The Lifestyle of Family Home Church

Michael Irwin
April 24, 2007

Our second workshop for a new beginning for Family Home Church was held on April 7, 2007. Group leaders, assistant group leaders, and those who were interested in being future leaders were invited to come this time, as opposed to a general invitation to all.

Forty participants arrived at the Bay Area Family Church dining room by 9:30 am, when we began with the WELCOME segment with refreshments, just as they would each do in their small group meetings.

The theme of this workshop was "The Lifestyle of Family Home Church." After a brief introduction, we quickly broke into five groups, where the majority of our activity took place. After brief introductions, each group had a WORSHIP segment with songs and three representative prayers, after which one person shared about an instance in their life when they had met God.

Next came the WORD, which was the lesson "Developing a Heart of Prayer", which was developed by Curtis Martin in the Los Angeles District. Many of us had been making a special prayer condition since the beginning of the year for a new beginning for church growth in our district following the Grace Ceremony and the arrival of our new District Leader, Rev. Joshua Cotter. The emphasis on prayer as a foundation for our Family Home Church growth linked these conditions to our group leaders and their work in the groups – which are to become the main interface between our church and newcomers.

After lively discussions, each group broke up into smaller groups of three or four so each person could pray. After gathering again as a group, we discussed action steps to take following this workshop to get our groups going or bring them to a new level. This was the WITNESS segment of a small group meeting.

During a short break there was quite a bit of give and take across group lines as brothers and sisters shared their insights and maybe another muffin! When we gathered again, only an hour and half had passed, but the impression was of much more time as so much was experienced. Several ideas came up from the reflection time at the end. A movie night as a gateway event was suggested, and quickly a group formed to take responsibility to organize it. Other ideas for the future development of Family Home Church were noted. Even after the final prayer at 12:30, many stayed on and discussed what others were doing in the various groups that have formed in Northern California.

The process of continuous improvement and development of our Family Home Churches went to a new level through this workshop as we went from explanation and inspiration toward practice and individual responsibility. As we open our homes to others, first to our Blessed families and then to our guests and let God work through True Parents’ conditions and foundation and our own prayer foundation, let Him speak through His Word and be manifested in our reflection and discussion, we will witness the growth that God desires for our church and the spiritual growth of all of us so that we may better reflect our True Parents.