# Church Involvement Past Sunday



## ewenlin (Nov 9, 2009)

Should church members seek for some kind interaction/fellowship with other members on top of Sunday Worship?

If it is beneficial, should the pastor actively encourage it?

How best can this be done then?


----------



## Joseph Scibbe (Nov 9, 2009)

Hebrews tells us to gather even more as the Day approaches. In Acts the pattern of the early church was that they met daily apart from their corporate worship. I say it (fellowship) is vital to the Christian walk.


----------



## BJClark (Nov 9, 2009)

ewenlin;



> Should church members seek for some kind interaction/fellowship with other members on top of Sunday Worship?



Yes, how else can you truly hold each other accountable? How can you know if they are in sin or they know if you are in sin, if you don't fellowship outside of just gathering together on Sundays??

How else can you encourage one another? 



> If it is beneficial, should the pastor actively encourage it?



Of course a pastor should encourage it..He should be a leader in this..



> How best can this be done then?



Ask folks to come over for dinner, or to get together for lunch or dessert, meet for coffee...

How can you build relationships without fellowship?


----------



## ewenlin (Nov 9, 2009)

BJClark said:


> Ask folks to come over for dinner, or to get together for lunch or dessert, meet for coffee...
> 
> How can you build relationships without fellowship?



Well, in a large church, the pastor can't possibly do this all the time and to everyone. How can he ensure that members do this among themselves? I'm not saying in a strictly bureaucratic manner. 

Any pastors here can share on how they keep track over their members?


----------



## BJClark (Nov 9, 2009)

ewenlin;




> Well, in a large church, the pastor can't possibly do this all the time and to everyone. How can he ensure that members do this among themselves? I'm not saying in a strictly bureaucratic manner.



No, not all the time, but he can invite various families over if he is so inclined, or they could actually take the initiative and invite the pastor and his family over..

What I mean by he can encourage others in this is..even in his sermons, he can stress the importance of fellowship with other believers within the church body..even as Pastor of a large church he should befriend ppl w/in his congregation..not just the elders and deacons..

A pastor can't 'force' people to fellowship, the desire for them to do so, comes from the Holy Spirit...

This also comes from congregational dinners, Small group studies, or Sunday School classes and such..where people have a chance to talk with each other..

Something our former pastor did--we have a Mission's auction, where ppl donate items..or meals, or services..whatever..and others in congregation bid on them..(all proceeds go to support missions) he would offer a dogs and doctrine night..where the small group's would bid on it..then they would go to his house he would make hot dogs, and others would bring side's..and after dinner we could ask any questions on Doctrine for him to answer..

Another small group auctions off a spaghetti dinner..they make and serve the dinner to the small group who made the highest bid..

Another group does an ice cream social..one of our members is a Sou Chef and he auctions off a dinner for X number of people..that he and his family prepare..for that group..

we have ppl who teach piano, or guitar, or babysit, or clean houses..and they auction those services off..all of those things help build relationships with others within the church outside of Sunday..

Our small groups meet on various nights throughout the week, and most of them have dinner together before or after the study, which allows and encourages them to fellowship outside of church on Sundays..


----------



## Scott1 (Nov 9, 2009)

ewenlin said:


> BJClark said:
> 
> 
> > Ask folks to come over for dinner, or to get together for lunch or dessert, meet for coffee...
> ...



I think this is something church leaders ought exemplify.

In the PCA, this is part of the charge for Deacons, "to develop a spirit of liberality" in the congregation- that means greeting, hospitality and leading in warmly receiving people.

By leading in this, it helps set a tone for the entire congregation.

It's not something Deacons alone do, unordained men and women in the congregation are encouraged to develop this as a trait. It does not take a title, or committee or any protocol to greet, invite and show hospitality- it is a mark of maturing Christian.


----------



## ewenlin (Nov 9, 2009)

BJClark, so small groups is it then?

Is there a formal structure for small groups? Or do people just gather among themselves arbitrarily?


----------



## Hamalas (Nov 9, 2009)

ewenlin said:


> BJClark said:
> 
> 
> > Ask folks to come over for dinner, or to get together for lunch or dessert, meet for coffee...
> ...



Does your church have Elders? If so many churches assign their elders a certain number of families to focus on shepherding.


----------



## ewenlin (Nov 9, 2009)

Hamalas said:


> ewenlin said:
> 
> 
> > BJClark said:
> ...



That is exactly what I was thinking. Thanks


----------



## BJClark (Nov 10, 2009)

ewenlin;




> Is there a formal structure for small groups? Or do people just gather among themselves arbitrarily?



There are various studies the elders agree on, so we have various topics the different small groups can choose from..so you can have two or three ppl teaching the same course just meeting at different homes..while others pick one of the other topics..and they are pretty structured..

Right now, I am doing a Journey Course, there is some information on it here..
there are various small groups doing the same study, meeting different days--
my group meets Thursday Mornings, my husband's group meets Sunday Mornings during Sunday School..other groups meet on different days..

At Perimeter PCA (Randy Pope)

lifeonlife.org

we have to read one of the article on the link "Why Church Membership?" this week as begin our new section on "In Pursuit of Grace Commitments: A Commitment to the Local Church"


----------



## ewenlin (Nov 10, 2009)

BJClark, any specific reason your husband is in a different group as you? Just curious, if you don't mind.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it up


----------



## BJClark (Nov 10, 2009)

ewenlin;



> BJClark, any specific reason your husband is in a different group as you? Just curious, if you don't mind.



Yes, it's also an accountability group, his group is all men, where mine is all women..there are 8 men in his class and 4 women in mine.

Some people, men and women, have a difficult time opening up about themselves even to ppl of the same sex, but even more so in mixed company, and one of the things this course encourages is opening up and getting to the heart of real fellowship and friendship building to help ppl grow spiritually.

I can only speak for myself, because I know myself..with some of the things we have gone over in our group..if my husband and I were in the same group, I would have the 'propensity' to open my mouth more than I should..

I'm a pretty open person, where he is more close to the vest with things, and I would tend to share things he is not yet comfortable sharing..so it affords him the opportunity to share things at his own pace. The course is to bring about our spiritual growth and maturity, and we are at different places..

His being in a group w/ all men makes it easier on us, if he doesn't do his course work one week..I don't say anything to him, because I know the men in his group will hold him accountable..whereas if we were in the same group, I'd get frustrated w/ him if we weren't working 'together' on it, and he would feel (and rightly so) that I was trying to push him, which would cause unneeded friction and he would say it's not worth our arguing over and quit the course--as opposed to just telling me "silence woman! Let me work/grow at my own pace" knowing it would hurt me to hear such things..even if it's something I really needed to hear.

So for us, it gives me the opportunity to really trust God to be God, while at the same time, he's seeing his need for that accountability of the other men in the group re: his own walk with the Lord and the importance of spending time alone with God for his own growth, and it takes away at least one 'excuse' for him not to grow closer to God, because I am not 'trying' to usurp God's authority in that area.


----------

