The Basics on the Basics (Part 2)

The something more that many folks need has to do with basic Bible and Doctrine (i.e., teachings). From our our quiz results last weekend, that's close to 60% of the people who attend Five Oaks.

As regards the basics, the 101-301 seminars establish people in the basic practices that lead to spiritual growth: worship, fellowship, service/stewardship, Bible reflection, prayer, obedience, influencing others for Christ, compassion, and missions. But these seminars do little to orient people to the Bible or to ground them in the basic teachings of the Bible.

As I said in my message on the basics, I think a good orientation to the basics should include three areas: Bible, Doctrine and Practice.

The REVEAL research strongly indicates that basic doctrine is one one of the most (if not THE most) catalyzing factor in spiritual growth for believers early on in their journey. It's not hard to see why skipping the basics of doctrine and the Bible can sabotage a person's spiritual growth.

A little over 40% of folks who come to Five Oaks are pretty well established in the basics of the Bible and doctrine. They need 101-301 because those seminars orient them to mission and how we accomplish it and how they can join in. Each one is only two hours long, so it's not a big deal for someone to get up to speed on our process, even if they've developed advanced knowledge and skills in those areas.

But we've decided to offer a basic seminar on the Bible and basic doctrine to those who score low on a self-graded Bible & Doctrine Assessment we will offer in the 201 Deepening Seminar. More on that seminar in part three of "The Basics on the Basics."

What are your thoughts?

The Basics on the Basics (Part 1)

When the REVEAL team went out and interviewed the churches that scored in the top 5% on the spiritual vitality index, one of the most significant findings was that those churches provided a clear path for getting the basics of spiritual growth.

 All top-5 percent churches offer and heavily promote either membership or newcomer classes, many modeled after the Purpose-Driven Life four-step process. They position these classes as “not optional”...

Last year, in our ministry planning process, we looked at our REVEAL results and spent quite of bit of time analyzing our path at Five Oaks. We came to the conclusion that we need a clear path beyond what we do now: the Next Step Seminar and getting people into a small group. Our answer to this need was the development of the 101-301 Seminars. The 101 Connecting Seminar is a retooled Next Step Seminar that reflects our mission to Connect, Deepen and Impact. The 201 Deepening Seminar will be launched at Woodbury on February 28 and soon after that at Hudson. The 301 Impacting Seminar will be launched this spring.

These seminars are very similar to and modeled after the Purpose-Driven Life four-step process, but they are adapted to our mission of Connecting, Deepening and Impacting. They are how we deliver the basics, while at the same time orienting folks to our mission and helping them get involved.

But while working on this series on spiritual growth, especially the message on the basics, it became clear to me that some folks need a little more basic training than what we offer in our 101-301 seminars. More on that in part two of "The Basics on the Basics."

This is a four-part series that I've completed and will be posted over the next few days. But I'm interested in your thoughts along the way.