Who is Kindred?

Kindred is defined as one’s family and relations, similar in kind, related.  That is what we seek to be as the Kindred Adults group at JF Believers Church.  We are a growing group of more than twenty five single adults who are looking beyond our singleness, to the family we have been given in the church.  We all have spiritual brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers all within the household of God.  As scripture states, “encourage older men as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” (1 Tim 5:1).  And we all have a role to play in the family of God.  Titus teaches the character that accords with sound doctrine in these various roles, including being self-controlled, steadfast, reverent in behavior, not slanderers, pure, kind, and so on (Titus 2).  As our group grows in number, we also seek to grow in the character that accords with sound doctrine.  None of us have arrived and all of us have room to grow.  And growing up in the family is our aim as the Kindred Adults at JFBelievers.

What We’ve Been Doing

Last December, we held a Kindred Retreat at Luther Park in Chetek.  We read various portions of the book “They Were Single Too”, written by a single pastor in his 40’s.  For some sessions we split into small groups with multiple men’s and women’s groups .  This created great discussion, both in small groups and in the large group, where we reflecting on how various single characters in the bible could be examples for us, including Paul, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Martha, Anna, and others.  Also, we were able to share from our own experiences of being single either our entire life, or since being widowed, or in the midst of being divorce or separated.  We even got to Skype in with Laura, a single missionary, for a couple sessions from the Philippines.  We were truly blessed throughout the weekend.

Weekly Gathering

We’ve also really been focused on getting together on Sunday afternoons to pray for each other and recap the Sunday Sermons from JF Believers.  We break into small groups with our notes and questions at least twice a month.  This is a priority for our group and will be a main stay going forward.  One of the problems with those of us who have been Christians for a long time is that we can easily slip into going through the motions.  By asking each other pointed questions and sharing how the scriptures are practically affecting our lives, we hope to mitigate that trap.

Learning

Our Kindred members group is also going through a book called “Discipling” by Mark Dever.  We do this over pizza in the community on Friday nights once a month.  Its there we get to talk about how we are being discipled, while we are discipling others.  We are answering questions like what is discipling? Where is it done?  How is it done?  We really look forward to these times and it provides a healthy challenge to us all.

Fellowship

Lastly, we like to simply enjoy each others company as brothers and sisters in fellowship.  On the first Sunday of the month we do something that is just for laughs and good times.  In February we hosted a Super Bowl Party with all the typical tail gate goodies.  In March we took over the Coffeehouse and played board games.  We also look forward to these times going forward and can’t wait to get out into the spring weather.

All of these activities are designed to promote a healthy family.  We want Kindred to not just be our title, but our description as we come together in the household of God.  Please pray for us as we continue to grow as spiritual brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers with you all at JFBelievers church.