Concept | Group | Content | Leader Facilitation
Society Room studies are a new, yet historical way to explore issues of faith and culture in the context of an action-oriented, group learning environment. These studies, provided in both physical and digital form, are designed to stimulate intense conversation and move participants to put their learning into action.
Featuring:
Andy Stanley, Lead Pastor of Northpoint Community Church
Gabe Lyons, Co-Author of UnChristian
Jon Tyson, Pastor and Church Planter, Origins New York
Where do we begin? Shaping culture is a big idea that is difficult to comprehend and achieve. However, the church has historically been at the forefront of positively contributing to culture and there is much we can learn from those who have gone before us. The key to cultural influence is walking forward with a balance between truth and grace and understanding how culture works, who shapes it and what the Christian's responsibility is within this important space. This study will not only provide the theological and historical basis for Christianity's cultural influence, but will show very practically how the church can once again play a role in influencing society.
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Featuring:
David Kinnaman, Co-Author of UnChristian, President of The Barna Group
Gabe Lyons, Co-Author of UnChristian
Rick McKinley, Pastor of Imago Dei Portland
Shane Claiborne, Author of Irresistible Revolution
Ground-breaking research presented in the best-selling book, UnChristian, reveals that 16-29 year olds perceive Christianity to be anti-homosexual, judgmental, hypocritical, too political, sheltered and proselytizing. This study summarizes their perceptions and moves the conversation forward by providing key insight into how Christians can change these perceptions when we become more like Jesus. Perceptions are reality and this study will move participants to not only be more aware, but to actively engage with their community.
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Featuring:
Andy Crouch, Author of Culture Making
Kevin Kelly, Futurist and Co-Founder of Wired Magazine
Catherine Rohr, Founder, Prison Entrepreneurship Program
It's no secret that people of faith hold convictions that are often at odds with the culture at large. Nevertheless, we are called to be "salt and light," a positive and preserving influence on culture. Instead of dwelling on the past, what if God wants us to primarily look forward? No doubt we can learn from history, but it's the future we can change. Time moves forward and society moves forward. The question is, how will we move forward to shape future culture? This study will challenge your group to wrestle with these questions and examine what it means to create the future.
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Featuring:
Chuck Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship Ministries and Author of The Faith
Scott Kauffmann, Author
Nick Purdy and Josh Jackson, Founders of PASTE Magazine
We all consider why the world is so bad, but we rarely ask why there is so much good? Since Augustine, Christians have been concerned with advancing the common good - creating the most good for all people. This study helps answer the question of why artists, filmmakers and musicians who seem personally unredeemable can create paintings, films, music and books that are so unmistakably transcendent. Explore the topic of common grace and become a connoisseur of the good.
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The original Society Room movement started in the late 1600’s when small “societies” of believers in England began meeting together. The spiritual conversations that took place went beyond the participant’s personal relationships with God. These believers also considered how they could work together to put their faith into action and renew their culture.
These Society Rooms reshaped British culture. Participants tend to the sick, constructed schools and hospitals and engaged the arts. This paradigm for cultural change was adopted by later groups such as William Wilberforce’s Clapham Circle and its fight for the abolition of the slave trade. Indeed, historians note that the Society Rooms of the seventeenth century “prefigured much of what Wilberforce and his associates sought to achieve at the end of the eighteenth century.”
In this spirit, today’s Society Rooms are designed to catalyze leaders throughout the church. By convening forward-thinking, culture-shaping individuals around the purposes of God, societal change can and will happen.
Target Audience - The Society Room model can be effective in any church setting – large, small and everything in between. Ideal participants are individuals who are passionate, action-oriented and concerned about cultural renewal. The group is most effective when different channels of cultural influence are represented (people from business, arts and entertainment, media, government, church, education and the social sector). Ideally, groups should consist of eight to ten participants with one designated leader. In addition, participants should commit ahead of time to attending four group meetings, engaging in the group discussion and participating in a Culture Shaping Project.
Group Meetings - During the course of this study, your group will meet four times and participate in a Culture Shaping Project together. It is recommended that you gather weekly for a month. Each group meeting should last about 90 minutes and include learning and discussion. The meeting location should facilitate group conversation and provide access for DVD viewing.
Each Society Room study focuses on one of the four categories: Culture, Future, Church or Gospel and consists of the following materials for four group meetings: 1) and 18-minute video Talk that introduces the topic, 2) a FermiShort, a 5,000 word essay to be read ahead of time, 3) a video Expression that models the theme and 4) suggestions for a Culture Shaping Project designed specifically to encourage action among participants. Discussion questions are also included to unpack the content for each group meeting. The study has been purposefully designed in this order to help participants grapple with the ideas and ultimately lead to action.
Each Society Room Study includes:
DVD – Society Room Introduction (5 min), video Talk (18 min), video Expression (18 min) and Fermi Short PDF (5,000 word essay with permission to make up to 10 copies.)
Leader’s Guide – Contains the history of the Society Room concept, a Content Overview for this particular study, Discussion Questions for each meeting and suggested options for a Culture Shaping Project.
Interactive Website – Password protected access to the video Talk, video Expression and Fermi Short for all participants at anytime, Leader Facilitation Recommendations for each meeting and a Participant Guide that provides an overview of the Society Room study.
Create Conversation – Society Room leaders are facilitators of conversation. You will not be lecturing or teaching your group, but encouraging members to discuss what they are learning. Consider doing background research on the topics your group will be discussing. Study the biblical passages that are referenced in the Discussion Questions. Plan to share your own reflections, beliefs and questions with the group, but limit your input. The leaders should only talk ten to twenty percent of the meeting time, at most. After asking a question, resist the temptation to fill the silence yourself. Stimulate others to share, listen attentively when they speak and be affirming whenever you can.
Provoke Critical Thinking – This content is designed to provoke questions and expose participants to new ideas. In the absence of simple answers, expect disagreement and debate. It makes for a healthy dynamic if the leader facilitates discussion in a provoking, but respectful way. In fact, the best leaders are not great question answerers, but strategic question askers. Don’t feel the need to resolve tensions. Encourage self-discovery by allowing participants to explore these ideas in light of their own personal experiences and what God is teaching them. Use the Discussion Questions provided, but feel free to stimulate dialogue by supplementing with your own questions.
Encourage Influence – Develop relationships with participants during the study so that you can encourage them in their spheres of influence. Consider where God has placed each person vocationally and the channel of cultural influence in which they live and work. Historically, significant changes have taken place in culture when leaders from the different institutions of society work together toward a common goal. Leverage this opportunity to encourage the participants to consider what they are learning, how it applies to their lives, how God might use them in their sphere of influence and how your group can be a catalyst toward that end.
Take Action – Do something with what you are learning. This study and the discussions that take place are designed to lead to action in the form of a Cultural Shaping Project. Manage your expectations; perhaps your group will attempt something that is not entirely successful, or maybe your time together will end with no grand vision undertaken. That’s okay. However, make it a goal to not merely consume content. Actively strive to experiment, engage and endeavor toward something practical and tangible. Learning and knowing come from doing, and doing together is the foundation where authentic community and cultural change take root.
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