class meeting

part of my first year seminary experience has been participation in something called a "class meeting." it is sort of modeled after the Wesleyan band meeting, but our groups are not gender exclusive, and have a couple other minor changes. our class meeting consisted of four first-year students, one second-year student, and one faculty member. we have met once a week all year. there have been two main components of our class meeting: to check in with one another on the state of our souls (this usually manifested itself in each person sharing something about how God had worked in their life during the week), and alms-giving. class meeting was NOT bible study, prayer group, or a book group. today was our last meeting of the year with all six of us present. throughout the year i have had moments of reflection and appreciation for the presence of this group in my life for this first year of seminary, but today i thought i'd write it down. being a part of this group was invaluable this year. one of the biggest things that i learned from this group of people is about how i articulate my story to others. somewhere in the middle of winter quarter, one of my classmates called me out. he noted that i had shared my entire time without ever using the word God. and he asked me to speak specifically about how God played a role in what i was sharing. i was censoring God. i used language that was safe, language that would be sure not to offend, and language that didn't do justice to the power of God in my life. since then, i have paid more attention to how i communicate what God is doing in my life, and i have learned to recognize things as God rather than coincidence. and i have learned to ask better questions. this group of people has been vulnerable together, we have laughed together, we have thrown our hands up in the air together, we have grieved together, and we have prayed together. i don't think i ever would have thought that this kind of group would have been beneficial - i mean, i had never heard of a small group that didn't study the bible or wasn't one of these newfangled "affinity groups". i am here to tell you, friends, that there is something to this idea of a class meeting or band meeting. it appears that i get to do it again next year, and i hope that it becomes an indispensable part of my discipleship in the future.

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