1. WELCOME!
The Practice Discipleship Initiative
September 11, 2014

2. Introducing…
Dawn Trautman
LutheranLifeCoach.com

3. Practice Discipleship Initiative
Leadership Development for the sake of Faith Formation

4. “FRAME”
1. “Framing Life Biblically”
2. “Framing Youth”
3. “Framing Failure with Forgiveness”
4. “Framing Christian Community”
5. “Framing the Vision: Seeing Things New”
6. “Framing the Path: Practicing Things New”

5. Introducing…
Rev. Josh Graber
Mission Developer, ALT Year
altyear.org
Framing
Christian
Community

6. FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
SESSION DESCRIPTION:
This lesson will present a way of walking alongside
individual young people, communities and families as we
help them frame their lives by learning through
relationships with surrounding community, learning from
an intentional community and learning about yourself
through community. We will explore practices of faith
that help us frame our lives in solitude and in community.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

7. OVERVIEW AND FOCUS
This lesson will introduce tools to help participants re-imagine
Christian community through deepening an
understanding of self and discovery of the gifts revealed
in Christian community.

8. LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Exploring how we live out Lutheran identity with the world.
2) Introducing of tools for self-reflection and honoring those
we meet, so that we may be more fully in relationship with
them.
3) Understanding the art of listening carefully to another
person’s story is counter-cultural and strengthens Christian
community.
4) Introducing practices that help us see Luther’s “priesthood
of all believers”, by drawing out the abundance of faith
practices, gifts, and wisdom already present within our
communities.

9. THE SIMPLEST EXERCISES CAN BE THE BEST
TEACHING TOOLS

10. AFTER THIS PD SESSION:
***Math accuracy not guaranteed.
*Improvement in
flexibility and karate
skills not
guaranteed.
**Studies show that 60% of the
time, the crane kick works every
time.

11. REV. JOSHUA GRABER
MISSION DEVELOPER FOR ALT YEAR
WHAT
DOES
THIS
MEAN?

12. ABUNDANT LIFE TOGETHER IS SHAPED AND GUIDED BY
THE FOLLOWING CORE VALUES:
Young Adults: we value the strengths, energy, and questions young adults
(age 18-25) bring to God’s ongoing activity in the world.
Cultivating Faith: we are inspired by the joys and challenges of a relationship
with Jesus that leads us into an adventure of faith given through the gift of
the gospel.
Courageous Experimentation: we promote creativity, curiosity, critical
reflection, and proactive initiative as a way of living out discipleship at the
intersection of church and culture.
Abundant Community: we value the wisdom and gifts discovered through
relationships and collaboration between the host communities, ALT
participants, and local congregations, bringing people together of different
generations, cultures, and life-experiences.
Vital Partnerships: we value the community and mutuality that forms when
trust and respect permeate our relationships with each other and with the
local and larger church, allowing for growth, learning, and transformation.

13. ABUNDANT LIFE
TOGETHER

14. PURPOSE STATEMENT OF ALT:
As a ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
Abundant Life Together provides young adults with a year
apart in intentional community to explore vocation
through theological, practical, and shared learning that
transforms communities as participants grow together
through personal reflection, rich relationships, leadership,
and service.

15. WHAT DOES “LUTHER” MEAN TO YOU?

16. A CHURCH CALLED “FREE”
FREEDOM!
For freedom
Christ has set
us free. Stand
firm therefore
and do not
submit again
to the yoke of
slavery.
Galatians 5:1
ABUNDANT LIFE
I came that
they might
have life, and
have it
abundantly.
John 10:10
TOGETHER
Community
living at the
Intersection
of Church and
Culture.
Free to invite
others into
Abundant Life
Together.

17. SO WHY LEARN A SMART WORD LIKE
“RHETORIC”?
 The art of interpreting and persuading.
 Those that know how to communicate and care about
their audience will have a better chance at persuading
them, but rhetoric is also about honoring the other and
listening to them.
 This is a lost art and is extremely counter-cultural in the
ethnically and economically separated, red-blue, us vs.
them America of older generations, but youth and
young adults understand this concept and are ready for
this concept.

