October 2010

Over the past two months, I have presented FJU (An Intentional Discipleship Program) to our church staff, deacons, and small group leaders. It has been very well received, and we have a host of people who see the merit, understand the vision, and have expressed an interest in getting involved. The feedback has been excellent.

We will kick off FJU the first weekend of January.

There have been some common questions voiced – which I will try to address here:

1) Are we sure that the four month period for each class is best? We have gone round and round about the time frame for the courses and finally agreed that four months is a reasonable period of time to cover the material for each course. As we debated about the possibility of matching it with our current quarterly system, it was pointed out that our current quarters don’t run concurrent with the calendar year (ie. Dec.-Jan.-Feb.). So, if we began this program in Jan., we couldn’t match it anyway.

2) What form will the recognition come in for our “graduates?” I want to minimize any recognition because that is not the point of this ministry. The point is to offer some helpful courses and make better disciples. Nobody is going to invest in 12 FJU courses just to earn a fake diploma. The motivation has to be to grow closer to Christ in knowledge and grace.

3) What happens if a teacher cannot finish the material in 16 weeks? That is not an option. The burden will be on the teacher to keep things moving along. There has to be uniformity for this program to work. At this point, it looks like we’ll be offering three FJU classes during the First Session of 2011. All three will begin on Jan. 2 and conclude on Apr. 17. I am already excited about the Second Session and the Appreciation for Church Music course that John Peters and Rodney Pendell will be offering during the 9:30 hour!

4) What if someone wants to teach an elective not offered on the current list? Come by and talk to me about it. Our electives are all in the “idea” stage right now. If it fits in with the vision of our church, I’d love for some teachers to offer creative electives.

5) What happens if our Small Group doesn’t want to participate, but then we lose some members to these courses? Well, you’re not really “losing” anybody. Anyone who takes a course is still a part of your Small Group. The FJU courses do not replace Small Groups; they supplement our current system. Many of our Small Groups are like little families. The members take care of each other and look after one another. I would hope and pray that this continues, and that no group feels threatened by any additional opportunities.

I would like to have a meeting on Sun. Oct. 24 at 6:00 p.m. in my office with those who plan on being involved with FJU in the coming year. We will finalize details and nail down our course offerings for the First Session of 2011.