In the journey, you will be asked about many factors that have been found to that affect Scripture engagement. We have grouped these many factors in large categories, which we call “Conditions.” Under each of those Conditions you will see a number of factors. For each factor there is an introductory animated video and enough questions to help you understand that factor. You will probably find that some factors are more relevant to your context than others. If they are not relevant to your situation, feel free to skip them. For those sub-topics that are relevant, please discuss the questions with the members of your community. As you work through the questions, under each factor and condition, , you will come to better understand the issues that are likely to help or hinder affect Scripture engagement in your community.
Record your Ideas.
Because there are so many factors involved, we are providing a way for you to keep track of what you discover. Please use the Community Profile template, available as an online Google Doc or a downloadable Word file. The template has places to write down ideas, and over time you will have a more complete picture of your community’s needs. It will also help you know which topics you haven’t visited yet.
Once you’ve visited some topics, you will have a better idea of what your community needs when you head over to the Resource Catalog.
Suggestions for facilitating a group discussion.
- In order to get a complete understanding of your community, include people from a variety of age groups. You might also want to include people from both rural and urban areas. This could require repeating the discussions with multiple groups.
- Find a place to meet where you will not experience interruptions.
- Have someone facilitate the discussion while someone else takes notes on a whiteboard or notebook. One person should not try to do both.
- Don’t attempt to do too much in a single meeting. Most people can only concentrate for so long before they need a break. If the discussion goes long, schedule an occasional break.
- Everyone should be given an opportunity to speak. Try not to let one or two people dominate the discussion.
- A very important part of the process is answering the summary questions at the end of each sub-topic. Make sure that the group agrees with the way the discussion has been summarized.