A Mentor is a past Team member who would like to reach out and help current Team members on the next Weekend. Mentors are experienced in the Weekend position and would like to share some of that experience and knowledge with the Head of a Team Functional Group. Mentors act as a liaison between the Board and the Team to help the Team understand and implement Koinonia guidelines and policies.
The Mentor program provides consistency and continuity to the Weekends, helps build confidence in new and experienced Team members, acts as a resource for Team members and helps keep more people involved in Koinonia.
Mentor Selection and Training
If you would like to be trained to be a Mentor, be a Mentor Trainer, or assist with the Mentor Program, please email the Mentor Coordinator.
Mentors are slected on the following criteria:
1. They have performed the position on a past Weekend.
2. They have been trained to be a Mentor.
3. An attempt is made to match personalities, geographic location & availability of the mentor & mentoree.
Mentorship Training
The Mentor Training consists of three main areas:
1. The Role & Responsibilities of being a Functional Group Head Mentor. Training to be a Mentor.
2. The Role & Responsibilities of the specific Functional Group Head. Training to be a Mentor for a Functional Group Head Team position.
3. The Role & Responsibilities of the specific Functional Group. Training to learn the duties of a particular Weekend position.
Mentor Trainer Selection
Mentor Trainers are selected on the following criteria:
1. Trainers have been trained as a Mentor.
2. Trainers have been a Mentor several times for the Functional Group Head position(s).
Koinonia History and Weekend Flow
Koinonia is simply a system of introducing and maintaining the interest of an individual in helping to Christianize his personal environment whether at home, at work, or in recreational pursuits. Koinonia does this by developing an example of a Christian community during a weekend conference and then encourages the continuance and application of Christian precepts through small groups, which continue to support the individual as he or she attempts to live in Christian love in his world.
Koinonia is patterned largely after a similar method that began in Spain by Roman Catholics, and known as "Cursillo de Christianado" or "short course in Christianity". Koinonia was first developed in Findlay, Ohio, in 1972 by an ecumenical group of Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Quakers. The first two weekends were held at a conference center near Defiance, Ohio. Since this beginning of Koinonia, the system has spread to many other locations.
The Koinonia system uses, as its fundamental concept, the sharing of Christian love between individuals; that is, Christ was concerned with the world about Him, and that as Christians, we should follow His example. Koinonia, therefore, differs from other experiential methods which are based primarily on personal salvation or charismatic experience. No position on these various methods is taken during the weekend. Rather, it is the acceptance that Christ lives through others that is stressed. In spreading His love through our actions, the eventuality of "one man - one word - one God" will be realized.
Koinonia should not be viewed as a denomination or as an end unto itself. It is only a means to provide an awareness within the individual of his Christian responsibility in the creation of a better world based on empathy, love and action. In this way the system differs from some religious approaches or methods that emphasize the perpetuation of the group or entity as being of primary importance because of the truth which it holds. Instead, it is the going out that is of importance to Koinonia rather than the coming in. It is the actions of the individual within his everyday environment, rather than in the group, that are meaningful. At the weekend the individual is urged to take an active Christian role in his church, work and home.
It is difficult to categorize the weekend in specific terms. It has the elements of a retreat in that there is opportunity for prayer and meditation. It has some of the elements of a transactional experience in that it reaffirms the worth of the individual and provides for an examination of interpersonal relationships based on the teachings of Christ. There are even the festive elements of singing, joking, fellowship, and a party. Essentially, the weekend is based on a series of talks and discussions, which are used to guide the individual in reaching his own conclusions about his personal responsibility. The talks are not structured to provide definitive roles or procedures, but are largely based on the personal experience of the speaker.
Colorado Koinonia
Why review Colorado Koinonia's background? At the first ten weekends almost everyone knew each other and, more importantly, everyone knew Koinonia and its background. Koinonia's history was transmitted orally, like the Bible until someone wrote it down. To do the weekend well the team has to have some idea about how Koinonia all came together and why. It helps the team make appropriate adjustments during the weekend, helps them understand their jobs better and helps them better comprehend the idea of deep commitment as a team.
