I’m sure you already know this ’cause Denver’s the main person behind the documentary—and because I heard from him the study guide is the next part of the process—but my/his/our church’s young adult group developed our own set of questions and issues to discuss week by week.

Initially, we emailed questions and issues to the group leader, who sorted them out into categories. This is probably less intimidating for many people—nobody except the group leader knows who posed which “embarassing” question. Then, each Sunday, we discuss one or two of the questions. Sometimes the leader emails the upcoming questions to us ahead of time so we can think or read up on them if we want. I don’t remember when we started doing this, but it would have been last fall after BikeMovement. It’s nice not to be tied to a specific lesson plan or book that lazy people won’t read ahead of time, anyway. Pretty much anybody can get the discussion started.

Recent questions have included:
—How should church members treat its own who have engaged in sexual sin?
—Is it a sin for Christians to watch “R-rated” movies?
—Can adoption be intolerant or anti-ethnicity?
—What’s really so bad about masturbation?
—If women are allowed to preach in this church, why doesn’t it happen more often?
—How do we figure out what God’s will for our lives is?

These questions may seem silly to some YAR people, but my church isn’t YAR. Each congregation will find itself in a different place.

A few books I’ve found helpful:
“Eyes Wide Open” by Bill Romanowski (It’s about media choices.)
“The Will of God as a Way of Life” by Jerry Sittser
“Being White: Discovering Our Place in a Multiethnic World” by… well, they have names, but I can’t remember them.