"Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another..." Hebrews 10:25
I doubt the writer to the Hebrews had anything like COVID-19 in mind when writing that, but there might never be a more pertiment time than now for us to take this advice.
If you're wondering how to "do discipleship" in an era of self-isolation, lock-downs, churches and schools closing, we think we can help
Get the teaching via FreedomStream - now with extended 3-month free trial!
In response to the Coronavirus crisis, we've decided to release all our teaching material for free through a 3-month, no obligation free trial to all our FreedomStream subscriptions. With one subscription to FreedomStream, a church can offer access to all our teaching material to every member, using one simple login. That includes the Freedom In Christ Course, disciple, Grace Course, Freed To Lead, Keys To Health & Wholeness and more! You could all watch at a particular time or watch in your own time, and then...
... "meet up" and discuss!
Using a Video Conferencing app like Zoom or Skype can offer the chance to then meet together to discuss the teaching using the discussion questions.
Skype "Meet Ups" offer an easy (and free) way to hold a video conference call for up to 50 people.
Zoom probably gives you more options but costs a bit - their Pro Account for £11.99 per month allows you to put participants into "break-out" groups and have people call in using a landline/mobile.
Here at Freedom In Christ our app of choice is Zoom - we use it every day for meetings and training our teams all over the world. There are other options though - Webex and Microsoft Teams could work for you.
Some Tips and Advice
Leading a group using Video Conferencing has it's challenges. We've put together a series of "How To..." videos on getting the most out of Zoom - you can see them here. Check out the first one below:
(NB there's unfortunately a problem with the audio from about 55s through to 1m13s, for some reason... but the rest of the video is fine!)
In essence, you'll want to:
- Make sure the technology is working, that everyone has the app. Consider doing a trial run first
- Be interntional about involving people - people won't be quite as relaxed. Consider using an ice-breaker to get everyone interacting
- Likewise - when asking an open question, people won't answer as quickly or easily as they hang back for someone else to answer. Consider asking specific people questions, or perhaps taking it in turns to answer and agreeing the order up front.
Take a look at the rest of the series here.
Most importantly of all, have fun!
If you have any questions or would like any help, do contact us either by phone or online. We're here to help!