The Torah is written in stone, and not one jot or tittle will change or pass away until the World to Come, but the Torah Club program is always changing, growing, and improving.
Starting in the fall of 2018, Torah Club is going to get way better—that’s what we are hoping. While details about the launch of a new Torah Club program are still under development, we can at least tell you what we are dreaming about. We are currently working through issues, crunching numbers, and trying to find solutions to innumerable problems, so we are not prepared to divulge specifics just yet. We hope to unveil the details of the program in the first half of 2018, but for now we can let you know our broad objectives with the new program.
A Club and Not a Book
Picture Torah Club as a club to which you belong rather than a set of commentaries on a bookshelf. As a club member, you attend regular weekly club meetings where you learn and fellowship with other club members. We want to see our Torah Club materials being utilized and studied in numerous small groups around the country and around the world. These Torah Club groups can exist independently as para-church or para-synagogue study-fellowship groups, or they can function within churches and synagogues as small groups. We want to see Torah Club as people, not books.
A Place to Call Home
Picture Torah Club as your community of fellowship, on a local level, a national level, and even an international level. Many of us struggle with a sense of belonging; neither fish nor fowl, we find it hard to fully integrate into traditional faith communities. Torah Club can provide a solution to this problem in the form of small-group fellowships where like-minded disciples can fellowship, learn, and grow together. We want to see Torah Club as a community of disciples.
A Mission from God
Picture Torah Club as your mission from God. As a club member, you are on a special mission from God, sent out to gather his lost sheep and bring them to the flock where they can be nurtured, fed, and cared for by the Good Shepherd. Too many people today are wandering from the flock—perishing for lack of knowledge. We want to see Torah Club as a mission field where disciples gather and learn together in Messiah’s name.
Leadership Training
Picture yourself as a Torah Club group leader. You are administering your own local Torah Club, leading a group of five or more Torah Club members in a weekly Bible study. You distribute materials, assign homework, organize meetings, present teaching, and/or facilitate discussion. We want to provide training and support for qualified group leaders to officially represent Torah Club and FFOZ in their hometowns.
Affordable for Everyone
Picture Torah Club as a Bible study that everyone can afford with one, inexpensive, annual club membership fee. A simple annual fee is all you will ever need to pay to access student editions of the amazing Torah Club content. We want to see the Torah Club study materials accessible to everyone.
All Together Now
Picture Torah Club groups, all over the country and the world, networked together and working together through the same volumes of Torah Club at the same time. What if you could travel to any city and find a Torah Club group studying the same weekly lesson as your group back home? Imagine the momentum that could build around everyone working together through the same study. We want to see Torah Club unite us in our studies.
FFOZ Teachers
Picture a weekly Torah lesson streaming live online from an FFOZ teacher. Rather than listening to audio CDs, club members could sit in the virtual classroom with an FFOZ teacher as he or she leads the class through a brief overview of the weekly lesson. Torah Club groups without a teacher could utilize the weekly online broadcast for a presentation at their group meeting, while groups with qualified teachers could use the online broadcast as a supplement for their groups or for their own preparation. We want to see FFOZ teachers more accessible to Torah Club members.
Torah Club Technology
Picture yourself downloading a Torah Club app for your mobile phone, exclusively available to Torah Club members. The app keeps you connected with the whole program and with your local group while providing you with functionality customized for the Torah cycle. We want to create a downloadable app that can help us keep connected with our Torah Club members.
A Growing Movement
Picture Torah Club as a grassroots movement of disciples who have chosen to follow the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth. Their enthusiasm is contagious, and it draws others near as well, inspiring them also to follow the paths of discipleship. Word of mouth becomes the mechanism by which Torah Club grows. We want to see Torah Club become a social and spiritual movement among the disciples of Yeshua.
A Place for Children to Learn
Picture Torah Club as a family center where children learn Torah, too. Small groups and Bible studies need options for children—not just babysitting. The Torah instructs us to teach the commandments diligently to our children. We want to see Torah Club offer new children’s resources that can be used to teach the weekly Torah Portions and allow children to study along with the adults in the club.
Practical Application
Picture Torah Club as a place to talk through and work out the practical application of God’s Word. While Torah Club materials provide you with the keys to unlock the meaning of the Bible, what do you do with that information? We should be studying to learn and learning to do, not just filling our heads with knowledge. We want to see Torah Club as a place where the Bible is translated into practical applications.
A Kingdom Focus
Picture a Bible fellowship group focused on the coming kingdom. There are lots of Bible studies out there but not many with a kingdom focus. Torah Club groups always keep Yeshua’s good news of the coming kingdom front and center: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We aren’t talking only about the end times; Torah Club is about bringing the good things of the kingdom into our lives and our world today. We want to see Torah Club as a place where the kingdom is proclaimed.
Those are some of the big ideas we are trying to bring together for the new face of Torah Club. It’s a big, bold, ambitious plan, and we have a lot of details to work out. All this is still subject to change, revision, and improvement. Please pray for us as we work this year to bring the new program together on time for launch with Parashat B’reisheet at Simchat Torah this fall. Pray about how you can help, get involved, and contribute to the new face of Torah Club.
Consider making a generous end-of-year tax-deductible donation to help us fund the effort, and consider becoming a Torah Club leader in your local community.
Source: First Fruits of Zion