Koinonia has been patterned after the Roman Catholic "Cursillo" which in Spanish means "short course". The Cursillo began in Spain and has the elements of the weekend from Thursday through Sunday, small group weekly reunions and periodic larger group reunions known as "Ultreyas". In Cursillo the general rule has been that the man in the family would have to attend the weekend before his wife could attend. This course of action was determined to be necessary to assure that the intensification of faith and Christian action within the family unit would not be relegated to the wife, but would be shared by both husband and wife.
In Findlay, Ohio, a very active Cursillo existed. Mrs. Margaret Musser was urged to attend a Cursillo by her friends. However, she was unable to do so until her husband attended, but Everett Musser was Presbyterian, and the Cursillo weekend was oriented to Roman Catholics. After careful consideration of the matter, the leadership of the Cursillo invited Everett to attend a weekend and to join a weekly reunion group. After attending this weekend and participating in his reunions, Mr. Musser felt there was great potential for applying this cause of Christianity to his own Presbyterian church. He discussed the matter with his Pastor and the decision was made to formulate a program. With the help of local Roman Catholics, who were active in the Cursillo movement, a weekend was planned. It was to be called Koinonia which means "small gathering" or "community" in Greek. The weekend, instead of beginning on Thursday night, would begin on Friday and the outlines of some talks were slightly revised towards a Protestant orientation. Most talk outlines, because of their basic Christian message, remain unchanged. A small team was organized with the speakers doubling as facilitators. Participants were invited from the First Presbyterian Church in Findlay and the first Koinonia was held at Tri-State Yokefellow House near Napoleon, Ohio, in May of 1972. The first support and serenade were entirely by Cursillistas from northwestern Ohio, who were willing to share their love unselfishly.
Koinonia was brought to Colorado in 1972 by Ron and Pat Morgan. The Morgans were transferred by Marathon Oil Co. from Findlay to Littleton, Colorado. With the help of Episcopal Cursillo, active in Colorado for several years, the first weekend was April 15-17, 1977 at Covenant Heights Baptist Bible Camp near Estes Park, Colorado. There were 19 participants, essentially from Grace Presbyterian Church of Littleton, Colorado and Colorado Koinonia was begun. One other weekend was held in 1977, three in 1978 and four each year beginning in 1979. The first weekend of 1978 (K-3) through the last of 1987 (K-41) were held at Ponderosa Southern Baptist Assembly Camp outside Larkspur, Colorado. The first weekend of 1988 (K-42) and subsequent weekends were at Signing River Ranch near Evergreen, Colorado. In February of 1990, Koinonia moved to Blackforest Camp and Conference Center near Monument, Colorado to hold K-50. In February 1993, Koinonia moved back to Ponderosa Southern Baptist Assembly Camp outside Larkspur, Colorado for K-62. Koinonia is now at Salvation Army High Peak Camp near Estes Park, CO.
Participants in Colorado Koinonia are now spread throughout Colorado, as well as reaching into several other states. The Morgans have again been transferred and now reside in Texas. Other Koinonians from Colorado reside in nearby states and Koinonia has planted new seeds elsewhere. As was done in Findlay, a Continuance Board was formed to help perpetuate Colorado Koinonia. This Board operates only to plan and guide the growth of Koinonia.
Colorado Koinonia is unique in that Cursillo is not the background for all the decisions that were made to start and maintain Koinonia. Many decisions were made by trial and error to arrive at the current format, and Koinonia is still open for adjustments, as circumstances require. While not necessarily unique, there are several noteworthy aspects about Colorado Koinonia. As mentioned, the first weekend was basically staffed by Episcopalian Cursillistas. That beginning relationship has continued throughout the growth of both entities and the inter-relationships have been blessings to both the people and the organizations. Young adults in high school have been participants as well as many mature Christians. The number of denominations represented in Colorado Koinonia is growing. The newsletter, "The Rooster Tale" updates all Colorado Koinonians on what's going on in the community.
