FAQs for Pause Listen Learn

FAQs

What is Pause, Listen, Learn and why are we doing it?

Pause, Listen & Learn is what Jacob’s Well is doing in July.  We are taking this month to pause from our usual routines in order to gain fresh perspectives on how to be the best “us” we can be – not just the “us” we are so busy being day in and day out.  

Jacob’s Well will celebrate our 5th birthday in September 2011. This is a time and space dedicated to refocusing on God’s vision for us.  We want to let God, not inertia, shape us as we continue our life together. For us as individuals, this is a chance to gain new insights into our own relationship with our church as a way of giving God more and more of a foothold in our lives.

So, during the month of July, we will pause from our normal routine of gathering at 10:30 Sunday mornings at Field and Longfellow. We will listen deeply to God, our vision, our neighbors who aren’t here yet, each other, other communities and ourselves.  We will learn from that listening, discerning how to continue to live and grow as the church God is creating Jacob’s Well to be, not the church of our own preferences.

What AREN’T we doing?

• We aren’t taking a break or taking the month off. This involves all our Christ-following muscles, but in a different way than usual.
• We aren’t completely re-inventing Jacob’s Well. Just 5 years ago, Jacob’s Well was only an idea.  Now it is very real – and a good thing for lots of people!  We are now in a new place and we are asking God to show us what is next for Jacob’s Well to continue to be about God’s purposes.
• The staff’s not on vacation! They are working their regular hours or more and using the time to do the sort of background work with PauseListenLearn that will make us a better community.

So what do I do in July?

Dive in!  The more you put in to it the more impact this will have on you (and all of us!).  

Be there Sunday, July 3 (10:30 am) when we will be at Minnehaha Falls as an entire community to launch our month of Pause Listen Learn.

And, we encourage EVERYONE to give three things a try for sure:

• Field trips.  Choose one of the July Field Trip Packages that are being put together...or create your own!  There will be a different "church" to visit with a group each Sunday plus at least one "non-church" field trip during the week. Field trips are about getting out and opening up to what we can learn by being visitors and experiencing other churches, organizations and places in our community.  And we’ll worship in the process as we seek and find God at the center of all these outings.
• Listen to God.  We’ll be laying out ways to listen to God and invite everyone to especially set aside 7 minutes at 7:00 am or 7:00 pm each day to keep God at the center of this. 
• Get together!  Gather with no agenda or program. Just for fun. Just to be together and get to know each other better. 

Should I still be giving offering in July? How?

Yes!   For one thing, we know it is just a healthy thing to do as part of allowing us to use the money God has given us rather than letting the money use us.  Also, Jacob’s Well is very much operational this month - we are intentionally and actively being church in a way that is life-giving and vision-focusing for us all  - and what we give together is truly what makes it happen now and into the future.  Maybe even consider a special gift to help us reach for where God is calling us.

Much of Jacob’s Well already gives regularly via automated means through their own bank (free) or via our online GIVE MN option. This might be a great time to transfer to an automated plan.  Click here to learn more.

So, I don’t go to church on Sundays?

Not so fast. Weekly worship in a community is important for keeping us grounded.  There is a different guided “Field Trip” worship opportunity each week. You can also feel free to visit somewhere you have been wanting to try. You’ll likely enjoy and get more out of the experience if you go with others and make a point of debriefing afterwards.  You’ll find a guide for that here.

What if I’m out of town in July?

It’s summer in Minnesota! When you are not in town, we encourage you to find a worship community wherever you are and to reflect and share that experience using these simple guiding questions.

You could also declare part of your get-away a “non-church” Field Trip that you can reflect on with these questions.

And, clearly the pauses we take in the summer (cabins, lakes, family reunions, road trips…) can open us up to God in unique ways.  Let that happen.  One simple way to open up to that is to continue your God-Listening for 7 minutes at 7:00 AM or PM.

What if I can’t be there July 3?

Bummer!  But do make sure to read your PAUSE LISTEN LEARN email update on July 1! It will tell you what you need to know and help you connect with everything even though you can’t be there.

What is the importance of visiting other churches?

God is speaking and acting in meaningful ways in many different kinds of communities. Though we aren’t going to be a better Jacob’s Well by copying other churches, we can certainly learn from them.

It reminds us that “how” we do Jacob’s Well is different from the “why” and frees us to always be open to changing our “hows” in order to be more effective at being who we are called to be.

