Discerning Your SHAPE Congregations seeking to be faithful to God’s Word and focused on the development of growing disciples often include the discovery of giftedness as part of the discipling process. Usually this is done through some form of a Spiritual Gifts Inventory to help members discover how they might be most gifted to serve. [...]
Discerning Personal Growth It’s a fact. Leaders set the tone for the development of the congregation. And the sequel is that members of the congregation know the level of development of their leaders. Where the leader goes, the people will follow. This unit is focused on the level of personal development of the leader – [...]
Discerning the Health of the Congregation Most of us go to the doctor every year or so for a check up. The first thing that usually happens is that someone takes our vital signs – our blood pressure, temperature, pulse, respirations, blood oxygen level. The reason these measurements are called vital is that they are [...]
Discerning Our Purpose There has always been a tension between caring for our own and caring for the world. The scripture verse from Micah 6:8 takes us all the way back to ancient Israel “What does the Lord require? To seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” The Methodist movement launched by [...]
Discipleship as a Journey Are you going on to perfection? The point is not what we have already achieved but what it is we are moving toward. That is the essence of a Discipleship Pathway. A vision is cast for the life God intends for us and stepping stones arranged for us to follow, leading [...]
Incarnational Hospitality Incarnational hospitality is about us, the people of God, embodying the presence of God and witnessing in the neighborhoods where God has placed us – our mission field. It is through the people of God that the vast majority of people discover a relationship with God through Jesus Christ (statistically, about 85% of [...]
The Wesleyan Way of Discipleship At the very heart of the Methodist movement has always been a very intentional focus on growing maturing disciples of Jesus. Starting with the Holy Clubs at Oxford and continuing with the development of Classes, Bands and Societies, Methodists united to encourage each other, confess their sins, pray for each [...]
The Discipleship System A Discipleship Pathway refers to the steps in a process encouraging the disciple to experience the transforming grace of God that moves us toward a life where we reflect the lifestyle modeled by Jesus and taught by Scripture. A Discipleship System refers to the support functions of all areas of ministry in [...]
Visioning for Discipleship A vision is a clear picture of a preferred future. Congregations have long been told that having a clear vision is essential for inspiring members and providing direction for the ministries of the local congregation. There is much truth to that observation. There is even more truth to the observation that a [...]
Finding Our Place on the Discipleship Journey Where do you find yourself on your discipleship journey? Are you Exploring? Beginning? Growing? Maturing? What specific transitions should you expect? What supports are needed? This module includes a template which provides a sample for developing the elements of a discipleship pathway, with examples of ways to support [...]
