GospelJelly96Brochure
From Christian Collegiate A Cappella Notes
Contents |
The GospelJelly MIT (96)
What is the Gospel Jelly?
The Gospel Jelly is a concept that emerged at last year's pitch retreat. It is a gathering of as many collegiate Christian a cappella groups as will come (i.e., no split between campuses), with the purpose of "gelling" and building the groups. The Jelly is primarily aimed toward helping individual groups, though we will grow closer as a community of groups too.
Why are we doing it?
Let's face it, most of our groups have some level of musical expertise. What we lack are group and teamwork skills. We don't have a plan to resolve conflicts, we don't know how to get everyone really involved, we don't know how to reach our full potential as instruments of God. We sing and we reach people, but are we as effective as we could be, and do we reach everyone that we should? And wouldn't it be great to have a grasp on these things early in the year so we can actually use them? The Jelly is designed to meet these needs.
How will my group benefit from the Jelly?
At the end of the Jelly, individual participants will know how to develop good attitudes and participate effectively as productive and active group members. To improve the internal working of our groups, each group will spend time defining its values, setting norms of behavior, and developing a plan for conflict resolution. To improve external reach and focus, each group will spend time defining its purpose, direction and vision. Essentially, the Jelly will be almost a group retreat, with guidance provided so your group can gain the most from the time and leave with as many of these important items accomplished as possible.
Friday, October 18
Overview:
Friday's talks will focus on the individual, in order to lay a foundation for the group work on Saturday and Sunday. These talks are crucial to gaining the maximum benefit from the weekend, because the information they contain will help each person contribute more productively to the group, as well as develop personally. Special sessions for Pitches will be given on all three days, covering topics like discussion facilitation methods, to ensure as much productive use of time as possible.
- 6:00-7:30 Groups arrive, register, refreshments are served
- 8:00 Talk: "Attitudes and the Christian"
- 9:00 Talk: "The Empowered Christian"
- 10:00 Pitches' session with Mr. Linden
- Everyone else hang out and get acquainted
- 11:00 Meet with hosts
Attitudes and the Christian
Individual attitudes are a vital factor in group participation and interaction. We will look at the definition and impact of attitudes, explore some consequences and concepts of attitudes and discuss how to develop and control proper attitudes. At the end of the presentation, each person will receive a self-assessment tool to discern where he or she is in terms of developing proper attitudes.
The Empowered Christian
A natural follow-on to the previous talk, we will learn how to become a more ready, willing and able servant of God. As before, each person will receive a self-assessment tool to discern how empowered they are and how they can improve.
Saturday, October 19
Overview:
Saturday will consist mainly of short talks and group breakouts. The talks will provide direction for the breakouts. During these breakouts, each group will have a separate room where it can deal with the issues discussed in the talks. A concert will follow in the evening to help us refocus on what we do and why we want to work better as groups.
- 8:00 Breakfast
- Pitches' session with Mr. Linden
- 9:00 Talk and Group Breakout: "Defining your Group's Values"
- 12:00 Lunch
- 1:00 Talk and Group Breakout: "Purpose, Direction and Vision"
- 3:30 Break for refreshments
- 4:00 Continue with breakouts to finish whatever is not complete
- 5:30 Dinner
- 7:30 Concerteach group will only need a couple of songs prepared
- 11:00 Post-concert reception
Defining your Group's Values
The talk will focus on the definition of values and what happens when a group has a set of shared values. Then each group will develop their set of values, define them, and list behaviors that depict those values, and will also develop a set of norms of behavior.
Purpose, Direction and Vision
We will discuss what a purpose and direction statement is, how to develop one, and how it should look, and what a vision is, its characteristics, and what it does for the group. Groups will develop their own purpose and direction statement and vision.
Sunday, October 20
Overview:
The morning will consist of a worship service, with 2 additional talks and a group breakout, covering followership and conflict resolution. After that, there will be an optional seminar on group dynamics.
- 8:00 Breakfast
- Pitches' session with Mr. Linden
- 9:00 Worship and prayer
- 10:00 Talk: "Followership"
- 10:30 Talk and Group Breakout: "Conflict Resolution"
- 12:00 Lunch
- 1:00-5:00 Optional seminar: "Group Dynamics"
Followership
We will discuss the 4 aspects of being a good follower, and will hear why the position of follower is actually a proactive position of responsibility.
Conflict Resolution
We will take a look at several approaches to managing the conflicts that will inevitably crop up in any group. Each group will develop their own unique conflict resolution process.
Group Dynamics
We will explore the development of a group of people from the beginning to final stages of growth, looking at the various components and tell-tale signs of each stage. We will use an intense, full-length feature film ("12 Angry Men") to help us understand a group's movement from one stage to another. We will learn how to discern the maturity of a group and what one can do to help it develop.
About the speaker:
Bob Linden, of Colorado Springs, CO, has been teaching leadership and group dynamics from a strong Christian perspective for over 25 years. He has taught at the Air Force Academy, the USAF Academic Instructor's School, the University of Colorado, and Regis College, and has worked with Dallas Theological Seminary on a Leadership Training Institute. He has spoken throughout the US and abroad about leadership, attitudes, discipleship, and living a pure life. He holds B.A. and M.S. degrees in Experimental and Clinical Psychology from Florida State University and Oklahoma State University.
What a curious logo.
The Gospel Jelly logo depicts a red "G", a "J" in the form of a fishhook, and a purple blob. The "G" is red to symbolize Christ's bloodinextricable from the Gospeland also the urgency with which we need to share the Good News. The "J" is a fishhook to symbolize our call to be fishers of men. The motto "strengthen your cast" is a play on words referring both to the direct goal of the Jelly (to strengthen your group, or cast) and to what we hope will occur as a result (your group will be better at "fishing"). Least important, the purple blob symbolizes grape jelly just to "stick" it all together.
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