18. EXAMPLE OF RHETORIC IN ACTION
TECUMSEH AND HIS MEETING WITH GENERAL
HARRISON

19. THE MAGICAL RHETORICAL TRIANGLE
A tool for
attentive
meetings and
relationships
EXPERIENCES RELATIONSHIPS
CULTURES/
COMMUNITIES
TRADITIONS
MEETING
ANOTHER
PERSON
CONTEXT

20. LET’S SHARE SOME OF OUR STORY.
DON’T LOOK HERE! LOOK AT THE FEED!
Share Cultures/Communities/Traditions that shape your
lens on life and the world.
Share Experiences and Relationships that have changed
your life and perspective.
Share the places and setting for this conversation for you
[Location, Current Events in Your Life and in the World]
 Note whether anyone’s offerings make your curious or
interested in hearing more of their stories

21. COMMON
CULTURES/COMMUNITIES/TRADITIONS
Some assumptions:
 Mostly U.S. Residents
 Christian
 Lutheranism
 Familiarity with church culture

22. COMMUNITIES, CULTURES, TRADITIONS THAT
SHAPE THE WAY WE SEE THE WORLD
1977-78 Holden Village Winter
Community

23. THE MAGICAL RHETORICAL TRIANGLE
A tool for
attentive
meetings and
relationships
EXPERIENCES RELATIONSHIPS
CULTURES/
COMMUNITIES
TRADITIONS
MEETING
ANOTHER
PERSON
CONTEXT

24. EXPERIENCES AND RELATIONSHIPS THAT CHANGE THE
WAY WE SEE THE WORLD AND OUR CALLS.
Tombotsoa School
Antsirabe, Madagascar
Media Village,
Cape Town,
South Africa
Visits to unique young adult
communities in Europe, Africa,
and U.S. helped Josh
understand his calling to start
ALT Year.

25. AN EXPERIENCE THAT CHANGED AMERICAN CULTURE
AND THE WAY WE LIVE OUR LIVES

26. THE MAGICAL RHETORICAL TRIANGLE
A tool for
attentive
meetings and
relationships
EXPERIENCES RELATIONSHIPS
CULTURES/
COMMUNITIES
TRADITIONS
MEETING
ANOTHER
PERSON
CONTEXT

27. THE CHALLENGE OF MEETING
What are some of the things
that get in the way when we
meet someone new or
different
than we are ?

28. OUR CHRISTIAN CONTEXT FOR MEETING
SOMEONE NEW IS HOLY GROUND!
We are FREED to meet new people
and this can be a liberating
experience for them, and a
reminder of the gospel message
for us and them.
This place of meeting is where we have an opportunity to celebrate
the uniqueness of the other, remembering that Paul in Ephesians
calls us God’s “masterpieces” (NLT) and that Jesus says, “wherever
two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them”
(Mt: 18:20).

29. BEYOND “LET’S GET COFFEE”
 Relational Meetings
 Congregation-Based Community Organizing
Questions that stir the soul, unmask the real person, unveil
passions, creates new ideas, connections, and possibilities.
The Holy Spirit works through the sharing of our stories to
reveal God at work in our lives in the past, present, and
future. We are all WITNESSES!

30. RELATIONAL MEETING QUESTIONS
1) What’s a moment in your life where you felt God’s presence?
2) What are some of your hobbies? Do any of them connect with
your faith or your understanding of God?
3) What’s a scripture passage that has spoken to you in your life?
Why?
4) Do you think of yourself as a creative person? Do you want to be?
5) Are you free? What holds you back?/How do you remind yourself
you are free?
6) What’s a moment when you questioned God’s presence?
7) When do you hear the voice of Jesus in your life? How do you
experience the love of God in your life?

