Practicing the Way of Jesus | Trinity Talks Podcast

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode

of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla and I'm excited

to talk to you about a program that we are relaunching

again this year called the Discipleship Year,

which is a gap year program for students 18 to

25 years old to just come and spend some time

really focusing on their faith and what it is

that God is calling them to do, maybe in the

context of church or just like in their whole

lives as followers of Jesus. And this year Libby

is heading up that program for us, so excited

to see how that goes. Yeah, me too. Me too, very

excited. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's exciting that

we're able to hold this space for this group

and to help them just explore and discover who

they are in Christ. And, you know, as they're

in that stage of putting their own life together

as adults, you know, building their foundation

in the relationship with Jesus is key. So it's

exciting to be able to be there right at the

beginning with them. Yeah. Yeah, totally. Yeah.

So I just sort of give a quick overview, but

like, how would you describe or sort of summarize

the discipleship year program? I mean, sort of

similar to what you said, you know, we're holding

space and we're intentionally being very supportive,

right? So these four students who are going to

be with us for this year, you know, they're going

to have a mentor. They're going to have extra

time with me. We're going to be learning about

spiritual disciplines, just digging deeper into

our faith life. And they'll get to spend time

with you guys in the different areas of ministry

we're offering. time spent in the worship ministry,

time spent with Alex in tech, time with you doing

online and outreach stuff, and also time with

Megan in kids ministry. So they'll get like a

fulsome experience, right? And to be able to

sort of discover where their gifts maybe lie

as far as their church service goes, but then

all of a sudden just discovering who they are.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah.

So what is that program going to sort of look

like? Like on a weekly basis, what's the sort

of rhythm? Okay. So, um, we're going to meet,

uh, on Thursdays, uh, regularly, uh, to reconnect,

to have a time of worship and prayer together,

um, to do some learning. There'll be a teaching

time. There'll be time to reflect and discuss,

um, in the morning and then we'll have a lunch.

Then we'll have another time of teaching, learning

another spiritual practice together and fleshing

that out and having lots of fulsome discussion.

And then they will go off and have their ministry

training for whichever area they're in at that

time. And then they'll be with us on Sundays,

on regular Sundays, serving in whatever capacity

that they are that week. Um, the first half of

the year is sort of a rotation for them to get,

get a feel and try on a bunch of different things.

So every three weeks they'll switch and go to

a different ministry. Uh, and then maybe, you

know, at, after Christmas we'll have time of

discernment to decide where they maybe want to

land and dig in a little deeper, you know, and

then they develop their skills further and, you

know, maybe have a ministry project of their

very own, you know, to explore and, and yeah,

I'm just really excited to see where that goes.

It's sort of open -ended because we have to,

you know, get to know them and see where God's

leading each of them, right? They're individuals.

So we'll have to see where that goes. But that's

the general idea, right? To just hold that space

and give them a lot of support. Yeah, totally.

Yeah, I think that's like, it's really crucial.

I think that there's sort of these two components

that were like, journeying alongside these students

just as people, as followers of Jesus, and helping

in that faith formation, and then also supplementing

that with some really practical ministry skills.

This is what it looks like to serve in worship,

in kids' ministry, and all of these different

things. And those skills that then become...

like things that they can use in a church setting,

but also things just like in life, right? Like

that they will learn, you know, how to lead worship,

how to like sing and those sorts of things, or

how to like operate a camera or like whatever,

right? That these are gifts they can use at Trinity,

at whatever sort of faith community that they

land in, but also just like... in life. We need

camera operators and singers and kids' workers

and all of these things. And team players, right?

So they're going to learn how to be a part of

a team. And I love that for them because that's

key, right? Out in the world, we have to be able

to meet new people. If we're going to share Jesus

with new people, we have to be able to reach

out and connect and share experiences too. So

it's a good opportunity in a safe place to explore

those things and get to learn. you know, what

our strengths are, what our weaknesses are and

that sort of stuff in the context of church family,

right? So totally. Yeah, totally. Yeah. So what

are you like passionate about or sort of excited

for in this year ahead? Oh, I am excited just

to see how they grow. And honestly, I don't know

if this is selfish or not. how I'm going to grow.

I feel like we're all going to have a chance

to grow in supporting them, in watching them

discover who they are and in them being empowered

and who they are in Christ. I think Rob talked

last week was talking about us coming back to

our first love. Sometimes the most amazing thing

can be just being close to someone who's who's

coming with fresh eyes to spiritual disciplines

and discussing how it's affecting their life

and how they feel closer to God or that that's

maybe not something that's working for them.

