leadership encouragement and evaluation).

Our recent church with over 1200 average attendance has 67% in community throughout our 19 small groups across all ages. But they were not content. They strove for more unity as they made a place for everyone to belong. At the feet of the lamb of God in this important mission, each group has a purpose and a priority that means a careful respect for their unique context, experiences, and lifecycle. Some groups are women of college age, middle age, and golden age sharing combined wisdom and growing in love. Some groups are men seeking edification in a discouraging world. Some groups are our wise elders offering mentorship. Some groups are college students living out a Christian counter-culture. Some groups spend all their focus digging deeper in the Word of Life. Finally, each group needs a Discipleship Program (a custom created curriculum) that honors the unique gifting of God in their midst, the unique missional purpose of their group, and the unique situations in life where they live, and move, and have their being. (Acts 17:28)