I'm really curious about how first studies of Unbinding the Gospel are going in your church. What are people's first reactions? Is the new prayer journal helpful?

Here's our advice, based on loads of congregations' initial experiences:

1. read the Introduction, chapter 1 & chapter 4 of Unbinding Your CHURCH before you start your first study of GOSPEL (for at least 8 weeks - combine the first 2 and the last 2 chapters to get an 8 week study).

2. Oh, and the other thing is that weekly meetings seem to be better than monthly. Most churches are reporting that even though it sounded like a great idea at the beginning, monthly elders' meetings don't seem to do as well - it's too long between meetings and there's all that business to get through.

What are you all finding???

Definitely like weekly meetings as opposed to monthly. We had 3 groups but failed to get all of our council involved so we are doing more groups now and including all church lay leaders. Hopefully this will also have a ripple effect.

We've been trying monthly and it feels like pulling teeth. On the other hand, most people I ask "don't have the time" to do it weekly. Maybe I need to think more about who I'm asking.

We're into our 3rd week of our initial study--we have 2 groups--one on Mondays and one on Wednesdays with 24 participating in all including 3 from another church (our church has an average worship attendance around 250). Our pastor invited any "leaders and those who want to be leaders" to participate through the bulletin, targeted letters, and verbal invitations and we have a cross-section of the church--some Administrative council members(9), Evangelism chair(me), church staff, Sunday School teachers, and an age range from 20's to 80's.
Although we sensed some resistance and some said they weren't sure if their schedules would allow them to do the study, everyone from the 1st week came back and we gained 2 more. Our pastor and I are co-leading and the first 2 weeks we were feeling our way about the best way to facilitate the discussion, but the prayer exercise triads at the end went great. We pray together before each session and what we felt led to do this week was to begin with 2 minutes of silent prayer with each asking God what they most felt led to discuss and share about the reading and their first week's experience with the prayer journal. The sharing & discussion was "unstructured" and powerful but by the end we had "covered" the discussion questions and done the exercise--God led the session with very little interjection from us.
We had much positive feedback about the 1st week doing the prayer journal. One person shared that he had had a dedicated prayer time for years but had never structured it by reading scripture and letting God speak to him through scripture--he found it powerful and was challenged by what he heard God calling him to do--a "buckle-your-seat-belt" kind of experience.

We are half way through our leadership study and things are going well. One hour is not nearly enough time to reflect on the discussion questions, review the exercises, and talk about the prayer journal. Right now we are spending about half our time on sharing prayer insights and half the time talking about the book. We have been using mutual invitation so that everyone has a chance to share without being interrupted or having to defend their comments.

There was some initial skepticism about the prayer journal but now that we are beginning week three - people are talking more about their prayer time than the book (even those who were most skeptical).

Well - we did it. Eight Weeks, two small groups, lots of prayer and a whole new outlook on evangelism. At the last meeting both groups agreed that we need to continue. So now it is on to Unbinding the Church. A small group of four has formed to pray and ask God to make clear who will serve on the coordinating team.

Looking back over the entire experience we got off to a great start before experiencing a little bit of a sophomore slump during weeks three and four. During the final weeks we once again caught our stride and finished strong.

My advice to others who are interested in starting a leader study - mix it up. One week focus on the discussion questions, then focus on the prayer journal. On another week do the exercise during your small group time. Just remember, you can't do it all...there is just too much to digest in one small group session.

I was part of the group with fcpsteve. I am a Session member that sat in with the mission group. Your book is an amazing tool toward learning how to reach out of yourself to others. I look forward to the next step - whatever it may be. I truly believe we need a deeper relationship with ourselves and God before others can benefit when we share our stories.

Enthusiastic response to our first two Leaders’ study groups. Many struggled to make the daily commitment to a prayer time--most were positive about the prayer journal, saying it opened them to different ways to pray and deepened their connection with God. We’ve revised our initial thoughts about doing E-vent in the fall and we’re looking at Lent 2010.

We’re also praying about:
1. Getting enough folks committed to leading a small group for the E-vent. Less than half of the 19 who participated in the first Leaders’ studies see themselves as small group leaders for the E-vent. At that rate, with an average worship attendance around 250, we would need to do 6+ more Leaders’ study groups to have 40+ leaders ready to lead 20+ groups? What has been the experience of other churches?

2. How to sustain and build on the enthusiasm of the initial participants during the “slow, thorough saturation” process? Prayer and trusting in the Spirit is the foundation—what have other churches done to keep initial participants involved and building momentum moving forward to the E-vent?

3. In the last month, we’ve learned that we need to decide to do MAJOR repairs or construct a new church building. Potential to be a huge distraction, but feels right to move forward with the Unbinding the Gospel process because serious prayer, spiritual deepening, and a focus on why our faith matters seems to be what we most need at this time.