As we continue our Wholehearted series with it’s last sub-series, Better Together (which starts April 12), we’ll also be continuing short-term Clubs!
“Better Together” Clubs will meet in April and May throughout the sermon series. Here’s what we’re offering:
- Women’s Club – Sundays at 9am (April 19-May 24)
- Men’s Club – Sundays at 9am (April 19-May 24)
- WH Volunteers Club – Mondays at 6:30pm, via Zoom* (April 13-May 18)
With a short-term commitment and no prep other than listening to the sermon, the clubs are an easy way to find connection with others through sermon discussions – and of course, coffee! You can read a recap of the “Love Is” Clubs here.
*Volunteer club for those who volunteer at Woodland who may not be able to meet at the 9am time right before church, due to volunteering 😉 Contact Shawna for the Zoom link!
If you’re looking to join in sermon discussions but would prefer longer term groups OR if you aren’t local, consider checking out our Gathering Groups!
We hope you’ll consider joining in the discussions!
Maybe you could have a tab just for online people to see ways to get involved in clubs via zoom???
Hi Stephen,
Unfortunately, we don’t have any online clubs (except the zoom option for Sunday volunteers). These clubs are specific to the series, but we still have Gathering Groups for sermon discussion that anyone is welcome to join!
–Emily from the Communications Team
Hey there Brother Stephen!
I had wondered the same thing and anticipated Emily’s reply to you. Our gathering groups are indeed a real viable option. Please consider Tues. nights at 6:30 central time and Weds mornings at 10AM central. I’ll be bias here and say – Ask to join Room 1 in either group! We’d love to meet you. ciao
Man that is awesome and thank you so much. I will definitely attempt this Tuesday 😁
You are more than welcome Stephen. Join in if you’re able; no pressure:) God’s will be done!
Hi Stephen,
You can sign up for a Gathering Group here: https://whchurch.org/get-involved/gathering-groups and there is also a button on that page you can click to join the Zoom call! If you have any more questions, go ahead and contact Shawna at sboren@whchurch.org. Glad to have you join 🙂
—Emily from WH Communications
Hey Kevin.
Do I need a link and password? I don’t have that stuff yet. Thanks so much 😊
.
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Oh well; guess you’ll need to copy/paste those links; I thought they be clickable. CYA
Hello! I am a faithful podrishoner of Woodland Hills participating online from my home in Sweden and have been for the past 24 years. I have a question. First, I want to be clear that I understand that there are times when it is wise and good to have men and women in separate gathering groups. But I wonder about your reasoning when, even under the theme “Better together”, you decide to separate men and women. Why is there never real togetherness, where “There is neither Jew or Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female for you are all one in Christ Jesus”? Surely, there must be more instances when men and women can be together in the church setting other than side by side as parts of an “audience” during services? We are brothers and sisters in the Lord and I do believe that we are better together. I believe that men and women are equal, that we can make each other better and that the church needs to be a role model, where “separate, but equal” have no place in any sense of that saying. So, why do you separate the men and women into different “Better together clubs” when the whole point of “Better together” should be, just that: together? I hope your reply will help me gain a good understanding of your reasoning. Thank you!
Hi Johanna,
Thanks for contacting us, it’s a good question! We affirm the passage from Galatians that you mentioned and agree that men and women are equal! Throughout the year almost all our other groups (Gathering Groups, Cultivate Classes, Healing Well Support Groups, Arts Group, Young Adults, etc) are mixed gender. Even our volunteer club for Better Together is mixed gender! However, we also get a lot of requests for specific men’s/women’s groups, which is something we do not offer. We hope these short term (six week) clubs will be an opportunity to respond to those requests and meet the need for folks who desire to have connection, support and conversation with those of the same gender. Hope that helps and if there’s more clarification we can give, please let us know!
–Emily from the Communications Team
Hi Emily,
Thank you for your reply and for clarifying that most of your other groups are mixed gender! That sounds healthy and New Testament biblical. 🙂 We need each other and in my experience, strictly dividing men and women creates a gap between us, which in the worst cases, becomes grounds for very unhealthy ways of viewing one another. Simply put, we’re better together! Thank you again for your clarifying answer! /Johanna
Glad to help, Johanna! we are indeed better together 😉
–Emily, WH Communications
I love your comment, Johanna! Agreed. Due to my history in churches that did not value women as highly as men, I have no desire to be in a single-gender group!
As a Brother in Christ who highly values input from All members of the household of faith, I say amen and amen. You two might enjoy mixing it up with us in Gathering Groups. As Emily mentioned here, contact Shawna Boren; she and Rob will discern which breakout room to put y’all in. aamof, my room 1 got us a new member this past Tuesday night – and I’m praying Sister Rachael keeps coming back. Pray on joining, yeah?
Hi Kevin! Thank you for your reply! I would love to be a part of an online Gathering group. I have looked into it, but I’m in a completely different time zone. Sweden is 7 hours ahead of MN-time. So, on Tuesdays you start at 6:30 pm, which is 1:30am here. And on Wednesdays you start at 10am, which is 4pm here – and then I’m still at work. Thank you for inviting me! 🙂
Yes, it happens that way much too often Johanna. ‘In this world you will have time zone conflicts’.
Now if we could somehow know all podsishiors in our given time zone, we could theoritically create our own zoom meeting – and ask Shawna to email those folks the sermon outline and questions. That’s likely impossible, ‘unless God builds the house’.
We’re left to seek out fellowship wherever we can find it. This reminds me that I’ve been remiss in placing an ad in a newspaper asking, “Who tunes in to the ministry of Woodland Hills Church in Mn.” or something like that. May do so yet. Keep on living and learning!
Thanks, Kevin! I’ve been in a Gathering Group for 5+ years and dearly love my GG family!
I do have some female friends who very much want to meet and spend time with other women and who have been looking for that type of group, so I’m glad WH has this option.
Johanna, lucky for you living in beautiful Sweden, but it’s a bummer about the time difference!
Glad you are involved; I want to see us grow, in number. I’m in a Tues. and a Weds. GG, btw, bc I’ll take all the fellowship I can get.
Yes, having those options really count.
Maybe see ya in a cultivate class one day. Shalom!
Thank you, Christie for your reply on my comment! Me too! 100%! My experience with churches, especially during the years I lived in the US, is strongly characterized by gender separation. Very often this separation either springs from or results in women being viewed as less than men. Not only is this hierarchical structure unbiblical, it also forces both men and women into stereotypical gender roles within the church, which limits both genders to fully bloom in their specific gifts and calling. We need to function like siblings who love one another, not like siblings who can’t be in the same room. We get there by moving away from “doing church” to “being church”, by following the example of Jesus!