Time to slowdown!

Is “fast track” still the order of the day?

During one of our cluster meeting I’ve brought up this question in our sharing. Just barely a month after the CLP, in most cases, while still in the Orientation of New Household to CFC there is an urge to give the Covenant Orientation talks right away.

This put the new household head in a dilemma, why? Let's say they're already in their 5th meeting of their ONH2CFC then the CO talk is given. What then will the household head going to do now? Will he resume the 4 remaining meetings of the Orientation of New Household or will he go on with Covenant Orientation Follow-up instead?

Ah-huh... now the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. I've asked about 8 Tito's about this and all of them were honest enough to admit that they forget about the remaining meetings and proceed with the CO Follow-up and that's what seems to be the common practice.

I don’t know why everybody seems to be in hurry - really! Oh no, don't tell me it is because FS talk is next, duh?

This may be so in the beginning to fast track would-be-leaders but that’s almost 10 years ago. I think we’ve compromised a lot in terms of “too-much-to-soon” with our formation teaching that we’ve been at a “receiving mode” for so long that we forgot to switch to “absorbing mode” because the teachings are given in rapid fire succession that we do not have time to reflect and absorb the teachings anymore.

First, let us look at what the “CFC Household Heads Manual” says on page 12:

E. TOPICS FOR MEETINGS

1. For the first year (for new members right after the CLP), the household meetings are used to follow up on the topics in the teaching program. Thus the first year would look like this:

3 months ‑‑ CLP [2 months in this part of the globe]

3 months ‑‑ Follow up

1 day ‑‑ Covenant Orientation [or 2 weekends or 4 HH]

3 months ‑‑ Follow up

1 weekend ‑‑ MER

3 months ‑‑ Follow up

* Manuals are provided for each of the three "Follow up" phases.

And on page 1 of the “Orientation of New Households to CFC we can read in part:

CONTENT OF THE MEETINGS

Since there are 3 household meetings in a month, this 3‑month phase may encompass 9 household meetings in all. Following are the proposed contents for each of these meetings. The household head may opt to have topics or content other than these, as long as the basic objectives for this phase are met.

Let us look at the follow up to CLP, the “Orientation of New Household to CFC”, the manual shows that it consist of nine (9) meetings shown as follows:

On the 1^st Month:

Meeting No. 1 - See the “CFC Household Head’s Manual”

Meeting No. 2 - See the “CFC Household Head’s Manual”

Meeting No. 3 - See the “CFC Household Head’s Manual”

Appropriate teaching may be given on the 4^th week

On the 2nd Month:

Meeting No. 4

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic: Share on personal prayer and Bible reading.

Meeting No. 5

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic: Share on personal life‑‑interests, hobbies, work, schedule of activities, etc.

Meeting No. 6

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic: Share on family life‑‑relationship with spouse, relationship with children, family schedule, family prayer, family recreation, etc.

Appropriate teaching may be given on the 4^th week

On the 3rd Month:

Meeting No. 7

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic: Share on how they are experiencing growth in and through CFC.

Meeting No. 8

1. Have full worship.

2. This meeting is a joint meeting.

3. Discuss the CFC logo.

* Do they understand what CFC stands for?

* Where are they at in relation to who they ought to be and what they ought to be for in CFC?

4. Have your time of fellowship.

Meeting No. 9

1. Full worship, a separate meeting, fellowship.

2. Topic for sharing:

* How are they experiencing personal conversion and de­veloping their personal relationship with Jesus?

* How are they appreciating God's call to be in a particu­lar body, which is CFC?

Appropriate teaching may be given on the 4^th week

Note

1. Whenever there is a fifth week in the month, this can be devoted to a time of fellowship or a purely social activi­ty. You may choose to do a variety of activities, either in a home or outside.

2. The next phase after this Orientation of New Households is a one‑day recollection referred to as the "Covenant Orien­tation". In case this is scheduled early, some of the topics of the abovementioned meetings will have to wait for another time. In case the recollection is late, then there will be added household meetings where the topics will have to be decided on by the household head. You have a variety of sources for topics: the CLP talks, the Ugnayan "Growing in the Lord" articles, Christian books, etc.

I distributed the New Household Guide during our chapter meeting highlighting the 1st year formation course for new households wherein I compiled all year-long activities into one file. I mentioned the importance of this ONH2CFC because this is the get-to-know-you-better or the "bonding" between household head and members. Just look at the topics for discussion from meetings 4 to 9, during the CLP they are on the receiving end and now we get to hear more of them and less of us.

See what a loss if we cut corners by foregoing the remaining follow-up meetings just to give way to the CO talks.

Well I'm not saying that our chapter is the best right now because I'm raising this observation. We are still in the process of correcting this oversight too.

End of observation muna nose bleed na ako eh!

Buena Mano!

Oist.. atin-atin lang ito ha kumbaga ito ang electronic mind ko... kung napansin din ninyo wala akong opinion o personal sharing pino-post dun sa chapter blogsite natin in more than a month na nagpo-post ako doon... malinaw kasi sa sinulat ko doon sa profile ko kung bakit ginawa ko iyong blog para talaga iyon sa chapter-service natin... although madalas kong pinipigilan ang sarili ko na mag-post ng personal thoughts ko to shield ang mga chapter members sa mga biases o violent reactions o kung ano mang komento meron ako sa kasalukuyan.

Napili ko palang ipangalan na blogsite e "Bless The Food Na!" at ang title naman ay "Hold That Thought... No More!" kasi nga di ba after ng bless the food e fellowship na... meaning lahat ng mapag-usapan ay off the record na he he... parang we can be ourselves na... less serious ba unlike sa PW proper wherein iwas biruan naka-focus sa sharing and discussions.. di tulad ng fellowship nandoon na ang biruan, tawanan at kung anu-ano pang usapan.

Di ko layunin na kumbinsihin o guluhin ang isipan ninyo sa mga isusulat ko dito... malaya po ninyo akong itama sa mga mali kong akala basta po kung ano ang mapag-usapan natin dito ay mananatili po lahat sa blog na ito at wala pong personalan. Kaya pagkatapos po ninyo mag-exit sa blog na ito ay huwag na po nating dalhin at iwanan na lang po natin dito ang palitan natin ng kuru-kuro.

So eto na umpisahan ko na ang paglathala ng mga sharings ko... speaking my mind and... HOLD THAT THOUGHT - NO MORE!