Faithful sisters,
 

“Every Day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God, and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” Acts 2:46-47

Invitation:  St. Odilia’s Women’s Ministry has heard your heart’s desire for a summer study to guide us and protect us through continued connection, even if it is virtual.  As a ministry, our spirit is thriving.  There has been a strong interest in keeping with the regular (weekly) scheduling.  Due to COVID-19, we are not able to schedule an end of the semester gathering to celebrate.  

So maybe we just don’t stop?  Let’s take a gentle roll into a Round Robin Scripture Study. A Round Robin suggests a tournament where competitors go head-to-head with each of the other competitors. A Round Robin Scripture study has participants each take a turn being the facilitator of opening prayer and timekeeping/pacing for one designated week.  There is no “competition”, simply collaboration. This is a different way of approaching our study. This unusual time in our country is drawing us all into new and different ways of doing our “normal” activities. We hope you will see this as an invitation to connect with other women with a more simple, much less time-consuming summer study.

Plan:  Before you panic or pull out your power of saying “no”, I want to appeal to you to consider just how simple it really is.  This format prevents burnout, engages everyone, and unleashes some unforeseen blessings on individuals and the ministry at large. 

1.  Get the Book!  We will be using “Living in the Father’s Love”; a WWP 6 week scripture study, intended to be light as far as workload and time commitment.   Through Walking with Purpose website the book is $20 + tax + S/H and a possible 2-3 delivery time (which may be too late) or Amazon $27 + tax, free shipping for Prime Members and currently stating about a week to deliver, but we are finding it to arrive in a just a few days.  Order now!

2. Make your mark!  Use this sign up genius link  (https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0d4aa8ad2faaf94-living)  to assign yourself to a group.  Groups of 4 give each participant an assigned week for facilitating- remember you lead with prayer, initiate the discussion, make sure everyone who wants to contribute has the opportunity, and keep your session on track to respect everyone’s time.  Times have been recommended to help define groups by their availability, however, once groups are formed as long as everyone agrees, you are free to reschedule during the week as suits the group so long as it is weekly and the group is ready to conclude in the designated week.  

This is a great opportunity to mix it up a bit and meet ladies from other group sessions the previous semester; it may be the only “change of scenery” we get this summer, ie. travel restrictions?

3.  Week One, Collective meeting:  May 17, 2020, at 7:00 pm we will have an “all groups included” zoom session to kick off the Study.  You are encouraged to watch the Coffee Connect Video https://walkingwithpurpose.com/videos/living-in-the-fathers-love-videos/#talk01  before attending the zoom session.  Then before the next week, you read and reflect on the first lesson.

4. Weeks 2-5, small group meetings:  Meet the following week at your group’s scheduled time to discuss and share in fellowship what you learned or are discerning as a result of the study.

 What does “meeting” look like?  I don’t think any of us have the answers, but that is no reason to be discouraged.  These 6 weeks maybe a hybrid of sorts.  At the current social distancing orders, we would be on the Zoom platform to collaborate.  If Tucson is permitted to “re-open” then each group would have the opportunity to decide among themselves if a small group gathering at your location of choice would work for your group.  We encourage you to be flexible and sensible.  

5. Repeat the pattern of weekly meetings with a rotating hostess as designated on the signup genius through week 5.  

6. Between week 5 and 6, independently watch the Coffee Connect video https://walkingwithpurpose.com/videos/living-in-the-fathers-love-videos/#talk02

7. Week Six, on June 28, 2020, at 7:00 pm the final Coffee connect will be reviewed in a Ministry wide meeting, to be scheduled on Zoom.  We reserve the right to make changes for this finale based on notices of changes in Social Distancing recommendations.

Let’s get this started with ease.  Help us know if we need to add or eliminate Groupings by getting onto the signup genius and making your mark.  We will close sign-ups by May 12 so formed groups may begin organizing for this brief journey.  

--
St. Odilia's Women's Ministry
Jennifer Comer, Organizational Coordinator