Discipleship

 
Does your church have a plan for making disciples?

Having an Intentional Discipleship Plan that is executed well, that church members are invested in, and that works to deliver qualitative and quantitative results – is critical for your church’s vitality and growth. 

LaToya Thompson, the MS Conference Lay Leader shares a two-part video series with PPT slides, outlining the steps needed to create an Intentional Discipleship Making System: 

To help your church expand or get started on an Intentional Discipleship Plan, the Faith Community Formation Office is providing two new vital resources for churches and discipleship teams to use when developing and supporting an intentional discipleship process – FREE of charge. (Also see links for the Intentional Discipleship Making video series and the Digital Discipleship resource page, below.)

Real Discipleship Survey

The Real Discipleship Survey, a tool designed to support the development of maturing disciples at both the personal and congregational levels, measures the level of maturity in six dimensions of discipleship: 

  • A Life of Worship
  • A Life of Hospitality
  • A Life of Opening to Jesus
  • A Life of Obeying Jesus
  • A Life of Service
  • A Life of Generosity

Each participant receives a report indicating their level of maturity for each dimension, possible next steps for growth, and suggested resources for personal development.

At the church level, the church administrator receives a matrix giving a percentage of the number of persons who identified at each level of maturity, which:

  • Starts a conversation within the congregation about intentional discipleship
  • Equips coaches/disciplers with the tools to have significant conversations about continuing growth for individual disciples
  • Provides individual insight into their level of maturity as a disciple and opportunities for personal development
  • Provides congregational leadership (discipleship team/pastor) specific insight into the identified needs in the discipling process
  • Moves discipleship from a program emphasis to a process and a clearly defined pathway toward maturity

View flyer here.

To receive your Real Discipleship Survey materials, click here (or copy/paste this link: https://mississippi-reg.brtapp.com/Request). Free to MS United Methodist Churches only.

Disciple Like Jesus Small Group Experience

Disciple Like Jesus is an invitation to a new vision for discipleship and description of how to bring that vision to reality. The eight-week small group study is filled with practical instruction and guiding questions to help a church community take the next steps in their discipleship journey. Developed for a church leader or facilitator to use, the package includes:

  • Digital Copies of the Disciple Like Jesus book
  • Detailed Leader’s Guide
  • PowerPoint Slideshow
  • Participant Handouts

View flyer here.

To receive your Disciple Like Jesus Small Group Experience materials, click here (or copy/paste this link: https://mississippi-reg.brtapp.com/Request). Free to MS United Methodist Churches only.  

Additional Discipleship Tools & Resources

Digital Discipleship Resources 
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions around in-person gatherings, the conference office, in partnership with several UM churches and organizations, developed and launched "Digital Discipleship," a well-vetted hub of resources to help you develop a sustainable digital ministry. 

Online Discipleship Booklet
As many churches begin to shift adding an online presence, it is important that we not neglect vital elements of our discipleship system. You may have added online worship, but what is missing? Using this resource (provided by Discipleship Ministries) church leaders are challenged to think through what a balanced approach to online discipleship looks like.

Use this Online Discipleship Booklet to strengthen what you are currently doing and expand your online discipleship efforts around Worship, Generosity, New member orientation, and so much more!

Our prayer is that you will become more intentional about discipleship and community engagement (whether online, in person, or some hybrid variation) in your church.

For more information, submit a request for the Faith Community Formation Office here or contact:

Questions?

Contact info

320-F Briarwood Drive
Jackson, MS 39206
601-354-0515