Holy Orange Onion, Batman!

Have you ever peeled an onion?

I mean, peel it layer after layer until you get to the very center?

Neither have I.  Guess I’ve never been curious enough.  But when I look at a slice of onion, I’m amazed at the number of layers.

Community is a lot like an onion.  Lots of layers.

Moving forward with Orange Week, Elevate Community is the 4th component to the Orange philosophy from the reThink Group.  (For discussions on the 1st, 2nd & 3rd components, click here.) Read Matt’s post here for reThink’s formal definition of Elevate Community.

In today’s post I share about the layers we discovered when we began to Elevate Community.  We could call it the Orange Onion. 

At our weekly discipleship event, we learned early that creating some sense of community for elementary kids required consistency.

• Consistent Leader
• Consistent Kids

So we worked to place kids into peer groups with an adult leader.  This was their group for the duration of the year.

The first layer.

A few years into it we discovered that the extent of community that existed in most groups was restricted to the 2 hours they were together every Wednesday night.  There was a clear need for the child’s community to reach into the rest of the week.  It seemed the groups that had the best synergy had leaders that sent hand-written notes to their kids during the week.  Something we called “a touch”.  Recognizing this success, we led the entire team to do the same.  Not a requirement.  That doesn’t work.  But a tool to do what they want to do… build a relationship with their kids.

The second layer.

Fast-forward a few more years and we still see areas where community can increase.  In the chaos of drop-off and pick-up there was little opportunity for parents to know the adult group leaders name, much less learn anything about them.  There was a clear disconnect between parents and their child’s small group leader.  This was the tricky one… and there is still more to be done.  But we started with simply sharing information.  Providing details to parents about who the small group leader is, what they like, why they choose to serve as a small group leader.  We turned the tables and gave parents the opportunity to tell their small group leader more about their child.  (I.e. Favorite foods, Favorite movie,  color, etc) The exchange of information breaks down the initial barriers and creates some common ground.  It’s forward momentum toward establishing a relationship.

The third layer.

The most recent attempts to increase community is random events that draw kids, parents and small group leaders together to interact socially.  Opportunities like barbecue at the park.  The event can be Bring Your Own Barbecue… it’s totally up to you.  The point is providing the opportunity to get together outside of the church event.  Get your small group leaders on board and they become your megaphone to the families.  Pretty soon you’ve got parents hanging out talking with their child’s small group leader while watching the kids play on the playground.

The fourth layer.

There are so many more layers to go before we reach the center of this thing.

Where would I go next?

First of all, the steps taken above need consistent attention.  As the idea of really fostering relationships (parent-to-kid, kid-to-kid, parent-to-volunteer) becomes part of the DNA of the church, then less effort is put towards these steps.  However… there will always be more to do.

I want to…

• Lead parents to see the small group leader as another influence they can leverage
• See small group leaders pursue a relationship w/ the parents
• See small group leaders attending extracurricular events for their kids
• See parents inviting the small group leader to attend extra-curricular activities
• Hear about parents, kids and small group leader spending time together simply b/c they like each other
• See a more Orange approach with the Small Groups Pastor championing the culture of relational connection between parents and small group leaders

The idea in all of this has nothing to do with hosting more events or creating more work for volunteers, parents or you.  The point is creating a culture that fosters relationships from kids to small group leader to parents.

Fostering this culture in the elementary small group experience sets the stage for increased involvement in Student Ministry.  Give your Youth Pastor kids and parents that are accustomed to leveraging the relationship of the small group leader.

S’all I got.

What do you do to Elevate Community?

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