It’s a bit messier than the packaged deal, and makes accountability more complex, but it has some advantages. It keeps disciple-making a relational practice, more like coaching than teaching/instruction (though there’s always an instructional component). It serves as a great reminder that all these things are always a means to an end, and keeps us focused on that end.

As I said in my comment on your first eclecticism post, the danger here is that it can become discipleship tutti-frutti, where people consume what suits them and leave off anything they find initially difficult or sacrificial. It’s important to help disciples choose practices based not on personal preference, but around love for God and participation in His mission.

- AWARENESS NIGHTS – it generally falls into about once a quarter…we will not do anything we normally do on a Sunday night, but we will only show a certain film highlighting a certain issue. It may be human traffiking, slavery. In a couple weeks we are showing “What Would Jesus Buy” about over-consuming especially during Christmas.

- COMPASSION NIGHTS – Our ministry, FUSION (http://firstcov.org/fusion) sponsors two children through Compassion International. So from time to time we have Compassion Nights instead of our normal Sunday night gatherings. We decorate the room with maps and facts of the areas our two kids are from. Then there are stations set up around the room. There is generally a letter writing station for reading the kids letters and writing letters to the kids. There is a prayer station where we set up with giant pillows and prayer requests taped on the wall at about 2 feet off the ground. There is a coloring/drawing section as we can only send flat things to our kids, we have coloring books we spend time to color and be able to send to the kids. We also have a monthly collection of recyclables which all the proceeds go toward our sponsorship of the children. So one station is simply a group we send out with trash bags for a couple hours to pick up recyclables they find. At the end we always take a group picture to put in the next packet we send to our kids.

- PASTOR PRAYER NIGHTS – On these nights from time to time, I simply write out my prayer for the group and myself as a pastor and leader. Then I read it. I just sit down and read it through. It generally takes about 5-10 minutes. So that mixes it up quite a bit, and the students love and respect the transparency.

- SPONTANEOUS BANQUET/COMMUNION
We set up the room like normal so nobody suspects anything. It would include a table in the back set up however you typically do communion but without any juice or bread in the dishes. When I get up to speak, I essentially only read the Wedding Banquet story. Then I walk around the room and ask if anyone brought bread or juice? They say no. I ask if anyone invited anyone to communion. They say no. I then say, “Well, we have an empty table for a feast we were supposed to have. So you have 20 minutes to go get food for our feast and invite people to the feast.” Then I walk away. They stare for a second, but then they get the idea and take off and come back with guests they meet and then a ton of junk food. When everyone is back I explain that every time we eat together, we are to remember Jesus, pray for the meal, and eat.