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 ‘The Cornerstone Buddy System’.

My desire is to develop a somewhat organic system of discipleship, fellowship, and ministry.

As Dr. Deena Hinshaw was addressing the pastors in our province, she casually added the phrase “The Buddy System”. Something about this phrase has struck a deep chord in my heart. The Buddy System is easily conveyed, and although it is taught as early as playschool, it is not a childish concept or practice. The Buddy System is regularly incorporated by many businesses as they hire new employees.

Using a school field trip example, prior to leaving the school bus, everyone makes sure they have a buddy. This way, each person is not only responsible for themselves, but for someone else as well. 

The Buddy System ensures...

i) No one is left out. We are travelling together as a group, not just as individuals who happen to be together. We want to make sure everyone is included and knows they are a valuable part of the group, or in our case, the family. Everyone needs a buddy.

ii) No one is left alone. It can be dangerous to be left alone. The world can be a very dangerous place, and people are vulnerable when they are isolated. We need to stay together. The strategy of the wolf – isolate the sheep. The enemy of our soul wants to isolate us. We can’t let that happen. 

iii) No one is left behind. We don’t want to discover upon returning from the field trip that someone is missing. We don’t want anyone getting lost or left behind. We don’t want to come back to a service at our church and not have noticed that someone is missing. We need to make sure everyone in our church has a buddy. I acknowledge that even though I’m wanting this to be organic, there will need to be some structure to this.

My initial thoughts of what having a buddy looks like are these:

Meaningful weekly conversation.This is more than just a contact, it is a connection. I realize that some people are far more connected via texting than phone calls. The important thing to me is that it is a meaningful connection, not just a sent text.

Care and Concern. This is not something to be manufactured. For some people, they need more care than others, but we all need to be cared for.

Prayer – if not praying with the person, praying for them.

People may have more than one buddy; hopefully 2 or 3.

We already have buddies. Friendships are natural. We want to make sure we have room for a couple more.

We need a system of knowing who is connected, and who is being missed.

Let me know who you your buddies are, and who you are going to take responsibility for.

Please email me and let me know. Email Me Here

Not everybody will be able to help every ‘buddy’ – bigger concerns will need to be brought to church leadership who can help orchestrate help.

Each person needs a buddy – not just a buddy for each household.

I would like to begin by asking you to let me know who is already your buddy.

We all have limited amount of connections – we have to watch for buddy overload.

It will take everybody to be a buddy. I would really welcome your feedback and input about this.  

I do think it has far more scriptural basis than I have addressed – Jesus sending them two by two, Mary and Joseph assuming Jesus was coming along with the crowd (they lost him for 3 days!), and the often quoted text of how two are better than one, for they have good reward for their labour.

This will be placing a lot of trust in our people - but isn’t that what Jesus did with the disciples?

He put ministry and responsibility into their hands!