Church Chats: Your Questions

We're in the middle of our "church chats" at all our campuses.  The response has been great and the questions are excellent.  Here are some of the questions we've gotten with a brief answers:

Less is More & Giving:

Can I pledge and contribute to "Less is More" if I am still contributing to the Next Step? Are these the same funds?

The Next Step (Dalton Campus expansion) officially ends in December.  The Less is More offering is the close out offering for Next Step AND the start-up offering for our increased missions giving.  So they are the same funds.

Small Groups:

How do we want new small groups to form?

New groups can start when a leader(s) emerges from an existing group or from within our church membership.  A small group may wish to send some of its members to go with the new leader(s) and help launch the group.  However, the main need is for leader-facilitators who want to start new groups.

Is there any upcoming small group training for current/new group leaders?

The exact details are still being worked out by our new Groups Pastor, Brian Holt (brian@rockbridge.cc).  However, if you are ready to start a new group one-on-one training is available immediately.

How should a small group start serving together locally?

The first step is for your group to begin praying and discussing how God is leading your group.  If the group feels led to construction or children or homelessness, then our Small Group staff can then help facilitate a connection to a person and/or partner organization that matches the "heart" of your group.  Our desire is to "release" and empower our groups to serve "on mission" in our communities.

Missions:

How much of the 2011 Missions budget goes to local and global causes?

Global-39%; Local-28%; National/Church Planting-10%; Disaster Relief-6%; Trips=14%; Admin/misc-3%

How long are the mission trips?

On average the trips will be from 6-10 days: Honduras (digging wells) & Haiti are 6-7 days; Bolivia is 6-8 days; Ukraine is 8 days; Ethiopia will be 7-10 days

How does Rock Bridge select our local & global mission partners?

Once a potential partner is identified (by a church member or through general awareness) we start examining to see if that partner is a good fit for Rock Bridge.  Usually this involves some type of "interview".  We look for partners that have a system of financial accountability, a Gospel-focus, and are well-organized. A team of people (staff, elders, church members, etc.) makes the final determination about our partners.