Ambient Wonder Review - our 'threats'/challenges

To continue on from the last three posts, here are the thoughts we wrote down on Sunday evening when we reviewed where we're up to.

Ambient Wonder's 'threats/challenges':

• size of core group and attendees - difficult to keep motivation/enthusiasm?
• could potentially become a clique
• could get stuck in a rut / be shallow
• lose initial enthusiasm for authenticity / freedom / creativity
• being limited by venue / time
• Becoming mainstream / too sensitive to pleasing audience / church leaders??
• losing Christ focus
• Not being as accepting/open as we hope to
• Accessibility
• Assume beginners know steps - need to learn to introduce beginners

Any more? Thoughts on these?

Ambient Wonder Review - our opportunities

To continue on from the last two posts, here are the thoughts we wrote down on Sunday evening when we reviewed where we're up to.

Ambient Wonder's opportunities:

• Become known as LGBT friendly?
• Increase our profile
• We have the freedom to define ourselves in new ways
• potential for interim small cells, online thoughts for the week / month
• Use the facebook page and website to share more ideas / experiences
• reach out to likeminded people in other churches
• explore the past - "period' events
• reaching out to people who are spiritual, with a sense of Christ-consciousness, but not Christian
• new venues
• grow greater community

Any more? Any thoughts on these?

Ambient Wonder Review - our weaknesses

To continue on from the last post, here are the thoughts we wrote down on Sunday evening when we reviewed where we're up to.

Ambient Wonder's weaknesses:

• event-focussed
• vague network rather than a 'community'
• irregluar meetings - can be disjointed
• hard to contribute to an event if you miss the planning meeting, not as open as it's supposed to be to take on a role after the planning evening
• lack of organisers
• lack of committed participants
• Insufficient time in planning meetings to organise an event
• people feel they don't need to commit to attending regularly
• lack of continuity between events
• Not coming from a christian background and not knowing the New Testament can make it difficult to contribute
• If you don't know how it works you can feel lost and stranded from planning to event.

Any more? Thoughts on these?

Ambient Wonder Review - our strengths

After our get-together at the Workshop cafe bar on Sunday evening, I wanted to share the remarks and comments we wrote down when we were reviewing where we are as a community, so that we can ponder some more and interact with them further, in the comments below the posts and also on the facebook page.

We looked at our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats - I know, not hugely original but it was the end of a long week! I'll posts the strengths in this post, and the other 3 areas in separate posts. That way we can discuss the different areas without getting too tangled up - well, that's the theory anyway! Please chip in with thoughts.

Ambient Wonder's strengths:

• open-mindedness, not closed
• tolerance, inclusive
• coming from unusual tangents and different perspectives
• creativity
• many people's ideas being pooled, co-creative
• not afraid of technology
• variety, interesting
• addresses unusual topics
• stimulating, thought-provoking
• social, friendly
• values individual contributions, use of artistic gifts
• free - not constrained by preconceptions
• spontaneous

Any more? Any thoughts on these?