SHEPHERDING COHORTS

A COMMUNAL JOURNEY OF PRIESTHOOD

What might happen if we saw the ordinary places of our daily life as pastures where we’ve been called to shepherd? What if we saw our co-workers, our family, our friends, customers, patients, and clients as the flock we’ve been called to know, feed, lead, and protect?

One thing is for sure, we would not be alone in this work. The Spirit of God is already in these places—perhaps uninvited, unnoticed, unseen, sometimes even unwelcome—but God’s invitation is not only to embrace what the Spirit does for us and in us, but to participate with God in what he wants to do for the world through us as his priestly shepherds. Such is the goal of this curriculum.

May God use us, the priesthood of all believers, to shepherd his flock—tending and caring for the sheep in our pastures by leading them to the Great Shepherd, and, by his Spirit, bearing the fruit of heaven in the spaces of our daily lives.

This curriculum was designed to be used by a small group of people who occupy a similar type of daily space in which they’re praying for God’s kingdom to come (see suggested cohorts to the right). However, cohorts can certainly be formed without this commonality. Whether you’re gathering with people from similar spaces, or your cohort is a beautiful mosaic of representatives from numerous spaces, the corporate prayer of this curriculum is that God’s kingdom would come to fruition on earth (i.e., our daily spaces) as it is in heaven.

Your kingdom come, your will be done in our…

Office Space
those who work in an office, on a staff, or run a staff

Team Space
those who work with or play on a team—coaches, athletes, trainers

School Space
those who work in a school building—K-12 teachers, administrators, staff, and students

University Space
those who work or live at a university/campus—faculty, administrators, staff, and students

Community Space
those who work for the betterment of their community—social workers, government officials, law enforcement, friendly neighbors, volunteers, non-profit staff, etc.

Home Space
those who share a home—spouses, parents, kids, grandparents, roommates, etc.

Retirement Space
those within the season of retirement

Job-Site Space
those whose workplace is transient—contractors, engineers, construction workers, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, etc.

Service-Industry Space
those who work with customers in retail or food services

Emergency Space
those who work in emergency situations—cops, doctors, nurses, firefighters, etc.

…as it is in heaven

Print on legal size paper (8.5″x14″), short-edge binding, with saddle fold