Whatever it is. But just having those discussions

and building those relationships and seeing that

blooming and blossoming with them will all benefit,

I think, just by being in proximity to it. I'm

excited for that for us, for all of us. And are

there any challenges that you're anticipating

or things that you're really leaning into, like

prayer and asking for God's help in? Just to

be able to meet people, to meet them where they're

at, right? Totally, yeah. And to, again, I keep

saying this holding space, but that's it. Just

making room and... And I'm just, I'm just hoping

that, that they can do that for each other too.

And we can, you know, they're all, they all have

very different life experiences and they're coming

from different places. And I think they have

a lot to learn from each other and a lot to share.

And so I just, I'm just really hoping and praying

for that openness and that, um, that sort of

flexibility to just truly see and, and, um, and

listen and and really care for one another, develop

a real relationship with one another, right?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, you know, we're all people.

It's messy. We all have things that come up.

But I think, you know, just this intentional

community that we're surrounding them with, I

think is going to be key for that. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And the community is one of those things

that is like a blessing and a challenge in the

living of it. Right. Like, there is so much goodness

that comes from. being with other people, walking

with other people through all of life. But also

that's super hard. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's

just like family, right? Yeah. Yeah. You know,

we call it church family for a reason. It's like

family, right? You don't necessarily get to pick

everybody you're in a family with and it is what

it is, right? We wrestle with things and we go

through it together, you know, and we decided

we're going to just stand by one another. So

yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think especially,

like I'll be praying for you in the first few

weeks, because that formation of community can

be a really sort of tricky part where you're

bringing together this group of people who are

all in a similar life stage, but other than that,

maybe they have nothing in common. Right? I mean,

we have Jesus in common, so let's just start

there and dig deep into that. That's the plan.

It's a loose plan, but we're depending on God

and I really believe that he's going to be faithful

in this. I think this is a really good thing

for us to prioritize as a congregation. I'm looking

forward to us coming together as a whole church

to support them and to keep them in prayer and

to show them hospitality and love and welcome.

Yeah, that's awesome. You mentioned you're going

to spend some time doing some teaching and digging

into spiritual disciplines and things like that.

What are some of those topics? What are some

of those things? For those of you who've been

with the Church for a while, this past year we

dug into some teaching from a group called Practicing

the Way, or Following the Way. unpacking all

the ancient spiritual disciplines. Like last

year we did the Sabbath practice and we did the

fasting practice. And so those sorts of things,

we're going to be digging into that sort of stuff

together and we're going to be running those

courses together. And then we're also going to

have members of the congregation come and contribute

and help them to find healthy ways of dealing

with stress. What does stewardship look like

as a Christian and how to deal with your finances

and all those practical parts of becoming an

adult, too? That stuff, too. But I'm really looking

forward to exploring these rhythms with them

and to developing that. I'm looking forward to

getting into that with them, too, and discovering

to really be incorporating those things on a...

consistent basis and really being intentional

about that and yeah and flushing it out and talking

about it and you know I'm really looking forward

to that with them yeah yeah yeah I mean like

as you were describing that what sort of stands

out to me is like it's such a gift to be able

to like take that time yes for the students who

are doing yeah right like I think there there

are probably people outside of that age range

who are like oh I would love to take six months

or a year and be like, let's just focus on how

do I create a rhythm of life? How do I like do

all of life with Jesus? Yeah. And I mean, it's,

it's a long game, right? We're not saying that

we're gonna, they're gonna be set up for life

and that's it. But we're gonna, you know, we're

making room to, to to try this stuff, to step

into it, to try to just be emulating Jesus, doing

the practices that he did, and sharing the experience

with one another and building community that

way. I mean, it's a good starting point. Totally,

totally. So it's, you know, yeah, I'm just, I'm

excited for that, for all of us, right? And if,

you know, and yeah, if... If this makes people

think, hey, I'd like to do that, there's nothing

stopping you. I believe we're going to be exploring

some more of these disciplines and spiritual

practices as a whole church as well. I think

there's a generosity course coming up soon. These

are the same people, right? This is the same

stuff that we're using and that we're digging

into. So yeah, dig in. Yeah. Get in it, right?

Yeah, yeah. Totally. It's never too late. No.

And like, the discipleship year is this really

sort of unique opportunity for folks who are

in a particular stage of life. But yeah, that

process of like developing a whole rhythm, developing

like, what does it look like to live my whole

life with Jesus? Yeah, it is something that we

all just keep doing. Yeah. It's a forever thing,

right? We're lifelong learners in that regard,

for sure. For sure. Yeah. And so for yourself,

as you've been sort of preparing for this program,

like what are some of the things that God has

been teaching you? God has been saying loud and

clear to me, slow down. Let me go ahead of you.

