From TEAM to CLAY
Hi, y'all! Mary here! I was looking back on our previous posts and I saw one of our popular articles- from WOW to TEAM. It makes sense that it is a popular article because it explains the history of this group. Sabine and I are the two that seemed to have been here when this all started, and have lived to stick around and tell what has happened and changed.
Lately, a big change has happened. I, as the leader (or one of the leaders) of TEAM had felt that the morals and goals of TEAM were getting thrown away. The group was more like a place to chat (which is fine, to a point), post memes (some of which I was not a fan of because they were not respectful), and even arguments (which again I know happens, but it seems that we could not peacefully and calmly talk about the differences- it had to be a verbal argument). No good discussions were going down and when we were talking about something Biblical, or remotely useful an argument would emerge and everyone would type so fast to make sure they got their point across before anyone else said anything. While we all had this issue, there seemed to be much of a lack of listening going on. I mean, it is hard to have a discussion with only one person, right? Then, there was my pride- and possibly that of others. We were comparing our maturities, and allowing certain people to become 'leaders' for no reason other than we thought they were spiritually mature. Long story short, there was a lot of chaos in TEAM and not enough order.
People were also not showing up to the TEAM meetings, and when there would be enough for a meeting to take place, it was always the same few- about 4 of the 20 members we had at the end would regularly show up. Now again, I understand some literally had busy lives and could not make it to the meetings but would positively engage in some text conversations. But, there were some that would not come for any reason other than they did not want to come. I can understand that as a personal choice, but it disappointed me because of my expectations of TEAM. And, all things considered, that is only 6 of the 20 members we had- the 4 that show up every week about, the 1 that can never make it because he is busy, and the 1 who could make it but just choose not to come. What about the rest of the members of TEAM? We could not all be on at the same time, but if there was something that we wanted everyone to see even when they came online, it was difficult if not impossible to do because we would talk so much in between that everyone would skip the messages.
So, these were the thoughts I had going on in my head as I thought about what to do about TEAM. I did not talk to the leaders (which I kind of regret creating- not because I think they were bad leaders, but that we did not really need 'leaders'), which would have been one of the best options, but I did not talk to TEAM as a whole either, because I was sure only a select few would actually see it, and the discussion afterward would go against what I felt was right. I prayerfully considered what to do for quite some time, and I came up with an idea. I was going to act it out but last minute I changed my mind again, which was a bad idea.
So, one night, I ended up simply deleting the groups and removing all the members from it- including me. I had a 'speech' planned out for what I would say if someone private messaged me asking what was up. What I did not expect was what ended up going down. The next morning Sabine was freaking out so much because she thought that Skype was acting up and she simply created the groups and added everyone back. I don't know why it bothered me so much, but it did. Maybe because she did not talk to me about it first, and instead acted on her own fluision. Maybe I was bothered because I really wanted it gone because it was not working out, so I knew that the new groups would be just as flawed. Either way, I was not happy. I was not the only one, though. Sabine, Jake, Mandy,...everyone was disappointed that I had deleted the group without talking to them first. I was not sure what to do! I was so strong in agreeing with where I stood and I did not understand why it was such a big deal. I mentioned SOME of the problems in the paragraphs above to the leaders' group a few weeks back, and I threw out some ideas that did not involve deleting TEAM, and they pretty much shrugged it off. Some we tried to implant but it was not working. Others the leaders did not stand for. In a way, I had mentioned all my issues and thrown out ideas to make it work, but the only one left was to delete TEAM altogether.
After many hours of constant battering, and hopefully some good discussions, I think everyone is content enough with what we have. CLAY is the name of our Bible Study, who meets weekly and the members are really interested in growing spiritually. We discuss what we have been learning in our devotionals there, and encourage each other. It is a safe place where we can explain our struggles and work through them together. We wanted TEAM to be for those who were serious about growing in their relationship with God and were hoping that TEAM could do it. I was getting the feeling that most members were not willing to pitch in with the movement by encouraging others or starting healthy conversations, so CLAY was the alternative we chose.
By the way, what should CLAY stand for?
People were also not showing up to the TEAM meetings, and when there would be enough for a meeting to take place, it was always the same few- about 4 of the 20 members we had at the end would regularly show up. Now again, I understand some literally had busy lives and could not make it to the meetings but would positively engage in some text conversations. But, there were some that would not come for any reason other than they did not want to come. I can understand that as a personal choice, but it disappointed me because of my expectations of TEAM. And, all things considered, that is only 6 of the 20 members we had- the 4 that show up every week about, the 1 that can never make it because he is busy, and the 1 who could make it but just choose not to come. What about the rest of the members of TEAM? We could not all be on at the same time, but if there was something that we wanted everyone to see even when they came online, it was difficult if not impossible to do because we would talk so much in between that everyone would skip the messages.
So, these were the thoughts I had going on in my head as I thought about what to do about TEAM. I did not talk to the leaders (which I kind of regret creating- not because I think they were bad leaders, but that we did not really need 'leaders'), which would have been one of the best options, but I did not talk to TEAM as a whole either, because I was sure only a select few would actually see it, and the discussion afterward would go against what I felt was right. I prayerfully considered what to do for quite some time, and I came up with an idea. I was going to act it out but last minute I changed my mind again, which was a bad idea.
So, one night, I ended up simply deleting the groups and removing all the members from it- including me. I had a 'speech' planned out for what I would say if someone private messaged me asking what was up. What I did not expect was what ended up going down. The next morning Sabine was freaking out so much because she thought that Skype was acting up and she simply created the groups and added everyone back. I don't know why it bothered me so much, but it did. Maybe because she did not talk to me about it first, and instead acted on her own fluision. Maybe I was bothered because I really wanted it gone because it was not working out, so I knew that the new groups would be just as flawed. Either way, I was not happy. I was not the only one, though. Sabine, Jake, Mandy,...everyone was disappointed that I had deleted the group without talking to them first. I was not sure what to do! I was so strong in agreeing with where I stood and I did not understand why it was such a big deal. I mentioned SOME of the problems in the paragraphs above to the leaders' group a few weeks back, and I threw out some ideas that did not involve deleting TEAM, and they pretty much shrugged it off. Some we tried to implant but it was not working. Others the leaders did not stand for. In a way, I had mentioned all my issues and thrown out ideas to make it work, but the only one left was to delete TEAM altogether.
After many hours of constant battering, and hopefully some good discussions, I think everyone is content enough with what we have. CLAY is the name of our Bible Study, who meets weekly and the members are really interested in growing spiritually. We discuss what we have been learning in our devotionals there, and encourage each other. It is a safe place where we can explain our struggles and work through them together. We wanted TEAM to be for those who were serious about growing in their relationship with God and were hoping that TEAM could do it. I was getting the feeling that most members were not willing to pitch in with the movement by encouraging others or starting healthy conversations, so CLAY was the alternative we chose.
By the way, what should CLAY stand for?
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