mDNA - Northern’s current disciple making methodology
We are exploring the mDNA component -disciple-making or discipleship from Alan Hirsch’s forthcoming book and how it applies to Northern Community. The other posts in the mDNA series are here
Northern’s current disciple making methodology
Northern currently has a number of disciple-making strategies. Some of these have been intentional new developments, others are strategies that are common in many established churches, and yet others are a result of stumbling upon an effective discipleship method that arises out of something else that is being done. At Northern Community we have intentionally developed smaller congregations and some shared spiritual disciplines, we also have baptism classes and an ongoing teaching program, and we have discovered the power of shared missional teams and a cultivation of missional energy.
Spiritual disciplines
We have discerned seven practices, or disciplines, that embody our core values and which are essential to develop a healthy and growing individual spirituality. We believe the following seven spiritual disciplines help us be better followers of Jesus:
• Participating in church life
Central to participating in a church is being regularly involved in a congregation and inviting others to participate.
• Sharing our hospitality
Sharing meals or drinks, particularly with people who are different, can be a deeply communal experience. Just as Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors
and sinners, we develop community when we are open to our neighbours, wherever they live.
• Entering the Biblical story
The Bible tells the story of God’s loving involvement in the world and it is a narrative that still speaks to us today. It can reveal the spiritual significance of the full range of human experiences. There are many ways to read, hear, study and meditate on the Bible that make God’s story, our own story and our actions fit in with God’s actions.
• Engaging the Spirit
An important way to deepen our spiritual life is through time in prayer, solitude and quietness. Prayer is spending time with God, letting our spirit be joined to God’s Spirit. At times words, symbols and music can all be helpful and for some prayer can be active or expressive. Regularly praying with a partner, or having a period of fasting are other ways to engage in this spiritual discipline.
• Discerning world issues
There is a spiritual discipline in learning about the political and social issues of the world and discerning the truth. We are to love God with all our minds and Jesus told his disciples to be in the world as wise as serpents and innocent as doves. This knowledge leads us to become more involved in our community and
engage in local and world issues.
• Managing our money
We have a responsibility to be good stewards of all of our resources. We can demonstrate our priorities with how we manage our money: tithing (regular offerings to God at church), giving to support specific projects such as charities, and making wise consumer and economic decisions. Fostering a spirit of generosity is vital to demonstrating compassion.
• Serving other people
Our compassion for others comes closer to home when we are personally involved in caring. There are many ways we can volunteer to serve in the community as followers of Jesus. It is important that we contribute outside of our paid work to the good of other people. This can take place through church activities, service clubs other volunteer organisation or our own initiatives.
Through our congregations, our communication, inputs and preaching, our seven spiritual disciplines are encouraged as a way of expressing our following Jesus. In our meetings with our kaleo (interns) team and other key leaders we use the spiritual disciplines as a guide to ask how people are going in their faith journey.
February 13th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
What is missing from the strategies listed here are methods to measure a disciple’s progress. I don’t mean that discipleship should be managed in a business world performance appraisal style manner, but that systems should be formulated that help disciples look at their disciple-ship effectiveness in a more objective or detached manner.
As an example, a disciple could keep a diary that records the number of hours she engaged in spiritual meditation, or the number of times each day she served another person. I’m not suggesting that there is some “set number of hours” or “recommended number of community service activities” that are required. Instead, the usefulness of the diary is in showing trends over time. If there is a decline in prayer times, for example, that might indicate an area of concern. Of course, the diary tool is only useful if it is used methodically on a regular basis, say daily.
There might be other tools that could help. The point is that these type of objective methods can provide a helpful insight into one’s personal behaviour and progress - insight that a disciple may never have otherwise.
February 13th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Interesting kenoath. What we do primarily is not about measurement as such, but more about accountability. For instance, some of our smaller congregations set aside time every so often to report on how they are going in their spiritual disciplines in groups of three or so, and what they are going to commit to working on in the future. We are also looking at a missional order which will have the same accountability built in (more about that soon)