Keep it simple. Yeah. You know, I think sometimes

when we're, you know, doing a program or setting

up something, we think, oh, it's got to be complicated.

I have to have all of this needs to be flashy.

Yeah, I mean, I'm initially when when I was asked

to do the program was like, well, I, you know,

sure, we're gonna have, you know, is Justin and

Rob gonna come and do the teaching away? I'm

not a professor, like, you know, right, you know,

but, but in in you know, God sort of showed me,

we have all we need here. You can explore this

with the students, do it together, learn together,

go, you know, dig into this stuff with them,

beside them, right? Like I'm, I've been a Christian

for a long time. So there will be experience

that I'm bringing to the table with that as we

go together, you know, but I'm going to learn

from them too. And, and, and, you know, I just,

I just have to just trust in putting him first,

and everything else will fall into place. So

that's it, I know. That's the plan. And so I'm

just trying to listen to that. It's easy to kind

of jump ahead, but I'm trying to, you know, slow

myself down and just take it one day at a time,

plan what we can, and just remain flexible to

see what God's going to do with it, right? Leave

space, too. That's the other thing. Totally.

My team can attest that I do like to nail things

down, right? I'd like to have a big, long plan

ahead of time, right? And so it's been counterintuitive

for me to just leave open space, right? But it's

required here, right? We've got four different

lives that we're trying to come alongside and

we've got to listen. And so we can't jump and

respond before we have something to respond to.

Yeah, that's it's been a learn. I've learned

a lot already and we haven't even started. Sure.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, no, that's

that's yeah, that's slowing down that leaving

space. It's one of those things that I think

is it sounds so right and it is so hard. Yeah,

it is. It is because we live in a world that

says no. Yeah, right. In a world that says you

have to have the next five. questions answered

ahead of time. Right. You know, we have to be

way ahead. So it's nice. It's actually been nice

to just slowly, you know, prayerfully come through

these things and planning these things and just

feeling affirmed in that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Totally.

Totally. Yeah. It's so good that that that's

slowing down I think is something like I guess

I just keep coming back to as I'm hearing you

describe it feeling like the program is a gift

that it like is this space that like I wish we

could all have yeah and you know what I think

I think uh we can and I'm excited to learn how

with them to actually walk this out with them

to make to intentionally make the space um You

know, and who knows what it develops into, but

I'm just, I'm excited right now for this with

them to discover how much time I have I didn't

think I had. Sure. You know, devoting this time

with them, pouring over these things with them,

journeying through it alongside them, taking

the time and doing all these things with them

in real time and experiencing that with them.

You know, I think, um, you know, who knows. Yeah.

who knows what we could discover as a church

about these things, right? About what we can

do for all of us, because why not all of us,

right? Totally. But I do love that right now

in this season that we're doing this for this

age group. I just have a heart for this age group.

I vaguely remember my twenties, but they were

hard. Totally, but not as hard as I feel like

it is for these guys, you know It's a really

difficult time to be in that age range of 18

to 25. The world is changing so fast. It's just

like and You know, they hardly have time to respond

to anything and now it's different and and the

job market is difficult and they know that you

know what jobs are is even changing you start

a job and five years later that job doesn't exist

anymore and like yeah, you know, like it's it's

so panic inducing and so anxiety inducing and

so like leaving the space for them and, you know,

really supporting them. Like, I'm really excited

about the mentors, actually, too, right? Like,

that extra layer of support and prayer and, you

know, a listening ear to come alongside them,

I think, is just gonna make all the difference,

you know? And just letting them... Before they

make decisions, you know? Just, you know, giving

them that gift. I'm excited about that. I'm really

excited, apparently. I just keep saying I'm excited.

It is a really cool thing that we're taking the

time to do. I'm really honored that I get to

do it. I'm really looking forward to getting

to know each of them. I'm just excited to share

this with them. It's such a cool opportunity

to build a relationship in such a... like rooted

in real way, right? Like it's not, it's not in

any way a superficial relationship. We're like

diving into the deep end together right away.

You know? And so, yeah, I'm just, I'm, I'm happy

that I'm getting to be there with them in this

and just experience God with them in that way.

Yeah. In some ways it's like a little, microcosm

of what the kingdom of God is like. I feel like

we're hyping it up. That doesn't mean it's going

to be perfect. That doesn't mean that you'll

never experience conflict or heartbreak or any

of those hard things. That's also part of life.

