The General Meeting Night - Part 5 - Are You Ready?

Part 5?! How many of these are there going to be?? I don't know. Lots I guess.

I'm getting ready for tonight's Celebrate Recovery at Saddleback and I'm teaching the Amends lesson. I love the lessons on Principle 6 because they show us that we don't recover in a vacuum. We all have people that have hurt us and people we have hurt and therefor need to learn to make amends and offer forgiveness. I'm excited about CR tonight!

I was just sitting here thinking though, are we ready? Do we have all of the elements of the night in place? I know who's teaching, but other than that, are we ready? The answer is, yes. We are ready, but not on accident and not without having to think about it some. If you're reading this blog (Hi!) then you probably know about the Advanced Leadership Training Guide. In that kit we have a module on the Large Group, which is of course part of the General Meeting Night (GMN). There's a worksheet in there called the "Large Group Format Worksheet." We use that each and every Friday night. It helps us keep organized and makes sure we don't forget anything.

Have you ever had that moment, maybe seconds before the Large Group begins and you think, "Did we get anyone to read the steps or principles tonight?" If you have, you know that panic. Ok, maybe panic is a bit strong but if you're the Ministry leader at your CR, that scenario probably does make you panic just a little. The worksheet has a place for you, or if you delegate this task like I do, for someone else to find readers and to write their names in that spot. It makes it so easy.

So, before you begin your next GMN, ask yourself, are we ready? Did we forget anything? If so, fix it.

If not, enjoy it. It probably won't happen twice in a row.

Johnny

Comments

[Adele]

My group is in a small town, and my "M" came up with an idea for reading the 12 steps. have each step typed on individual pieces of paper and place them randomly on chairs before the large group meeting. Then instead of one person coming up and reading steps, whoever has a paper on their chair reads that step when its time. Great way to get people involved. Its been fun and the group stays "in tune."