From Christian Collegiate A Cappella Notes

Email from Matt Libby, after the GospelJelly

Materials from the Gospel Jelly are now available!

The GospelJelly was a conference/retreat-type thing for collegiate Christian a cappella groups, held on the weekend of October 18th at MIT with the purpose of 'gelling' and building up the groups, particularly with regards to teamwork, group purpose and vision, values, attitudes, leadership, and followership. We had "lectures" by Mr. Bob Linden, (our guest speaker and team-builder extraordinaire), we spent a whole lot of time discussing and deciding stuff within our individual singing groups, and we held a concert and spent some time in corporate worship and prayer.

It was an EXCELLENT weekend which covered a lot of ground, greatly strengthened the attending groups, and left folks (at least, the ones I talked to) pretty psyched and motivated about their groups and the coming year.

But a lot of groups who really wanted to couldn't make it to the Gospel Jelly, and a lot of others weren't sure if attending would be worth the travel and time commitment involved. Seeing how it turned out for those who were there, it's my opinion that ANY group that could have made it would have been very glad, in the end, that they were able to do so.

In anticipation of this, we videotaped the Gospel Jelly events, trying to capture as much of it as we could, so that groups that weren't able to attend the GJelly could still learn as much as possible from it, and so that groups that WERE able to attend could "relive the magic" (i.e., recall the stuff they'd learned and see the stuff they may have missed (due to late arrivals, early departures, and partial group attendance)).

TRONGLY urge each and every collegiate Christian a cappella group out there to get these materials (described below); the benefit to your group will make it a very worthwhile investment.

The materials you'll get are the following:

- GJelly attendee packet

All the handouts and note-taking guides that each

GJelly attendee received, in a folder. Very helpful

when in listening to

- GJelly leader packet

The special handouts that each pitch received,

to help them in leading their group's discussions

and brain-storming sessions, in a folder.

- GJelly video

Six hours long; contains the events listed below.

- GJelly video program guide

A companion to the GJelly video; lists the

timings for the tape (so you can cue up any particular

event) and brief explanations of the GJelly and the

events, so you can know what's what and how it all

fits together.

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The events which are on the GJelly tape are as follows:

Talk--"Attitudes and the Christian":

Talk--"The Empowered Christian"

Sat. morning pitches' session with Mr. Linden

Talk--"Defining your Group's Values" (followed by group breakout)

Talk--"Purpose, Direction and Vision" (followed by group breakout)

Sat. evening's concert & post-concert reception (just a bit)

Sun. morning pitches' session with Mr. Linden

Talk--"Followership"

Talk--"Conflict Resolution" (followed by group breakout)

Seminar--"Group Dynamics"

Some brief summaries of these events (taken from the informational brochure sent out earlier):

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- Pitches' sessions:

Special sessions for Pitches, covering topics like discussion facilitation methods, to ensure as much productive use of time (in the course of the Gospel Jelly) as possible.

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For those groups that couldn't make it to the GJelly, our hope is that you can use these materials together, in your group, in pretty much the same way that we used them at the actual GJelly. (you can watch parts of the video together, each member following along and using the materials in their packet, and do the actual group breakout sessions together), so that hopefully, by the end of it all, you'll have acheived just about as much as you would've had you been able attend.

Likewise, groups that were able to attend the GJelly to some extent or another will be able to revisit what they've already learned (and "check up" on how well they're applying it), see the parts they may have missed, and cover this stuff with any of their members that couldn't attend.

The base cost for the materials is $25; you'll get the video and program guide, the leader packet, and six attendee packets. If you need additional packets (of either type), they cost $1.75.

To order materials for your group, just respond to this email, or call Matt at (617)555-0403 (days) or (617)555-4606 (nights), so that we can start assembling your materials. We'll confirm how much the stuff will cost, and we'll tell where to send your payment. We can also answer any related questions or concerns you have.

Again, our hope is that you'll use these materials to go through the lessons and exercises together, as a group. It's the kind of thing you could do in a few afternoons together, or at a weekend retreat.

If you're hesitant because this all sounds like a bunch of hype, I'd suggest you ask some of the people who were able to go to the GJelly what they thought of it

[the following groups were represented there:

Brown's With One Voice, TCNJ(Trenton State)'s Voice of Hope,

Cornell's Grace Notes, Dartmouth's X.ado,

Harvard's Under Construction, Johns Hopkins' Adoremus,

MIT's Cross Products, Swarthmore's Psalters,

Tufts' Selah, and Wellesley's Awaken the Dawn].

If you have any questions concerning the information given here, or if you'd like to get the materials, please respond to this email or call the phone numbers given above.

The success and worth of the Gospel Jelly is partly measured by what we did at the event itself, but it's ESPECIALLY measured by what we bring away from it. The whole point of these materials is to help you retain as much as possible of what we all learned at the GJelly. In offering these materials, we sincerely hope that your group will be greatly strengthened and encouraged to perform the ministry to which you were called.

In Him,

Matt Libby

for the Gospel Jelly planning committee

back to GospelJelly