It's the doing of that together. And hopefully

the working, like when those things come up,

like working towards some sort of reconciliation

and working towards like wholeness again. Like

all of that is part of life. It's not unlike

a small group, right? So, I mean, you gotta give

credit where credit's due. Yeah, we're hyping

it because it's small. Small is great, like,

as far as digging in deep, right? And we have

life groups here and... No, that's an opportunity

to do this, right? And I mean, we're all in different

parts in our journey and we're all coming together

and having our messy lives, interact with each

other. And I mean, that's another place, right?

So, I mean... Actually, if, you know, we were

talking earlier about, you know, other people

at different age groups and different ages and

stages are looking at this and going, well, this

would be great. Well, hey, get in a small group.

Totally. Yeah. That's this. Right. I mean, this

is like, you know, it's a little more intensive

and specific. But I mean, as far as like, you

know, having that kind of support and that, you

know, discovery. Yeah. discovering God with different

people and with their different experiences and

yours and holding that space for each other,

like that happens in a small group. And that's,

again, an amazing place where really cool stuff

happens, right? So there is that opportunity

too. I mean, if this sounds good to you, you

know, I mean, if you're between 18 and 25, join

the program next year. But but if if you're not,

you know, join a small group, get plugged in,

you know, dig in, dig in deep with with other

people in your church family. Right. Yeah, totally.

You know, these four didn't know each other.

They're coming together. This is going to be

a surprise. Right. And just like small group

can be a surprise, but can be a great surprise.

Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll have to come

back at the end of this and sort of see reflections

on how this is all gone. So, this is the Disciples

Sleep Here program. In some ways, it's its own

sort of community, but it's a community of Trinity.

And so, as a church family here, how can we be

supporting and praying for you in this program?

pray for us to be open to learning new things,

to being challenged. And then also, you know,

just come say hi. I also do want to incorporate

opportunities for us to get together and share

food with different members of the congregation.

So if like hospitality is your thing, connect

with me. I'd love to be able to to organize,

you know, some different opportunities for us

to get together in people's homes and meet with

them and get to know them a little better, too.

And maybe visit small groups and things like

that. Because I want I want our students to get

to know this group of people who's loving on

them and praying for them and and, you know,

supporting them. Yeah. So, yeah. And and when,

you know, if and when, you know, the students

have their special projects, you know. Pay attention

and show up for those and, you know, give them

a word of encouragement and, you know, just like

we do here. I mean, that's how we are here. People

are wonderful. But yeah, take the time to talk

to the students and to, you know, to share encouraging

words with them. Yeah. Yeah. And so in our service,

we, the kid, I call them kids, but the students,

they're going to get up on the stage, introduce

themselves a little bit. So we'll get to put

faces and names and yeah. So just like committing

those things to memory, writing them down, praying

for each of these students by name, praying for

you and for the community that you're forming

together. Yeah. Yeah. That feels really important,

I think. Yeah. And then also following that up

with that encouragement, with that saying hi

to people. If we have a bake sale to raise money

for them to go on a trip, show up and buy a cookie.

All things still naturally do. All those natural

loving ways that we already have here at Trinity.

slow down to pay attention and recognize them,

just like you do newcomers that show up and need,

you know, need some special attention and some

and to be loved into the community. Right. Just

same old things. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The

same loving Jesus, living like Jesus, leading

others to Jesus. That's right. All of that. Yeah,

totally. Yeah. Long obedience in the same direction.

Yes. Just keep doing what you're doing. Yeah,

you know, but see them just and remember them,

right? Yeah, totally. Yeah. Was there anything

else you wanted to sort of share about the program

or any sort of last thoughts that you had? I'm

just really thankful. So I just I just want to

say thanks to to the whole church community just

for, you know, letting this be something that

we do. that we're trying, that we're able to

do this thing and explore this and what the benefits

of this might be. Giving us room for stuff like

this to pour into people and to do the counter

-cultural thing of making space and slowing down.

I really appreciate that this is a church that

prioritizes that and lets us do this. Totally.

Totally. That's awesome. Yeah. Well, thank you

so much, Libby. Thanks for having me. Yeah. And

thank you for tuning in to this week's episode

of Trinity Talks. If you are between 18 to 25,

and this sounds really interesting to you, I

would love for you to check out our website trinitystreetsfield

.org and you can find more information about

the Discipleship Year program. But even if you're

not in that particular group, I hope that you

can find some ways to make space. to slow down

and pour into Christian community, whether that

is here at Trinity or wherever you might find

yourself. And we'll see you again next week.