31. EXPANDING THE WITNESS
HOW CAN YOU CREATE A VENUE FOR THESE PEOPLE
TO SHARE OUR STORIES AND PERSPECTIVES WITH EACH
OTHER AS COMMUNITY (PRACTICE WITNESS)?
EXAMPLES:
A blog, website….
A church service…
An education hour series…
A Lenten series…
A youth group session…
Video interviews after an initial one-to-one…shared in church,
YouTube, etc..

32. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Here’s where you can ask follow up questions by typing
them into the Live Feed!

33. FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
CONTACTS:
For more information about Relational Meetings and Congregation-Based
Community Organizing:
http://www.elca.org/Resources/Congregational-Based-Organizing
OR
Contact Rev. Susan L. Engh
Director, Synodical Partners for Mission and Congregation-based Organizing
800-638-3522, ext. 2731

34. FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
CONTACTS:
If you know youth or young adults interested in having a
relational meeting or if you would like to have further
guidance or training in doing relational meetings for
youth and young adult meetings please contact
josh@altyear.org

35. FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
CONTACTS:
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
ALT YEAR AND WAYS TO SUPPORT
THE ALT YEAR MOVEMENT GO TO
www.altyear.org
OR
contact Pastor Josh at
josh@altyear.org
IF YOU KNOW OF ANY YOUTH
OR YOUNG ADULTS THAT MIGHT
BE INTERESTED IN HAVING AN
ALT YEAR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE
CONTACT JOSH OR HAVE THEM
CONTACT JOSH RIGHT AWAY
FOR AN INITIAL CONVERSATION

36. FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
CONTACTS:
L.I.F.E in Service (Lutheran Immersion and Formation Experiences)
GET TO KNOW US!
ALT Year (Abundant Life Together)
Toledo, OH and other sites
Border Servant Corps (Spanish Language Immersion)
Texas and New Mexico
Lutheran Volunteer Corps
Service year opportunities in dozens of houses in multiple areas
Urban Servant Corps (Service Year with Debt Relief & mountains)
Denver, CO
Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM)
Provides a growing number of mission of short-term mission experiences around the world
Contact eflomo@lutheranvolunteercorps.org or go to
http://www.ecla.org/en/our-work/congregations-and-synods/young-adult-ministry/ministries

37. A BIG, BEAUTIFUL, BOLD CHALLENGE
1) Will you have a relational meeting with the youth and
young adults you know?
2) Will you listen to them and learn from them, and with
your knowledge of the church, help them find the
opportunities and people in the church that can help
them grow into their calls as a Christian and identity as
a child of God?
3) Will you help me in a movement to offer this service to
every youth and young adult in the ELCA, and as
outreach to others seeking such care and guidance?

38. CLOSING PRAYER FOR
FRAMING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
God you have created and shaped amazing
people and I am one of them. Never let us lose
our sense of wonder when we meet another of
your children. As we hear another person’s
stories of pain, fears, courage, hope, and faith
help us grow closer to each other and closer to
you. Help us share your love, the freedom we
know in Jesus, and the abundance of gifts we
know in you! Amen.
THANK YOU!!! GO IN PEACE TO LOVE AND
FREE YOUR NEIGHBOR!

39. www.practicediscipleship.or
g
Download and Share Archived Webinars
Free Curriculum and Videos
Local Practice Discipleship Events

40. The Mobile Network
•Streaming videos of education
events
• Interactive Prayer Wall
•News and Events
•Local Network Finder
•Now the Entire Bible
•Discover Our Mission, Vision, History,
Leadership Teams and More
•Ministries
•Contact Info

41. Follow us on Social Media…
“Practice Discipleship Initiative”
@ELCAPD

42. NEXT 3RDTUESDAY CONVERSATION
Guests: Josh Graber and
Rozella White
Date: September 16, 2014
Time: 1pm Central Time
Topic: Leadership

43. NEXT PRACTICE DISCIPLESHIP WEBINAR!
Guest: Mindy Makant
Date: October 9, 2014
Time: 1pm Central Time
Topic: “Framing the Vision:
Seeing Things New”

44. Thanks for joining us!