So you’re bound for a Redemption Group Immersion and you’d like to know how to get ready? Here are a couple of essential steps to take before arriving, and a few more optional ones.

Essential

1. Pray that the Holy Spirit would prepare you for an intense time of deep personal work. Seriously. The typical audience for a Redemption Group Immersion is comprised of church leaders, which probably includes you. The problem is: church leaders have a tendency to assume “I already get this stuff for myself—I’m only here to learn how to help others.” But the Immersion will not be a time for you to merely “learn the tools”. Yes, you will learn some tools, but that will happen primarily by letting the Spirit do a work on you through the group process. So, do not come merely expecting to observe; there are no seats for mere observers, only active participants. Expect to be surprised, challenged, consoled, confronted and changed. Pray that the Spirit would prepare you for what he alone can do.
2. Get the Redemption Group Workbook. The administrator for the Immersion will provide this. It contains several supplements that you’ll need along the way, including a few mentioned below.
3. Read the Redemption book. The teaching and group sessions at the Immersion will follow the content of the Redemption book chapter-by-chapter. However, neither the teachings nor the group discussions will cover every concept in the book. Therefore, to get the most out of the process, you’ll need to have engaged with the book beforehand. Since the Immersion will go so quickly from one session to the next—and since you’ll be given at least one writing assignment to complete in the midst of all that—don’t plan on having much time to read during the Immersion. Read ahead. The whole thing, if at all possible.
4. Prayerfully consider what ten minutes of your life story you will share in your group. You’ll be sharing this with your group within the first two or three group sessions. For some suggestions on what to consider sharing, review the section in the Redemption Group Workbook entitled “Tips for Telling Your Story in a Redemption Group” or watch this video which covers the same material.

Optional

1. Respond to some of the reflection questions at the end of each chapter of Redemption. Your group will not be a “homework review” session where participants recite their responses to these questions, but trying to answer some of these questions ahead of time will help you get more out of the whole experience.
2. Review the Psalm writing project and consider what you might write—maybe even draft something ahead of time. Part of the group process is writing your own Psalm: your words to God in the midst of your situation. You’ll share this with your group at some point along the way. Most likely, the inspiration for your Psalm will come from what happens at the Immersion and you’ll want to write (or re-write) a Psalm on one of the breaks. But given the relatively short amount of break time you’ll have, it may be helpful to get the feel for the assignment ahead of time. You can do this by reviewing the section in the workbook entitled “Project: Write Your Own Psalm” and the additional material recommended there.