Pathfinder has officially launched!
Last night at Good Shepherd we had our first ever Pathfinder Launch, and it went phenomenally! The atmosphere was fantastic (thanks Rebecca, Cherie, Dawn, Jennifer, Brad, Bob and the Trustees!!), the snacks were delicious, the music mix in the background was fantastic (thanks to me! heh heh!) and there was an excitment and buzz in the room that I’ve never seen in all my years of working with small group ministries! 
Over the course of the 2 hour Launch, people got numerous opportunities to connect with one another, meet new people, deepen current acquaintences and find things in common with others they never knew they had! It was so much fun…especially when I saw how many people there were who I had not ever met before!
After some initial connecting time, people were allowed to choose their own group to participate in for the next 5 weeks. Each group had a trained Pathfinder Guide at their table (THANK YOU SO MUCH, GUIDES! YOU ARE KEY TO OUR SUCCESS!) and for the better part of the next hour, Rebecca led them all through some questions and discussion in order to get to know those at their table a little better, while I presented the vision, purpose and expectations that make up Pathfinder Launches and Groups.
When all was said and done, we ended up with the following (as compiled by my wonderful and dedicated Group Ministries Leader, Dawn Rierson! You’re the best, Dawn!!):
* 13 Groups formed
* 18 Guides
* 120 committed to the six weeks
* Average of 9.2 people per group
I also want to thank our entire Pastoral and Program Staff for being there to help make this such a great event (a few of them even decided to be Guides themselves, which is phenomenal!) and for their servant leadership. Brad, Carrie, John, Chris, Rich, Ron, and Talbot–Rebecca and I could not have done it without you!
So what about all of you who were not able to make it to this Launch, but who are now so excited about getting involved that you can hardly contain yourselves…?? Relax! You have another opportunity coming up in just 7 short weeks! That’s right! On
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 22ND
we will be having our
2ND PATHFINDER LAUNCH
this Fall! You can even begin to pre-register for it shortly on the Pathfinder page of our website www.gsumc.org!
However, after last night, we realized that in order to make the experience as successful as possible, we may have to limit the number of people who can register based on the number of Guides we have for that Launch. So in other words, register soon if you want to be sure you make the cutoff!
Blessings to everyone here in the Dojo and especially to those of you who have set off on your first Pathfinder adventure! This is just the beginning!
Your fellow traveler on the Path (and excellent co-MC),
JMS
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