New Faithlife group started: Mark's gospel

I've started a new Faithlife group to read and discuss Mark's gospel. The group is named "Mark's Gospel: Ecclesial, Critical and Transformational".

It's here:

https://faithlife.com/marks-gospel-ecclesial-critical-and-transformational/

The group description follows:

The aim of this group is to read and discuss the gospel of Mark. The strap line "the eyes of the church, the mind of the university and the hearts of the poor" is broken down as follows:

* Seeing through the eyes of the church ensures that the gospel is not understood to be a document purely of interest to historians and that right understanding require hearing the gospel alongside others who follow Jesus Christ.

* Interpreting through the mind of the university suggests that the gospel is not understood to be an ahistorical text, but is grounded in a social context that can be interrogated. The gospel can withstand receiving criticism from those outside the church.

* Believing through the eyes of the poor focuses upon the gospel's ability to transform the lives of the outcast and to expect to see lives transformed as a result of hearing the gospel. Studying the gospel is not a purely academic exercise.

It's a private group so people will need to express interest in joining, but anybody is welcome to join, at least whilst I try to get it up and running.

I hope the bullet points aren't too limiting, but I'm trying to scope a general vision.

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Comments

Ryan Nelson

It's a private group so people will need to express interest in joining, but anybody is welcome to join, at least whilst I try to get it up and running.

Hi Rayner,

If anyone is welcome to join, I'd encourage you to make the group "open" so that people can click your link and join right away.

Whenever you create a new group, it's a good idea to think about what features you want to use, and consider removing the tabs for features you don't want to use (you can choose which tabs will be displayed in "Group settings: About Your Group: Page tabs").

If the goal of the group is to get people to discuss each chapter of Mark, it might be a good idea to provide some more direction for each discussion. What kind of conversations are you hoping to create (should people share insight they've gained from each chapter, sermons they've preached, lessons they've learned, favorite resources, etc.)? The more direction you can provide within the group, the easier it will be for group members to figure out what you want them to do.

Each of these things can help make it easier for people to jump into the group and join the conversation, and they can help you create the kind of group you're looking for.

If no one is joining the group, it's often because of the friction created by unnecessarily strong privacy settings (which you would want if you were creating a group with your friends or family). If no one is participating in the conversation, it's often because they don't know where they are supposed to post (too many options) or what they are supposed to post (unclear directions). As some users have pointed out though, there are also a lot of people who join a group just to learn from others, so it helps to create some "posting momentum" as the administrator (for example, you could model the kind of discussion you hope to create in the discussion tab with some of your thoughts on Mark 1, etc.).

I hope this helps, and I'd love to see how this goes.

Rayner

Hi Rayner,

If anyone is welcome to join, I'd encourage you to make the group "open" so that people can click your link and join right away.

Ok, I've opened it until 30 members are reached and then plan on closing it. I think that people are often reluctant to ask questions if groups are too open.

Whenever you create a new group, it's a good idea to think about what features you want to use, and consider removing the tabs for features you don't want to use (you can choose which tabs will be displayed in "Group settings: About Your Group: Page tabs").

Thank you. I've removed some tabs so it now looks neater.

If the goal of the group is to get people to discuss each chapter of Mark, it might be a good idea to provide some more direction for each discussion. What kind of conversations are you hoping to create (should people share insight they've gained from each chapter, sermons they've preached, lessons they've learned, favorite resources, etc.)? The more direction you can provide within the group, the easier it will be for group members to figure out what you want them to do.

Thanks. I will add some questions once I've a little more time to think about what to ask. Today I was just focusing on the basic structure. Is there a way that I can "pin" posts within the discussion so that the top post is never lost?

If no one is joining the group, it's often because of the friction created by unnecessarily strong privacy settings (which you would want if you were creating a group with your friends or family). If no one is participating in the conversation, it's often because they don't know where they are supposed to post (too many options) or what they are supposed to post (unclear directions). As some users have pointed out though, there are also a lot of people who join a group just to learn from others, so it helps to create some "posting momentum" as the administrator (for example, you could model the kind of discussion you hope to create in the discussion tab with some of your thoughts on Mark 1, etc.).

Well, there are 5 members already (and that was with closed settings) although I am thinking of creating a rule which means that anybody that doesn't post within a month or two gets removed. That would prevent the group from going stale. I've just added some news telling people where to post. I think once I add the questions, it will get up and running quite quickly.

I hope this helps, and I'd love to see how this goes.

Thanks for your feedback. It hope it will soon be very popular

Ryan Nelson

Is there a way that I can "pin" posts within the discussion so that the top post is never lost?

Currently, the best you can do is create a clear title for the discussion (such as "What you've learned from Mark 1" or "Observations in Mark 1", etc.). The newest posts will appear at the top, so older posts will move to the back. The idea is that the first thing you see is the most current.

Well, there are 5 members already (and that was with closed settings) although I am thinking of creating a rule which means that anybody that doesn't post within a month or two gets removed. That would prevent the group from going stale. I've just added some news telling people where to post. I think once I add the questions, it will get up and running quite quickly.

A group like this sounds like it could attract a lot of people that would simply want to learn from others, and I'm not sure that cutting them out for not contributing is the best way to create a valuable group. Personally, I would recommend finding a couple other people who you know will contribute, and then leaving the group open. It's obviously up to you and it depends on what you are trying to do, but with a group like this you are bound to find people want to participate by listening, rather than sharing, if that makes sense.

Kenneth Neighoff

For those who use or follow the Lectionary as a guide in preaching, this group is ideal. Since The Gospel of Mark is center to many of the readings.