Having visited many missional groups and simple church leaders within Australia I am hearing some needs that seem to be widespread young adults
- For parents of children, especially teenagers and youth there are the very real needs to be with other young people, especially those on a missional pathway.
- A related need is for more connection of simple church/ missional groups with other similar groups beyond their own home sized group.Some people are geographically isolated and yearn for more support and fellowship.
- A third challenge is how to go deeper in accountability and in relationships within groups.
While there isn’t a simple “one size fits all” answer I want to suggest the following:
Church or faith community should exist on at least 3 levels
- The 2-3 sized gathering that is ideal for relational depth accountability and personal support.
- The home sized group which is ideal for sharing, encouragement, vision, and learning from each other, meals and practising most of the “one anothers” urged in the New Testament.
- Larger Gatherings. These may be conferences, special events, seminars etc. They should including regular meetings of faith communities/simple churches to share , encourage each other and add special parts which could include focused teaching times, praise and celebration.Some networks meet monthly for this purpose. One lady shared recently that as an extrovert she felt a need for more worship (congregational praise and singing) and was energised by larger groups of people.
As soldiers on the front line of missional endeavour, the need for encouragement and support is real.
