The Journey Begins
This meeting should be held as soon as possible (within days) following the retreat weekend. The date and time should be established by the Continuation Committee and should be included on the calendar for the team in formation. The date and time can also be mentioned in the letter to retreatants. The Journey Leader announces The JOURNEY Begins during the Discipleship witness talk near the end of the retreat weekend.
The JOURNEY Begins is facilitated by the outgoing Spiritual Guide and/or a trained facilitator and outgoing Journey Leader in collaboration with the Continuation Committee. The pastor or his designee should be there for at least the commissioning part of the evening. The JOURNEY Begins should not last more than three hours.
Set up:
For the first part, set up the room in a circle with chairs for team and retreatants.
It is ideal to hold the commissioning in the church.
Handouts:
Team Commitment sheets (The JOURNEY Begins Handout #1 in The Journey Begins Facilitator Guide)
Extra Personal Commitment sheets (Weekend Handout #1 in Retreat Weekend section under Growing with Christ)
Pens and extra name tags
Ask those who attended the weekend to bring the Personal Commitment sheets they completed during the weekend, Bible and name tags.