Threes
All of us need encouragement and support to help us keep growing and flourishing. Meeting regularly with other people to reflect on what's happening in our lives and where God may be inviting us can be life-changing!
Threes are a way to gather with other people looking to form and grow a healthy and helpful support structure. They are a simple friendship-based, peer-support model that is accessible and easy to follow!
Threes can take place in person or online. All you need to do is prayerfully consider who you want to journey with, invite them along, and then let us know who's in your group.
Tips on journeying in a Three
1. Prayerfully consider who to invite into your Three
These will be people who want to journey in this kind of way. You don't need to be best friends already - Threes can work well with people who have only known each other for a little while.
2. Be bold and invite two people to join you
3. Meet to chat and check you are all on the same page!.
Explore expectations and agree on how you will journey together by clarifying the following:
That everyone understands the group's purpose, what you will do when you meet together.
How often you will meet - weekly, fortnightly, monthly, and for how long - we suggest 1 hour.
That you are happy to visit the reflection questions before you get together.
What people need from each other to feel safe and confident in the group. Confidentiality is a must!
4. Set a date to review how it's going
Set a date to review how it's going and discuss if you want to continue. This review will depend on how regularly you meet but could be anywhere between 6 to 12 weeks.
5. Remember relationships can take time to develop
Open and vulnerable relationships take time to develop. It may take a while for people to feel confident about sharing fully. You may want to meet weekly for a season to establish your group and then drop to fortnightly or monthly if this feels more sustainable. Give it some time before you decide whether the Three is working in the way you had hoped.
6. Be open to the reality that your current Three may last a lifetime or short while.
Your Three may naturally run its course after 6 to 12 weeks, or it may last a lifetime. Celebrate whatever time you have with people, and if you would like to finish with the group, please do this openly and positively. If you would like to continue journeying with a Three, you may want to consider starting a new group once yours has finished.
Your Time Together
Here are some suggestions on structuring your time together. The process of meeting regularly and intentionally with two others, and the simple structure for reflecting and processing together, helps us identify how we are doing, what we desire, what God may be inviting us to consider, and what we need to put into action. The following questions are designed to help us with this process and are helpful as we look to take ownership of our life and our journey towards becoming the person God made us to be. Please spend time on these questions before you meet so that you can make the most of your time together.
Reflection Questions To Consider Before Your Time Together
How am I feeling – spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally?
What is dominating my thoughts and feelings at the moment?
What am I wanting or desiring?
What do I sense God bringing to my attention? Or Where is God in this situation / circumstance /desire?
What might be necessary for me to do or lean into to move forward with God's desires and purpose for me?
What action will I commit to take this month to move forward with what I have shared?
Suggested Structure For A One Hour Meeting
If you are happy to keep it to one hour, the following flow will keep you on track. If you decide to meet for a more extended period, you may give each element longer. Each person must have a chance to share, and everyone must have the same opportunity for feedback and prayer.
Hello & Catchup
(5 minutes)
Time to Talk, Listen And Observe
(15 minutes each person)
Each person has 15 minutes to share and be given feedback. You will need one person to ask the reflection questions, another to share, and an observer (a person who keeps the time and listens) for each turn. For subsequent rounds, you swap roles so that everyone will have had the opportunity to be all three by the end of your time together!
For 10 mins, the questioner asks questions of the person sharing - using the following suggested reflection questions. Hopefully, the sharer will have spent time reflecting on these before your time together and will have a sense of how to answer. The observer and questioner offer some encouraging feedback at the end of the 10 minutes.
1. From the reflection questions we were given, what particularly caught your attention?
2. What do you sense God’s invitation is in this?
3. What would you like to commit to do in response to that invitation?
Key things to remember: you are not there to give advice or solutions, only to guide the person sharing by asking questions! Would you please make sure you land on an action point / application!
The observer offers a 1-minute warning as the allocated time comes to an end. They can then ask both the questioner and share how they feel it went and give their observations.
Prayer
(5-10 minutes)
Ask each person - How can I be praying for you?
5-10 minutes to pray for each other at the end and a commitment to pray until you meet the next time.
Let Us Know About Your Three
Please let us know about your Three. This will help us understand who is connected and journeying together. If your Three is coming to an end, please just email us at info@westwiltsvineyard.com
I Need Help Connecting With A Three
If you want to join a Three and need help, please let us know, and we can introduce you to others who also want to connect. Unfortunately, while we will do our best to connect you to other people, we cannot guarantee that we will successfully place everyone into a Three.