Sorry about that.
Celebrate Recovery TEAM
]]>We will drink lots of coffee.
We will get a look at our watches as we groggily brush our teeth.
We will shout angrily at the disheveled image in the mirror at how late we are to the church.
We will clean off the mirror after shouting angrily with toothpaste in our mouth (the spouse abhors a speckled mirror!)
We will stop by Dunkin’ Donuts for more coffee and a bus-load of fine pastries.
We will arrive at the church parking lot.
We will be shunned by the non-morning people/we will shun the morning people.
We will all (eventually) feel the love again... because we remembered the fine pastries.
We will pile on the bus.
We will eat fine pastries, and drink coffee, and talk excitedly with our mouths full as the bus bumps along.
We will sing loudly, and inaccurately, with the worn out Switchfoot CD that the youth left from their trip to camp in the same bus.
We will arrive at the Celebrate Recovery One Day Seminar with great expectations.
We will laugh and talk and cry and learn and grow together.
We will go home closer to the Lord, closer to each other, and better equipped to bring the life-changing ministry of Celebrate Recovery to hurting people.
Are YOU going to a One Day near you? What better way to encourage your ministry than to spend the day together with your CR family? Get on the bus!
john e
]]>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
]]>Nope, I didn't forget.
The next part of the General Meeting Night (GMN) I wanted to talk about is the Information Table.
"WAIT! The information table is the responsibility of the Assimilation Coach. You aren't Mac!"
You're right on both counts. But, I still want to talk about it. I'll try to talk about it from the Ministry Leader perspective, though. Cool, Mac? Thanks.
The information table is a very important component of the GMN. Having a table with all of group sheets available goes a long way in making the newcomer feel comfortable. And remember, the GMN is all about who?
That's right, the newcomer.
The thing is, not everyone is going to feel comfortable telling someone else why they're coming to Celebrate Recovery. They might be afraid of being judged or singled out. That's why having the group description sheets available can be such a help. I've actually seen people come to our information table and take one of each sheet, both for men and women, so that no one can guess why they're there. Eventually they'll come to understand how Celebrate Recovery works, but that first night, they may want to be as unnoticed as possible.
Next, it's also important to make sure there are people at the table who can answer questions. We like to make sure the people behind our info table here at Saddleback are friendly, experienced leaders. We want people, at least one man and one woman, that know the program, the campus and that are good with people. We want them to be able to answer questions and help connect people if they'd like us to.
So, make sure you have an information table, that you have people behind it to answer questions and help the newcomer and that you have the right things on it.
As far as what goes on the table and what should be left of, I'll leave that for Mac.
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In the literal sense, I brought my laptop, my phone and my iPad. Three things that all have internet connections. It was hard to put them down. I found myself checking email, looking at the Facebook page, and keeping posted on what was going on with Celebrate Recovery in my absence. About half way through the second day though, I looked at my kids and realized that I didn’t want to miss one more second of our time together. All of the other stuff could wait. I knew that would mean more work for me when I got back, but I didn’t care at that moment. All I cared about was that we were eating hotdogs and laughing, and talking and trying to not get stung by bees. It was great. But it was really, really hard. I’ve gotten into this habit of taking my phone out of my pocket and, “just checking” any time I get a chance. It’s almost a reflex now. Some of you know just what I’m talking about.
Figuratively, it was much harder to unplug. I love Celebrate Recovery. I think about it all the time. This program has changed my life. It’s given me the tools to connect with Christ in a deeper way than I ever thought possible. I also know how many lives have been changed through Celebrate Recovery. And after a great experience like the Summit, my mind has been on overdrive. I’ve written more about Celebrate Recovery in the last two weeks than I have in the last six months. Just check the date of my last post before this year’s Summit. I have been charged up! Turning that off for a few days was tough. Instead of writing down an idea for a blog post or an illustration for a lesson, I had to let it go and trust that either God would bring it back to mind at the appropriate time, or He would give me something better.
I admit, I’m bad at this. Some of you are ok at unplugging and taking time away, but my gut feeling is most of us have a hard time with this. If so, can I just tell you how great it was for me? It was amazing. I finally feel rested. If you’re bad at this too, I want to encourage you to try it. Try to take some time and not think about CR. I know. I get it. But, for me at least, that time away has allowed me to come in today fresh and renewed.
So let me ask you, when is the last time you unplugged? Literally? Figuratively? Are you good at it? Tell us what you do and how we can learn from you in the comments.
Johnny
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In your talk (Journey through the Leaders Guide workshop at the Summit), you mentioned that you really "love the small group guidelines". I could see your enthusiasm. Would you mind sharing "the why" you love them? I'd like to hear more.
I'd like to tell you more. You're right, Mike, I do love the guidelines. I can tell you why in one word, safe. The group guidelines are essential for keeping CR groups safe. In fact the two best ways I know to ensure that groups will be safe are, to keep them gender based and to enforce the guidelines.
