NEXT (Update)

Recently at the Suncoast we have taken a break from our community/small groups and trying a medium sized gathering called NEXT instead. You can read more about it in the previous posts but Sunday night was NEXT #1 and here is a quick update:

• We spent about 15 - 20 minutes just hanging out as people showed up. Great to be able to chat with people I don't always get a chance to chat with.
• We started with a little ice-breaker where I had everyone in the room get up and find the person with the birthday closest to theirs and then share one thing people might be surprised to know about themselves.
• We studied how to read the Bible for a topic and I created a few page booklet with some info and fill in the blank style notes.
• Part of each NEXT will be a time for people to "try it" right there so we took about 10 minutes where everyone read the same passage of Scripture and then did a little study on that by asking a few questions of the text. For many it was the first time they had ever studied the Bible.
• Then we broke up into some "huddle" groups and asked four very simple questions about the nights experience.
• We also had people sign up for a serving deal where we will feed the homeless of Tampa in the next few weeks before the next NEXT on March 28th.
• I think everyone had a positive experience and we connected some people who had not been to anything other than a Sunday BUT dang... there just were not the numbers we had thought would show (or even everyone that signed up???). So we will promote the fool out of the next one and see. I like the larger format and allowing community to happen naturally so one down, we learn and do it again. I will keep ya posted as we journey through this.