The idea of this plan is to gather a group of elders (this could also be used for a group of men leaders in general or women leaders as well, or a combination of both) to view and discuss selected lessons from the BER website. This would typically involve resources from the “What is BER?” or “Effectiveness” sections of the website. Each week one or two videos would be viewed followed by a discussion based on the questions provided with each video.
The following are some examples of different ways to approach this:
Option 1:
An elders group can use one BER lesson at the beginning of each elders’ meeting. The video would be watched ahead of time by each elder, and the elders would discuss each question (“Remember It,” “Discuss It” and “Apply It.”) Then the elders would continue on with their regular agenda. The topics would be assigned ahead of time, based on the needs of the particular group. There are a huge number of topics to choose from, so the group will need to be selective.
Option 2:
The same as above, but the elders would schedule 30 minutes at the beginning of their regularly scheduled meetings and view the video together, then discuss the questions.
Option 3:
The elders’ group would divide into pairs, and each pair would meet weekly to view and discuss the questions together over lunch, breakfast, or coffee. Then once monthly the entire group would meet for an hour to discuss all the lessons that the pairs studied during the month. Of course, the greatest benefit will happen when all are studying the same lessons at the same time.
Option 4
A group of men (or women) could meet once a week for 60 or 90 minutes, and cover one or two videos lessons, separate from any other meetings. This would allow more progress through the material at a quicker speed. Discussion would take place as a group or in pairs. We encourage you not to short circuit the discussion time–learning and growth best happens in community where there is robust interaction and accountability. This is a case of planned “iron sharpening iron.”
Variations:
Obviously, the above are only examples—use whatever variations that work for your group.
When you meet:
Begin with prayer. Ask the Lord to guide your time together and help you have good interaction.
Use the review questions: (“Remember It”) and discussion questions (“Discuss It”) that accompany the video to kick start the conversation.
– These questions are only suggestions. Your discussion may lead to other questions or issues.
– The whole idea is to open up the interaction and share ideas and thoughts.
– Don’t teach, but interact. Share you experiences, successes and failures.
– Your attitude, if you are the discussion leader, should be “Here is my experience, maybe this will be of help to you.”
– In fact, there may be some things that the group leader learns from the interaction.
– All should develop the ability to ask good questions of each other.
Discuss the application question (“Apply It”) that goes with the video.
– Again, these are just suggestions.
– You may have different ideas of how to apply what you learn.
– Put what you learn into use, and go deeper in your study of the subject.
Accountability.
If you desire to have accountability relationships, you may want to use the “Accountability” questions BER provides: click here.
Pray. Finish with prayer based on what you can take away from your time together.
All the above are just suggestions. Adjust and adapt to suit your needs.
Please give us your feedback, so we can know how you are doing with this. Contact us.