The guidelines are simple, and they're effective. Once everyone becomes accustomed to them they'll not only keep the group safe, but they'll enhance the sharing.
Wait? What? The group guidelines enhance the sharing?
Yes. I'm sure you've either been told or have thought it yourself that the guidelines will stop people from sharing, but it isn't true. Admittedly, they may take some getting used to, but once someone gets taught how to share using the guidelines, they realize that they are now safe to share without, fear of getting interrupted, judged or fixed. Not only that, but if they want to share something and then never speak of it again, they are free to do that.
But the guidelines don't just enhance the sharing by helping the one sharing, they also teach us how to listen. How many times have you felt like the person you were talking to was just waiting for you to breathe so they could speak? Well, because of the guidelines, when we are in a group that doesn't allow fixing or cross talk, all we are left to do is, listen. We don't have to worry about giving good advice, because the guidelines keep us from trying to fix. We don't have to answer questions, because the guidelines keep us from cross talk.
So, the guidelines keep our groups safe, enhance the sharing and make us better listeners. Not bad for five simple guidelines. That's why I love the guidelines, how about you?
Johnny
]]>Greeters don't just make the newcomer feel welcome though, they also get to serve. Lots of people come to Celebrate Recovery and they are ready and willing to serve. When someone first comes to Celebrate Recovery they may not be ready to get super involved in service or become leaders, but they can serve. In fact, newcomers can serve as greeters the very first night they attend. Use your discretion on this, but if someone comes and wants to serve, hand them a stack of bulletins and tell them where to stand and how to greet.
How to greet? Really? Do we need to tell people how to greet? In my experience, yes. We do.
We've had greeters that sing songs as people come in, want to hand out candy, and stop people to chat as they come in. This can be distracting and cause people to feel uncomfortable. We tell our greeters to hand out a bulletin, smile and say, "Welcome to Celebrate Recovery." That's it.
Having greeters makes a huge difference to newcomers and gives people a service opportunity.
How have you seen greeters make a difference at your Celebrate Recovery?
Johnny
]]>I wanted to let you know we're going to add some content to the homepage in the next few days. This blog has been dedicated to the Celebrate Recovery TEAM and Leaders, and I think it's going really strong. The homepage is going to have content geared more towards the participant. It will still have all of the dates of the Celebrate Recovery One Days, and news that you'll need too, but we're going to have features and stories that, we hope, will encourage newcomers and participants who are walking the road to recovery with us.
If it's been a while since you've gone to the homepage, check it out.
Have ideas on what we should feature there? Let us know in the comments.
Johnny
]]>I wanted to touch a little on just what the General Meeting Night (GMN) is and what the components are. The GMN is your main Celebrate Recovery meeting night. Here at Saddleback, it's Friday nights. We've been meeting every Friday night since 1991. We've moved into different buildings and rooms, but we're here every Friday night. Your GMN doesn't have to be on Fridays, there's nothing sacred or special about that day of the week, it's just the day that worked for us.
When you pick the night for your GMN you may want to find out if there are other Celebrate Recovery groups meeting in your area? If so, what night or nights do they meet? Try to have your GMN on a different night of the week so more people can come to more meetings. You'll also be able to have leaders from the other CR groups come to your GMN and give their testimonies. Wait, we'll get to that in another post.
Also, you'll need to check with your church to see what nights are available. Is there a night of the week that allows you to spread out? Choose whatever night works best for you and your church, keeping in mind the other CR groups that may be meeting. I know of lots of places that offer CR meetings every night of the week because a few churches have worked together to make that happen. That is so cool.
The basic components of the GMN are Large Group and Open Share Groups. The Large Group is the meeting that most resembles a church service. This is where you'll have worship, a testimony or a Celebrate Recovery lesson. We'll talk about all of those elements in the coming weeks. The Open Share Groups follow the Large Group and are gender specific and recovery issue specific. The Group Guidelines are used in this time, but the Celebrate Recovery Participant Guides are not.
Another component of the GMN is Fellowship Events, like the BBQ and Solid Rock Cafe. You guessed it, we'll talk about those later too.
I know this may seem like basic information if you are already doing CR, but I really want to get back to the basics for the next few posts.
Next post we'll start looking at each of the elements of the Large Group.
Johnny
]]>With that, I thought I'd start by spending some time talking about the General Meeting Night (GMN). The GMN is a key element of Celebrate Recovery for a couple of reasons. I'll talk about the main reason in this post and then break down some of the elements of the GMN in the next few.
The GMN is important because it is all about the newcomer. The GMN is the first experience most people will have with Celebrate Recovery. Everything we do on the GMN should be filtered through the eyes of the newcomer.
On arriving to your GMN the Ministry Leader and TEAM members may want to ask questions like these:
Asking ourselves questions like these every time we get to our GMN, we ensure that as the Ministry Leader or TEAM member, we are focused on the newcomer.
How do you make sure your GMN is ready for newcomers? Let us know in the comments.
Johnny
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