What is Deliberate Discipleship?
Deliberate discipleship is about doing discipleship differently. It’s not “fast food Christianity” or “fast food formation,” and it’s not a form of entertainment.
Formation is not about speed. Discipleship is not about staying comfortable in doing things the way we’ve always done them.
Disciples of Jesus are not curriculum consumers, and our formation is not to be transactional, lecture-based, or information-driven.
Rather, as Paul says, our discipleship is the slow and deliberate PROCESS of waking up and learning to see our world, ourselves, and our neighbors through the mind of Christ. And this mind reveals to us that we belong to each other (Rm. 12:5). We are each other’s harvest.
Deliberate discipleship forms and shapes us through Christ’s teachings and the crucible of his new commandment to love others as he loved us…which is love as unconditional acceptance. We are each living and learning into the shape of Jesus’s life and teachings…together…and so, we are all a part of Living and Learning Communities.
What is a Living and Learning Community?
Living and Learning Communities are the ways that we practice coming alive together through our Jesus-shaped deliberate discipleship as we focus on meaning, belonging, and purpose in relationship with one another. Our discipleship, then, becomes fully integrated into all of our ways of knowing, being, and doing. It is not occasional or intermittent. Faith is not a jacket we put on and take off at our own whim or desire. Faith is our expression of living that is grounded in our discipleship. It is an immersion and an integration of Jesus’s teachings into every aspect and practice of our lives.
Why do we focus on a process-oriented approach to discipleship?
Because discipleship is always a process. It is not a project or a program or a curriculum. It does not have end dates, deadlines, or finish lines. Discipleship is a lifelong process of Christian formation, and our process of discipleship should always be counter-cultural, transferable, and adaptable.
What we mean by this is that our discipleship processes should be repeatable in all areas of our lives. They are not just confined to one “10 week study” or even to one topic, such as liturgy, prayer, or scripture.
In ALL that we do, in our speaking, thinking, and acting, we should practice as Christ teaches us to practice, and Jesus’s practices are processes, not programs.
Deliberate discipleship is cultivated within a Christian community and is built upon being with our peers and in inter-generational relationships founded on trust. It is a formative Jesus-shaped process directed towards habit formation and character formation. The goal is to practice a life of coming alive within the Body of Christ by following the teachings of Jesus, which is the Way of love.
To begin crafting your own Living and Learning Community of deliberate discipleship, explore these and other process focused forms of discipleship below!
- Sharing Faith Dinners
- Soul of Aging
- Sparkhouse (children, youth, and adults)
- Building Intentional Small Groups
Jesus-Shaped Life Resources
Visit here for books, brochures, guides, booklets, frameworks, and handbooks in English and Spanish. You will find everything you need to equip and empower your parish for a Jesus-Shaped Life path of deliberate discipleship.
My Way of Love Resources
Visit here to take the My Way of Love Spiritual Life Inventory and to find small group resources. These are free and downloadable.
The Very Best Day is another Way of Love resource for children and families (also in Spanish)
Transforming Questions
Transforming Questions is an exciting adult formation course designed to help both new Christians and longtime churchgoers move into deeper life in Christ. Over the course of ten sessions, participants engage the basic questions of the Christian faith through a combination of teaching and conversation. Participants gather to share a meal, then a leader gives a presentation about a central question of faith.
Being With
Being With helps people consider Christian faith in new and refreshing ways, without needing prior knowledge, but a simple willingness to share what you do know or feel. There are no experts in the room. What you may be feeling is as important as what you may be thinking. It’s about sharing stories about our lives and hearing the stories of others. Being With was devised at St Martin in the Field by the Vicar Rev Dr Sam Wells and the Associate Vicar for Ministry Rev Sally Hitchiner.
Difference
In a divided and fractured world, it can be hard to know where to begin with the issues that surround us.
Difference is a five-session course – available for free – that equips you to see transformation through everyday encounters.
The Big Way of Love for Kids
A discipleship resource for kids & their beloved communities in English, Spanish, and French. Brought to you by The Episcopal Church in partnership with Forward Movement. Un recurso de discipulado para niños y sus comunidades amadas. Presentado por la Iglesia Episcopal en colaboración con Forward Movement.
The Way of Love: A Practical Guide
As followers of Christ, we are called to live in ways that draw us ever closer to our Savior. To follow Jesus is to make extraordinary commitments: To love God with our whole being and to love others as Jesus has loved us.
Click here for a Way of Love video series. Click here for Way of Love digital resources and promotional materials in English, Spanish, French, Creole, and Chinese. Click here to purchase the Way of Love book series from Church Publishing. Click here for the Way of Love podcast.
Includes reflection questions, journal prompts, and a guide for developing a personal rule of life.
Living Compass
The Living Compass Model for Well-Being offers us guidance in four dimensions of our being: heart, soul, strength, and mind. Just like a mobile or kinesthetic art, these dimensions are interconnected— movement in one area affects all the others. We are not compartmentalized people. Whatever impacts one area of our lives (positively or negatively) has an impact on the other areas. The purpose of this Compass is to provide a dynamic resource that will assist us in our search for balance and wellness. The invitation is to live an undivided life, where heart, soul, strength, and mind are integrated into both our being and our doing.
The Way of Love Bible Challenge
The Way of Love is the way of Jesus. With seven core spiritual practices, the Way of Love offers an intentional, Spirit-led path to following Jesus. And what better guidebook for the journey than the Bible? The Way of Love Bible Challenge pairs each practice with a passage of scripture as well as reflections, questions, and prayers written by a variety of faith leaders.
Come and see what God has to say about the spiritual practices of Turn – Learn – Pray – Worship – Bless – Go – Rest. Informed by scripture and inspired through prayer, these practices offer the opportunity to transform our relationship with ourselves, with our family and communities, and with our Savior. Featuring fifty days of reflections, The Way of Love Bible Challenge is an extension of The Bible Challenge, a global initiative to encourage daily engagement with scripture and an exploration of the Word of God.
Formation 