Some FAQs about the One Church Month

What happens to Communities in the One Church Months? Do they stop?

There's a sense in which Communities never stop, but the regular meeting rhythms will be paused throughout the One Church Months. Each Community is slightly different of course, and so it's probably best to speak to your Community leader about the plans for your Community, but Communities will stay connected even in these months in much the same way as they do now; calls, texts, visits, informally meet up, coffee meet up, lunch/dinner after church on Sundays, whatsapp groups, meet up for drink/meal before going to One Church events together, deciding what events to go to and sitting together, weekend brunches, walks, prayer gatherings, arrange the Community to meet in smaller groups throughout the month, and so on.

How does this work with NextGen? Does Youth Community stop?

Nope. NextGen is a ministry area that will find its own rhythm within the One Church rhythm. Youth Community will not stop but it might alter slightly in One Church Months, this will be dependent on the programme, worked out with the Youth team and clearly communicated to parents and young people (as it is currently).

Will we still have weeks of prayer?

Prayer will form a significant part of One Church Months. We may decide to do things differently some months but engaging the church in prayer will be an ongoing priority.

How will you decide on what happens each One Church Month?

For One Church Months there will be a planning process that we will follow; (1) pre-planned “big rocks” will go in first (e.g. things like weekend away, prayer weeks and so on (these are shaped by annual strategic planning); (2) there will be a sense from the eldership of what is going on in church life that we might be needing to respond to; (3) ideas (from anyone) will be submitted via newcom.church/idea a term in advance; (4) the planning team will begin to shape the programme for the month, in consultation with other leaders, balancing (1), (2) & (3) and attempting to fit in as much as possible, without overloading the month.

How would it work for events that happen at a certain time of year like light parties in October which is a community month?

Events like these are likely to be local community-based events, run by Communities or clusters of Communities in a location as part of their normal Community rhythms (i.e. no one is being forced to choose between Community and an event in that week). As such, they are free to run as they currently do.

How do we fit courses into a month?

10 week courses won’t be easy to fit in and will need some adaptation and/or meeting more than once a week. At the recent Called Conference we fitted in 4 sessions (and worship, food, and social time) between 7.30pm Friday evening and 2pm Saturday afternoon. This is a possibility that we will look at. One Church Months will not just be courses however, there are plenty of other events (either one offs or in a sequence) that we will be looking to run.

Communities are also welcome to run courses, and many do. Speak to your Community Leader and/or one of the Pastoral Team if you have any thoughts, ideas, or questions.

Are one church events in one church month likely to be during the week or weekends?

Each month will have a slightly different feel and programme, and we will aim for a good balance.

I have another question.

Great! Get in touch and we will do our best to answer.