Frequently Asked Questions
What's the Growth Track?
The Manna Church Growth Track is designed to facilitate your growth as a healthy, effective follower of Jesus Christ. Wherever you are in your journey, the Growth Track can equip you to experience more fully your calling in God and your part in impacting your world.
Growth Track is a series of small groups that each last 4 or 8 weeks:
FirstStep (4 weeks): Manna's 3 Values and the 9 healthy habits for a vibrant relationship with God and for discipling others
NextStep (4 weeks): the Manna mission to advance the kingdom of God
LeaderStep (8 weeks): Manna's 12 operational principles + biblical keys to everyday leadership
Growth Track has three steps. Where do I start?
We encourage all Manna members, particularly if you are interested in leading a small group, to do the entire Growth Track, starting with FirstStep.
Our best small group leaders are people who can intentionally help others live out our 3 values and our 9 healthy habits (FirstStep), embrace our Manna mission to advance the kingdom of God (NextStep), and influence others with our culture and values (LeaderStep).
What's required to complete each step in Growth Track?
Official Completion Policy:
FirstStep and NextStep: attend at least 3 of the 4 group meetings (make up a missed meeting by talking 1:1 with your leader)
LeaderStep: attend at least 7 of the 8 sessions (make up a missed meeting by talking 1:1 with your leader)
The way we do Growth Track at Manna is through a 4-week* small group experience where members actively participate each week.
It's part content, part group interaction. We believe so much in the value of this experience that completing an official Growth Track small group is the only way to get "credit" for the experience (it's required if you want to lead a small group at Manna). And although we happily share videos about the Growth Track content, those don't count as "doing Growth Track."
As we say at Manna, life change happens in a small group (one of the principles in LeaderStep), and we proudly embody this value in Growth Track. We embrace God's design that growth is not a solo project.
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*FirstStep and NextStep are 4 weeks each; LeaderStep is 8 weeks
Is the Growth Track experience available online?
Join Growth Track Online for the same experience you get in person! We meet in a video room instead of in a physical room, but everything else is the same. Info about joining the calls is on this site's home page.
What technology do I need to join Growth Track Online?
Here are a few things you can do to have the best experience in Growth Track Online:
For easy access, you may want to "favorite" or "bookmark" this site so you can find your meeting links easily.
Join through any device with internet access (phones, tablets, laptops, etc.):
Phones: download the free Jitsi Meet app
Laptops/Computers: join using the Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge browsers. Other browsers may not work well for this video call.
A laptop or computer will be the best experience, because the larger screen will make it easier for you to see the others on the call and if your leader is sharing content on the screen it will be easier to read. Just make sure your laptop/computer has a video camera and mic! To test, try clicking the meeting link right now.
What's required if I want to lead a small group at Manna?
Requirements for leading a small group at Manna:
Completion of NextStep
Completion of the Manna membership application process
Completion of LeaderStep (requires completion of previous two items before starting)
Approval of site leadership
You don't need to be a member to do FirstStep or NextStep, but you do need to be a member in order to start LeaderStep.
We encourage all Manna members, but especially those interested in leading a small group, to do the entire Growth Track, starting with FirstStep.
Our best small group leaders are people who can intentionally help others live out our 3 values and our 9 healthy habits (FirstStep), embrace our Manna mission to advance the kingdom of God (NextStep), and influence others with our culture and values (LeaderStep).