Community Guide
The Community Guide below is based on the Sunday morning teaching from our Annual Vision Series and will help Communities establish a Fall rhythm. As your whole Community gathers (online or socially distanced), use the Community Guide below to give shape to your night together.
Begin by Practicing the Lord’s Supper Together (5 minutes)
Begin your night together by partaking of the bread and the cup together. Have each person bring their own Communion elements. To facilitate your time, you can either ask a member of your Community to come ready with a short prayer, liturgy, or scripture reading, or assign someone to read the scripture we’ve provided below:
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:
The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
and when he had given thanks, he broke it
and said, “This is my body, which is for you;
do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after supper he took the cup,
saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood;
do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor. 11v23-26)
Debrief this Sunday’s Teaching (10 Minutes)
We will provide a Guide for Communities to discuss Rule of Life in the Weeks ahead. With that in mind, work through the following discussion question as a Community:
- What stood out to you about Sunday’s teaching?
Discuss and Decide upon your Community’s specific fall rhythm (20 Minutes)
Begin by having your Leader present their suggested rhythm for your Community. Then, discuss the following:
- Does anyone have strong hesitations or objections to this rhythm?
- How soon do we want to pause and re-evaluate our rhythm? (4, 6, 8 weeks?)
Read through and Discuss Fall Community Commitments (20 Minutes)
Read through the following commitments as a Community:
Practicing The Way of Jesus
Daily Apprenticeship to Jesus
- Working toward the basic practices of Jesus: bible reading, prayer, silence and solitude, sabbath, church
gatherings, community, and generosity. - Living under the authority of the Scriptures and the Bridgetown Elders.
Together
Weekly Gathering
- Regular attendance unless you’re out of town, sick, or there is an unforeseen, unavoidable circumstance outside
of your control. - 24 hours notice for any absence with a phone call, not a text, to the community leader.
- Active participation, like engaging the Practices and putting your phone away.
Regular Life
- Practice regular connection outside of your normal Community night
- When necessary, help each other with resources and finances.
- Show each other courtesies, like always returning text messages.
In Portland
Monthly Kingdom Expression
- Common or Individual
After reading through the commitments, work through the following discuss the following questions:
- Which of these commitments has our Community left behind or grown lax on in the previous season? Where can we grow?
- Are you able to commit to consistent attendance, communication, and participation in this rhythm for the next _____ weeks? (based on your agreed-upon check-in date)
Clarifying your Fall Rhythm (5 Minutes)
Before calling it a night, form a short statement together of what your committing to as a Community, using the following sentence as a guide:
For the next ____ weeks, our Community will commit to meeting __________________ (insert your agreed upon rhythm here).
Learning More about Triads (optional 16 Minutes)
If your Community wants to learn more about Triads, a two-page guide entitled “Confession & Spiritual Direction” is available to you at Bridgetown.Church/Triads, which you’re welcome to check out at any time. You can also watch a short video on these two disciplines from our Communities Team below: