Module 8 - Organising Church

Module aims:

To study a range of subjects necessary to church life; the significance of preaching, the value of orderly meetings, fellowship in practice and recognising godly authority.

SUBJECT

Session aims

8/1

Being Christ:

some ideas about how to be Christ in today's world

To discuss how to show the world Christ's radical love and service

To identify and address issues which prevent the church being effective

To consider how to be 'like Christ' in a godless world

8/2

Scriptural Options:

ways of organising church, with Scripture in mind

To study Scriptural different models for 'being church'

To assess what is essential to our identity and what is felxible

To explore patterns of church growth and 'Fresh Expressions'    

8/3

Leadership:

leaders, authority, service and the example of Christ

To assess the models of leadership and authority referred to by Jesus

To examine some secular leadership practices used by the church

To form opinions about the way God exercises authority

8/4

Freedom & Liturgy:

the use of liturgy and freedom of expression

To look at the ways in which we tend to structure the life of the church

To examine the freedom of the Spirit and consider what this means

To suggest ways for the church to be free in the Spirit and orderly

8/5

Prophets & Vision:

the role of the prophet and visionary in church life

To study the role of the prophets in Israel and in the Church

To consider whether we use prophecy as God intends

To explore the difference between worldly and spiritual 'vision'

8/6

Preaching:

what future for the sermon and church service?

To assess preaching as a means of communicating God's Word

To assess the connections between preaching and prophecy

To consider ways the Gospel might be effectively 'preached' today

8/7

Music & Worship:

music and the arts and their place in church

To assess the value of performance in worship and service

To examine trends in music which might affect our worship

To consider how we can employ other 'arts'; in proclaiming the Gospel

8/8

Buildings & Art:

guidelines for managing church buildings

To discuss issues around the ownership of buildings for church purposes

To explore the range of art that has been inspired by Christian faith

To evaluate owning property and art as proclamation of the Gospel

8/9

Church Meetings:

how to organise a meeting that makes good decisions

To examine the structure of church meetings and their purposes

To study the correct procedures for and value of managing meetings

To look at how God's people can make good and godly decisions

Next Organising Church module

LiFE is in its infancy and is constantly reviewed. Over the next few months we hope to gain backing for its long term future, and with this, the next Organising Church module will be in the autumn of 2017.   

All students taking this course must have done the initial discipleship module and are expected to be familiar with the style of learning. Apart from this there are no rules about which modules are done when; you are free to choose them as you wish.  Click here to express an interest: