The discussions at the 2o13 Northern California Church Alive Summit were just the beginning! Here are two ways to participate in ongoing discussions:
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Conference calls. Check back here for a schedule of calls on specific topics. Participants will be given a number to call (from FreeConferenceCall.com) along with a passcode. There’s no charge to participate; you just pay your regular phone rates.
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Email discussion groups. Join one or more groups to connect with friends and other church members across the region to share ideas and inspiration, ask questions, and make plans. To get started, click on the name of a topic area of interest (from the list below). That will take you to the home page of the particular Google email group where you can sign up. Click on “Apply for membership” to request access. You should be approved to join the group within 24 hours. Each group has a host or two to nurture the conversation and help with technical questions.
CHURCH FAMILY
NorCal Church Alive — Fellowship
Individual spiritual growth builds on the collective, on the fellowship and support we give and gain from one another. There are many avenues for church families to come together, break bread, share ideas, and look outward.
NorCal Church Alive — Services
Let’s look at church services with a fresh eye from the perspective of the newcomer and the next generation of participants. What about music, sensitive use of translations, and…?
NorCal Church Alive — Sunday Schools
How can Sunday School be an active spiritual connection for youth’s growth throughout the week and provide both a grounding in the Pastor and relevant inspiration and tools for daily life? Let’s explore ideas and resources together!
NorCal Church Alive — Christian Science Parenting
Looking for an opportunity to talk with and be inspired by others who use Christian Science as the basis of their parenting? Let’s build a supportive community that tackles the issues and recognizes the blessings together!
COMMUNITY EMBRACE
NorCal Church Alive — Including our Communities
How do we begin to reach out into our communities, to discover their needs and put our churches to work to bless?
NorCal Church Alive — Engaging with the Faith Community
How do we begin to engage with fellow Christians, as well as individuals of other faiths, to build on common ground and a desire to bless others? Let’s explore both opportunities for this outreach and how we enter the conversation.
NorCal Church Alive — Reading Rooms
Reading Rooms are a Manual provision that offer huge potential to bless from within the community. Let’s share ideas and examples of an expanded sense of Reading Rooms.
NorCal Church Alive — Lectures
Lectures are a Manual provision that offer wonderful potential to share inspiring ideas and dialog with others within the community. Let’s share ideas and examples of an expanded sense of lectures.
NorCal Church Alive — Christian Science Practice
Whether as Christian Science practitioners, nurses, chaplains or active workers in the field, how can we cultivate and expand our healing practice?
We are looking for the contact of the gentleman from San Francisco who broadcasts services and information about CS on the radio in Spanish. He spoke at the Sacramento Church Alive. At 1st Church in S. Lake Tahoe, we have a Hispanic family with 2 girls that speak only a little English coming to our service and SS. Only a few of us can speak a little Spanish. They have S & H and the Bible and quarterlies in Spanish but we could use help with SS ideas and lessons in Spanish or children’s audio CS songs/stories. Thanks!
2nd Church San Francisco contact information is here: http://awaketohealing.org/contact/ The email address should work to get you in touch with Jorge.
Thanks for the contact!
@Yvonne…
To join a group, click on the name of one of the discussion groups (listed above). That will take you to the Google Group page for that group. This is what you’ll see:
“NCCA_Fellowship (or whatever the short name of the group is)
You must be a member of this group to view and participate in it.
Apply for membership or contact the owner.”
Click on “Apply for membership.” That will bring up a window called “Apply to join the NCCA_Fellowship group” Click on the blue rectangle at the bottom labeled “Apply to join this group.” You should be approved to join within 24 hours.
Once you’re a member, you can participate by sending an email to the group (ncca_fellowship@googlegroups.com). Whenever someone else does the same, it will go to your email in-box.
If you’d like to see past discussions for a particular group, you can go to the Google Group page for that discussion group. The easiest way to get there is to click on the name of the discussion group listed above.
It isn’t clear to me how I request to join a group. I know I am in one group, and I think it is the interfaith group and the one on practitioners. What are the logistical steps I take to ask to join a group. And then once I’ve joined where do I go to see the discussion and to get involved in the discussion. It seems like I”ve gotten only parts of conversations as emails on the groups that I am already in. Is there a link to see the whole string of conversation? I don’t even know if this is the right place to ask this question. If it’s not, maybe someone could send me a separate email. Thanks in advance for your help!
Agreed! The team is in the process of updating group names AND adding descriptions which should make selection clearer. We expect to have these in place by the end of the week. Thanks so much for your patience…and for participating!
For me the “brief descriptions” are not enough to understand what these discussion group will be talking about: Community, In-reach, Communication, Multi-Cultural. As someone who doesn’t know the buzz words, having not attended the summit, I would like a short paragraph describing what the group will focus on. Does “Community” mean outreach to the local community, the world community, or the church community? Or does it involve outreach at all? What is “in-reach”? Caring for members and their concerns? “Communication the way the world communicates”…does that mean learning to use social media at the local branch church level? Does “multi-cultural” refer to within the local branch church, or being aware of the cultural needs of the local community, or is it the same as “interfaith outreach”?
@Marilyn, we’ve added brief descriptions for each group.
It would be helpful if a brief description of what the conversations “transition”, “services”, and “in-reach” may consist of.
Thank you.