AROUND THE TABLE (with GBYouth)

“It allows a wonderful balance of student discussion and teaching and it does a good job of creating a casual, but serious atmosphere.”

— Survey feedback from GBYouth Student

A New Common Ground format.

Youth ministry is often times experimental in nature. Teenagers, by design, are quite adventurous and welcome new things.  Recently, we began testing a new format for Common Ground.  While the front-end of the service remains the same with student-led, contemporary worship, the study aspect has changed significantly.  We have switched from a sermonic, pulpit-oration to a socratic, dialogue format.  Students no longer sit in lines, but in circles; they have moved from rows to around tables.

Why would we make such a change?

Several reasons.  Teenagers are in (what a Classicist would call) the rhetoric stage of their academic development.  This means that they are ready to discuss and debate the concepts and information that they have mastered.  They are eager to test the connections they have made along the way.  With this in mind, the socratic format challenges them to participate and engage the scripture, theological ideas, cultural relevance and personal application head-on. Finally, we believe this makes the information most sticky (memorable) following the session—which is exactly what we want. Dialogue helps to form critical thinkers who can articulate ideas winsomely.

What do students think?

The feedback we have received from our students has been overwhelmingly positive. In a recent survey, one student wrote, that the new format “allows a wonderful balance of student discussion and teaching and it does a good job of creating a casual, but serious atmosphere.” Others responded that they favored the new socratic method, “cause there is more connectedness,” and “more involvement;” “you have to be active.”   It is rewarding to see students excited about learning and taking ownership in the study.  Our young people are incredibly intelligent, insightful, and contribute well to the discussion.

Bryan Haynes
PC: photos by Amy Haynes

THE ROAD AHEAD

THE ROAD AHEAD:

New Study. New Sound. New Worship.

“Change is not only possible, with God, it is certain.  He will complete the work He’s begun!”

New Study.

Our over-arching study for the first portion of 2017 is How People Change, based upon the book by the same title by Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp.  Most Christians understand that they are supposed to experience some amount of change when they come into relationship with Jesus.  But understanding what exactly that change should look like can be confusing, even frustrating, especially for students. How People Change is a very down-to-earth exploration of what real, gospel-transformation looks like in the Christian life. 

In our first series, The Gospel Gap, we established that we have a genuine need to be filled with the light and truth of the gospel.  We spent time however, studying our temptation to fill that gap with counterfeits—hollow, deceptive philosophies as Paul called them in Colossians.  These counterfeits at times can even appear religious, maybe even sound Biblical, but don’t deliver on what they promise.  They are ultimately NOT the gospel.

With the counterfeits out of the way, we now forge ahead with our new series, The Road Ahead: Where God is Taking Us.  In this study, we will explore our dreams and meaning, both from the viewpoint of eternity.  Living with our destination in view brings clarity to the circumstances and values of our lives.  Change is not only possible, with God, it is certain.  He will complete the work He’s begun!

Our new multi-track, iPad software.

“We see music and technology as wonderful platforms for discipleship and service both here at Gillionville and the church global beyond.”

New Sound. New Worship.

The GBYouth worship team is excited to now employ, state of the art, multi-track accompaniment to enhance the Common Ground worship experience.  The multi-track software provides supporting instrumentation which helps fill the song, buttressing our on-platform musicians.  The system also delivers both click-track and verbal cues for tempo and song navigation.  We think students will hear a noticeable increase in quality and enjoyment of the worship set.

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Our new Behringer X32 digital board.

Other audio/visual enhancements include our new X32 Behringer digital board and Pro Presenter projection software.  While these components are largely behind the scenes (and might go completely unnoticed), they are very important to an over-arching discipleship strategy.  One goal of our church is to establish identical software/hardware in all areas of ministry (children, youth, and adult).  This is so that persons who are trained in one area (i.e. youth), can easily transition to serving in another (i.e. sanctuary) as they grow in the church.  Additionally, we are training students to use technology that they are likely to find at other churches.  So our graduating seniors will be able to transition more easily into worship teams away at college.  We see music and technology as wonderful platforms for discipleship and service here at Gillionville and the church global beyond.

New songs and sound begin April 12. Parents are always invited to worship at Common Ground with their teen!