Weekend Flow
Koinonia is a gathering of people who are called by the Holy Spirit. For this reason, the Koinonia weekend begins with a prayer to ask that God send His Holy Spirit to guide the group. Although complete trust and reliance is placed in the power of the Holy Spirit, the weekend is Trinity conscious and Trinity oriented.
People come to Koinonia for any number of reason and each arrives with varying attitudes toward God, the mission of Jesus Christ, and love of fellow men. Regardless of the reasons for coming and the various attitudes, each person comes to Koinonia because God wants them there. Recognizing that the various reasons and attitudes exist, Koinonia begins by getting each person to take a good look at his attitudes - to know himself.
Friday nigh begins where any community has to begin - with the individual. It is meant to be non-threatening with music, laughter and an ice-breaking introductory question. People come as strangers, knowing only a few others. They make a few acquaintances and get to better know themselves. The only group activity Friday night is to pick a name for the group and become acquainted. The focus is on the individual in the talk and the meditations. The Ideals talk is a non-threatening, non-religious talk without much sharing, that asks each person to honestly evaluate their goals and motivations. The talk is followed later by the reading of the Prodigal Son Scripture and the Examination of Conscience. Silence follows these readings, encouraging each person to look within; it is a time to be shut-up within yourself with few distractions. Friday night may be uncomfortable - expect that and embrace it. From this the remainder of the weekend can be built on God's Ideals for us - our relationships.
On Saturday the community builds on the basic relationship of God and ourselves. Saturday morning's emphasis is on God's part of the relationship. First is a worship service to celebrate God's love for us, regardless of our Ideals. We celebrate God's acceptance of us as we are with an emphasis on God's love to us. Following the worship service is the Laity talk. Out of all the possible Ideals for life the focus for the weekend will be the Ideal of community Christian life which is meant for everyone and is God's Ideal for us. The Grace talk follows the Laity talk. This is not a sermon, but a talk about grace as a real experience in our lives. Grace is the starting point of any Christian life. It is what God has done and is doing for us - not what we do for Him.
Saturday afternoon's emphasis switches to our part in the relationship. Totally committed Christians' response to God's grace is piety, study and action. The Piety talk tells of the response of the innermost person, the response of our spirits to God. This response to God's grace will lead to commitment, making so as to maintain the relationship. The Study talk tells of the responses our souls make to God's grace. This response is a conscious driving force for our Christian life, our intellect, our will, our memory and our emotions. The Action talk tells of our physical response to God's grace. This is an outward, bodily, visible response. Our response to God's grace works from the inside out, not vice versa.
Saturday evening begins with a small chapel which allows a time to renew or make public some part of our response to God's grace in our lives. Next is the Riddance of Sin which is our assurance from God of His forgiveness, allowing a fresh start in our response to His love. The Anointing allows us to accept God's forgiveness and dedicate our lives to Him. The evening ends with the Agape Feast which gives us a chance to relate to others in a new, open way. It is not communion, but a party and celebration.
Sunday morning's emphasis is on the relationship of God, self and others; in other words, on community. The morning starts early with Mananitas which has the symbolism of Easter, of rising to a new beginning in the Lord, of being reborn - "Today is the first day of the rest of your life". It is a time for others to freely relate to you before you have put on your outer self. The first talk is the Community talk which shows that a natural growth of a relationship with God is relationships with others. It tells of the support of the Christian community and invokes the 'body of Christ' image. It summarizes what has been lived on the weekend. The last talk is the Fourth Day talk which shows that ideals are our way of seeking security and that in living in response to grace we find security. We need to be constantly open to the community, and Koinonia share groups can be a touchstone to the community, a way of staying in touch with grace.
Sunday afternoon is the final worship which allows a time to celebrate with the larger Koinonia Christian community and family and prepare re-entry into the 'real world'.
