Earl Gray, Connections Pastor, The Church at Severn Run
Life Goes Better With Friends!
We are designed by God for relationships – with Him, and with one another. Life is just too hard to get through effectively on our own. It can get lonely! We need others to get us, to hear us, to value us, to share life with us in authentic ways.
Our Journey Groups and Triads are committed to effectively living the “Connect” passion of our church: “Do life together in love from God’s Word.”
The Lived-out Values
Values need to be lived out in order to be real, not just looking-good-on-paper values. Real values are the ones that are demonstrated in our ongoing, daily lives. They become more and more deeply a part of us, and how we live in and view the world and the people in it with us.
Discipleship is a growing, daily lifetime walk as a follower of Jesus, growing closer and closer to Him, hearing Him more clearly and reflecting His values.
The Ways To Connect
You can follow the link on the right for a list of all of our current Journey Groups, their locations and the contact information for the facilitator(s.) This list is updated as new facilitators are equipped and new groups are launched.
You may also pick up a list at the Welcome Center in the atrium when you visit personally.
Additionally, you may contact Earl Gray, our Connections Pastor, directly at earl@severnrun.com or 443.716.5830 and he will be happy to talk with you or contact any of the Journey Group facilitators for you to get you connected
B.E.L.L.S.
Journey Groups and Triads are equipped in the B.E.L.L.S. ongoing lifestyle discipleship process, first developed by Michael Frost in Australia and later adapted by Alan Hirsch.
Interactive Quiet Time Journaling
Journey Groups and Triads are also equipped in the simple practice of interactive quiet-time journaling. God speaks to us from His Word, and we respond back to Him in prayer. This simple exercise over a few minutes helps to keep us focused on Him and writing it out is a remarkable way to track our conversations with Him over time, picking up threads, themes and ongoing points He is making with us. It’s about the quality of the conversation with Him, slowed down enough to write and reflect in an ongoing manner, instead of the quantity.
Inductive Bible Application
Our time together in the Bible is about living it out applicationally in our lives in practical ways instead of simply gathering more information and knowledge. We leave our times together with the prayerful support of one another to take one thing that was discussed and put it into play over the span of time until we meet together again.
In a recent (August 2010) facilitator equipping session, one of our newest facilitators told us that it was about becoming and being a Bible “Doing” Group instead of a Bible “Study” Group. That’s exactly where we’re headed!
Serving The Community In Meaningful Ways
Our Journey Group and Triad facilitators are making connections within our geographical communities and discovering ways in which their group can serve the community in ways that the community identifies as meaningful for them. The simple goal is for each group/Triad to be involved in service together as a group four times a year. It can easily grow beyond that, and it is an excellent opportunity to invite friends to join with you in the projects!