Individually, it opens us up to new insights and conviction about what really can happen through “church” that matters for us and for others.

Can’t I just visit a place and not worry about the whole “debriefing” thing?

Sure!  And…the process of debriefing with others will help you and all of us gain insight and perspective that we wouldn’t otherwise.  And it can be fun!  If you can’t stay for the debriefing experiences following your visit, see if you can find a way to visit with someone about it and share your reflections. Find debriefing questions here. 

What should I tell people who are interested in visiting Jacob’s Well during July?

Invite them to come with you on a Field Trip and to any of the community gatherings. Invite them to be contacted by the Listening Team.  It is likely they will be intrigued, impressed and happy to be included in this authentic effort to stay with God’s trajectory for Jacob’s Well as best we can.

What happens when someone shows up at one of our worship sites on a Sunday in July?

You can’t do anything without some problems, and this is one. But here’s our plan. We will have someone at each site every Sunday morning at our regular time to meet anyone who shows up (a first-timer or a Jacob's Well-er who forgot) to greet them and explain what is going on. We will thank them for trying to visit and encourage to come starting August 7. If appropriate we’ll invite them along to one of our visits or to a community-wide events. If you would like to be one of those greeters it would be a great ministry to offer! Contact us here.

What is the Listening Team?

This is a team of Jacob’s Well people trained and dedicated to listening to our own community and to people who aren’t here yet in order to be the best church we can be.

Jacob's Well began in 2006 because we had a pretty strong sense of what God was calling us to do, and we've done our best with that. That's why you're here! We also know we have a long way to go and we want to learn what we should keep doing, what needs work, what to start, and what we can stop doing.  That takes a lot of listening both to those of us who are here already (more) and to those who aren’t yet part of a church (read more). 

What does it involve to be listened to?

A Listening Team member will set up a time and place with you (and your partner, if appropriate) to sit down together. You will be guided through questions about your story with God and experience with Jacob’s Well (even if you are not sure you have much of a story!). Willing to give it a try? Click here. 

What are the hoped for outcomes of Pause, Listen, Learn?

1. To reaquaint each of us to the purpose of our faith and the vision of Jacob’s Well. Assumption: We are here because the vision spoke to us. Understanding it better will give greater meaning to our relationship with Jacob's Well.
2. To re-energize those who have become less engaged with Jacob's Well by reaching out and including them.
3. To identify the places where we are most and least effective in accomplishing our vision.
4. To identify the joys that make being Jacob's Well easy and fulfilling, and the pressure points that make it hard to accomplish our vision.
5. To create goals and action plans from what we learn.
6. To corporately own our renewed sense of direction and purpose.
7. Carefully document our process and progress to share with our own community and other churches.

Do churches really do things like this?

Well, actually no. Maybe that explains why most churches are failing right now. They’ve continued on with assumptions and practices that no longer fit the needs of the people around them. All healthy organizations set aside time and other resources to assess, rethink and retool to make sure they are still relevant and contribute value. Churches should be no different. Jacob’s Well is a pioneering church, we already have people following this move of ours.

Can we do all this in one month?

No. July is the big pause in which we are freeing up our ability to deeply listen and pull together what we are hearing. But knowing we can’t do this all in one month is why we started preparing in late May, started getting the word out the first week in June and will continue working on this through August and September. Some of our learnings will probably kickoff changes that we will be working towards for many months.

Are we getting any outside support for Pause, Listen, Learn?

Yes! First of all we’ve engaged Mo Fahnestock, PhD to guide us through this process. He’s been working hard with staff and leadership since June and will guide us and hold our feet to the fire to make sure we don’t just use and lose this opportunity.

Second, there is considerable interest in our project from the larger church community and we have received assistance to help us make sure we are successful and to enable us to document what we are doing so others can learn from it and hopefully follow along this path.

How are we “listening to the vision” of Jacob's Well?

The “Why bother” series in June is precisely this. Knowing that we needed to be armed with what Jacob’s Well was called and shaped to do was important for us to have in hand as we paused, listened and learned, we crafted this series to help us understand the vision we have of our faith and our community. If you’ve missed part of the series you can either watch or listen to the messages from it HERE. Note… some of the message videos aren’t on the site yet.

Is there a question that isn’t answered here?

Send it to us here and we’ll get you an answer.