Campfire

Seed proposal
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In a nutshell: A contemplative evening where friends and visitors gather together to share expressions of testimony.

Major components:
a) Verbal Testimony
b) Written Testimony
c) Song

Inspiration: When I was a counselor at youth camps, the last night of camp was set aside for the entire group to huddle together in front of an open mike and a flame. Campers and counselors alike would line up and share their camp experience with the whole. Some would talk about how they encountered God, others would share about personal growth, new friends, and the like. A tissue box was always ready at hand and friends often dragged each other up. Campfire was the final remembrance of a Spirit-filled week and it was the chance to say thank you to friends, mentors, and to God. Open mics have been a regular way for large groups to tell their story: FBC has its thanksgiving mikes every fifth Sunday. Cal AACF had sharing nights as well as Senior Sharing during its yearly retreats (a chance for the seniors to pass on the wisdom of their 4, 5, or 6 year tenure at school.)

I would like to propose a large group setting that is based on celebrating God's story over the past week. This can be done in three ways:

A) Open mic: Planners would take the time to ask 3 people to share in advance. The rest of the time, encourage people to just come up and share their story.

B) Written testimony: Every week, compile a list of letters, poems, pictures, essays, stories from the group as another outlet to share about God's presence in our lives. A copy of each written program can be photocopied for every person to take home.

C) Song: run 2 or 3 sets of music through out the night. The highest priorities would be to keep it (a) contemplative and worshipful, but also (b) informal. I favor the combination of worshipful and relaxed to promote a tone of sanctuary. Less about the production values, more about being a glue between testimonies.

Proposed scheduling:
Either once a week or once every other week. Preferably Saturday or Thursday night. Every other week is to free people to do other stuff during the week: Like maybe hang out with non Christians? or friends who are at other churches? (fyi: here's a cool post about the YA life) Also, having it every other week might give people more time to compose a story.

Also, I would suggest keeping the program short: 1 hour to 1.5 hours max. The idea is to create a focal point for people to share about God. Then, since young adults are busy, diverse, and sociable, to allow them to come together and hang-out in their own way and with their own initiative. What do you think?

So here's a draft of the program:

7:30 pm MC Welcome, Opening prayer, Share some highlights from the written testimonies
7:40 pm Worship set I (15 to 20 minutes)
7:50 pm Open Mic: 1st Scheduled sharer + open mic. (20 minutes)
8:10 pm Worship set II 10 minutes (shorter, 2 songs?) (10 minutes)
8:20 pm Open Mic: 2nd Scheduled sharer + open mic. (20 minutes)
8:40 pm MC reads one of the testimonies to close, last call for open mic (5 minutes)
8:45 pm Worship set ( closing song )
8:50 pm Closing prayer
8:51 pm Dismissed

I would happily play the editor and ask people to write testimonies... ooo and to do the programs: I have a special combination of laissez-faire and visual design that makes it especially enjoyable for me to do. (And I have work experience, I was responsible for an entire school year of programs.)