Your questions answered...
What's the aim of Just People?
Both Tearfund and Shaftesbury share a passion to equip local churches to put a commitment to the gospel into practical action. We believe that the mission God calls us to is holistic, or integral, encompassing prayer, proclamation, practical service and political action. This course brings together down-to-earth theology, reflection, inspiration and experience with practical exercises. It will help your church or youth group grapple with issues of justice and poverty and think practically about how they can respond effectively as an integral part of their mission. It has been developed as part of the Micah Challenge UK, a coalition of Christian organisations and churches in Britain, united in their concern to fight poverty - for more log on to www.micahchallenge.org.uk
Is there much difference between the Youth and Adult versions?
Both courses share the same learning objectives and basic journey but the Youth version has been specifically developed with teaching style, activities and discussions to suit teenagers, so it feels very different. We'll split the day in two, so that the afternoon will be spent in two streams looking at how to run each specific version of the course.
Has Just People been tested?
Over the last year, the team that developed the course have run seven pilot courses, before beginning to train other leaders to run it themselves in Autumn 2007 (as part of the final stage of piloting). 300-400 participants have completed the adult course so far. At each stage we have reviewed and reworked the material with the help of feedback. The overall feedback has been extremely encouraging and has highlighted a need for the course.
The Youth version has only been developed recently and the first stage of pilots is just beginning.
One delegate on an adult pilot course had this to say:
'Attending Just People has started me on the journey, from just thinking and talking about Integral Mission, to actively pursuing and living it every day. The course hasn’t provided all the answers, in fact it has posed a great many more questions, but it has clearly identified God's calling to me to express the Gospel with integrity in every aspect of my life, to fight for justice both globally and locally'
What is Just People like?
For the adult version, we’ve used a well-tried and tested model of food, input and small-group discussion and added a crucial element of practical action by asking each person to do something each week and report back on how it went. There are six sessions and we ask the church to undertake a practical 'day of action' as an integral part of the course.
The youth version involves six dynamic one-hour sessions, designed with youth groups in mind. It is very interactive and involves several fun and creative activities, as well as video clips, discussions and a chance to reflect together on important biblical themes. There are also suggestions for a ‘practical day’ to help ground the experience in action.
What are you asking of us?
Come along and experience a taste of what Just People is and how it works. The course is going to be launched 'officially' later in the year, but we're building up to this by continuing to run pilots throughout the first half of 2008, the feedback from which will help us hone the course. We hope, having had a taste, many of the participants will be motivated to run pilots in their own churches/groups – and then tell us how it goes. During the day we will introduce you to the course and how it works, and give you a course pack containing the six session plans (as well as a faciltator's guide) so you will not need to prepare material in order to run it.
We'd love to see you at one of the training days. If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to contact the course organisers on one of the email addresses above.