of Greater Brunswick
GATHER. GROW. GO.
At New Hope, we want faith formation to be something that happens every day of the week - not just for an hour or two on Sunday morning. We want children, youth, adults, grandparents, and households to be exploring the same stories together, and we want to help them continue the conversation at home.
Gather. Grow. Go. is a new way of helping us do that.
Your RSVP isn’t required, but it will help us ensure we have enough supplies ready to go for everyone who will attend!
WHY THE CHANGE?
Many of us have fond memories of weekly Sunday School for ourselves or for our children. There have been lots of wonderful things happening in our Sunday School programming in recent years, and we are grateful for all of the good that has come from these classes.
Like many churches today, we’ve noticed that people attend faith formation in different patterns than they once did. Between travel, family schedules, work, sports, and other commitments, many people - of all ages - are not able to be present every week. Rather than expecting everyone to fit an older model, we’re choosing to build a new model that better fits the rhythms of our congregation today.
WHAT WILL THE NEW MODEL LOOK LIKE?
We will begin offering faith formation programming once a month. Rather than trying to do a little every week, we’re choosing to invest our energy into creating one meaningful, high-quality experience each month, with resources to extend the conversation beyond Sunday morning.
We’re calling this new model Gather. Grow. Go., and believe it responds to the challenge of fluctuating attendance and offers exciting new opportunities for faith formation. Gather. Grow. Go. will take place on the second Sunday of each month, and will be directly connected to the worship and sermon themes for that month.
On the second Sunday of each month, we will...
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Gather in the Fellowship Hall as an intergenerational community to encounter the bible story or theme - and have some fun! - together.
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Grow deeper in our faith in age-specific groups (preschool, elementary, youth, and adult), all exploring the same bible story or theme in age-appropriate ways before coming back together to share what we’ve discovered.
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Go home and continue the conversation for the rest of the month! Each household will receive a “Go Bag” with resources that help engage the theme and practice our faith throughout the month.
WHY ARE WE EXCITED ABOUT THIS NEW MODEL?
Focusing our energy on one monthly gathering will allow us to be really intentional about our faith formation programming across all age groups. We believe faith grows best when generations learn from one another. Children need relationships with faithful adults beyond their own families, and adults are often surprised by what they learn from the curiosity and questions of children.
Instead of every age group studying different parts of the Bible each week, our entire church will be exploring the same bible story or theme together. This will create a sense of unity across generations, and equip parents and caregivers to continue the conversation with their kids at home. Connecting the themes to worship gives us all a chance to build on what we’re learning and experiencing together.
We’re excited to provide materials for every household to encounter the theme at home over the course of the month. Research consistently shows that kids’ faith is most deeply formed by their parents and by what happens in their everyday lives (not just by what happens at church on Sundays!). Our hope is to equip households - and all adults, whether or not they have children at home - with meaningful ways to continue growing in faith throughout the month.
Our first year’s themes come from Follow Me: Biblical Practices for Faithful Living, a curriculum centered on practices Jesus taught and lived. Written for people of all ages who wish to live out their faith, Follow Me examines where these practices are found in the Bible and how they have been used in Christian faith then and now. These will be our monthly themes for worship, with a special Gather. Grow. Go. gathering on the second Sunday of each month.
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