Intentional Accompaniment happens within a framework, but without a template. Accompaniment can happen in a lot of ways, and is truly just investing in a relationship, similar to building a friendship or mentorship. The intentional part keeps the accompaniment focused on Christ. 

Some ideas for accompaniment to give you some perspective: 

• Leading a small group (we can provide options for this) 

• Hosting “big question” dinners or pot luck gatherings, when families come together and have a “big question” discussion (we can provide prompts for this).

• Starting a book club with monthly discussion gatherings.

• Starting a Chosen watch club with monthly discussion gatherings.

• Attending Revive healing services, and going out to a brewery afterward to share experiences.

Many more ideas exist - prayerful discernment, along with coaching, will provide a path for unique accompaniment according to the gifts of the Guide, and the natures of the families.

We hope to train prospective Guides over an 8-week program. This will be scheduled through their Coach, who will lead three Guides through the training. It is open for Coaches to expedite the program a little, and we hope for this training to take place roughly over the summer, depending upon what works best for the Coach and their Guides.

After training, we will have a couple of full-group meetings in the late summer. These will be focused on actual logistics and large-group questions and answers. 

Registration for Year One families will start August 1, and families will select a Guide as part of their registration. Once a Guide has been selected by three families, they will no longer be listed on the registration. At this point, the Guide will receive some contact information for each Family in order to start praying for them. In early September, we will encourage Guides to meet individually with each family. After this, through Coaching, Intentional Accompaniment will begin. The specific template for Intentional Accompaniment is very flexible, but we assume that Guides will be gathering with their families for around 2-3 hours each month, and these gatherings can take place as a group[ to make them as effective and efficient as possible. We also want Guides to meet with their Coach for regular meetings, which can be individually or as a group, in person or virtually.

Overall, we expect that Guides will spend about 16 hours training over 8 weeks, 2-3 hours meeting as a group at the end of the summer, 1 hour meeting with families in September (20 minutes per meeting), and then 2-3 hours each month.

Knowledge about the church and God's word is something that will always evolve over a lifetime, and we will always know a bit more now than we did a year ago, or more. But love of Jesus and our church doesn't actually require a strong theological base. The primary requisite is having converted your heart, mind, and will to Jesus. 

The Guides program and Intentional Accompaniment is not about making a case for God, or answering every question. It is not about "apologetics" as it is traditionally termed. It is about helping others to understand that Jesus knows and loves them, and that God has a plan for their life. While theology can help enhance this sense, deep theological understanding isn't needed.

If a person asks a question that you can't answer, we advise our Guides to tell them that they don't know the answer to that question, but that they will promise to get that answer. Guides can turn to their Coach and the team Leaders for support in supplying an answer.

Intentional Accompaniment does not assume that anyone has a converted heart, mind, or will - even people who are invited into the Guides program to be a Guide! Part of our training will help to ​bring our Guides through these questions, and walk our Guides through a conversion of heart, mind, and will if they haven't ​had that full experience yet (in other words - Guides ​themselves will be accompanied!).