The post today will tackle about boosting your discipleship program of your church. We all know that as a church, we need to have a discipleship program or else, the general membership will become a part of nominalism. Of course there are lots of factors that affects nominalism, and how much more if we do not even have a discipleship program?
Here are some practical ways in improving your discipleship program.
1.Evaluate your existing program. Is your program effective? Did it produce good results for the past year of efforts? If the answer is yes, I suggest that you continue this program. If the answer is no, then I think its time for the next step.
2.Revision of strategy and approach. If your current strategy proves to be ineffective and unfruitful, there will be no reason to continue it. Continuation of ineffective programs will only add burden to your church both financially and physically.
In revising your approach, you have to consider the the amount will it cost, the people who will be involve in the shift of your program, and the amount of time will it take in order to see the results.
3. Start the campaign. Implementing the campaign can create a possible disorder inside the church. To avoid this, it is always better to inform the general assembly first before you implement changes. In my own experience I used to announce the possible changes at least a month a head oftime. And not just the announcement, I used to promote the new program showing all the possible advantages that it may give. This will prepare them emotionally and be excited of the new discipleship program.
4. Implement and follow the plan. Any plan is without effect without implementation. In discipleship program, it is very important to implement what was really planned. Any unnecessary changes must be well communicated or else it might all end up in chaotic start. We have to remember that some of the members most probably were able to adopt the former program and changing it would require them more adjustments than you thought.
5. Re-evaluate your program. It is a “must” to re-evaluate your new discipleship program as you implement it. See if the new discipleship program is doing good and bearing good fruits. If it did not do a good job, either you have to improve it, or you have to drop it and start a new one.
Note: The idea is, you have to work on things that best suited for the majority of your congregation. Don’t be afraid to drop the unfruitful strategies in exchanged for a better one.
If you have been blessed with this post and want to say thank you, you can buy me a cup of coffee.
FROM: http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/page/7/
Suffering servants: is ministry hurting your health?
Posted January 16th @ 10:21 am by Andy Rau
Is your pastor’s health suffering as he serves your congregation? We’ve discussed the all-too-common phenomenon of church and ministry staff burnout, but a recent New York Times article suggests that the pressures of ministry can cause physical, not just spiritual or emotional, problems for overworked church leaders:
While medical studies in various denominations indicate that clergy members live longer than comparable civilians, an emerging body of evidence over the last two decades has shown that ministers are more vulnerable to diabetes, depression, hypertension, gastrointestinal distress and heart problems.
The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, was writing nearly three centuries ago about the importance of diet, exercise, moderation and hygiene. He regularly fasted as part of his own health regimen.
But for his followers in the Methodist ministry today — incessantly on call through e-mail or cellphone, fearful of offending the congregant offering homemade pie, fretting over every $20 or $30 medical co-pay — Wesley has become a distant paragon.
(The research thus far focuses on Methodist pastors, who [perhaps more than their counterparts in other denominations] are required to do a great deal of traveling and congregation-switching.)
The image of a pastor trying to politely turn down a congregant’s homemade pie might sound more amusing than alarming, but it does raise the question of the effect of pastoral ministry on one’s physical health. It’s one thing to be supportive when a pastor becomes ill; most churches are probably prepared to help a pastor suffering from sickness or serious emotional burnout.
But what about the longer-term practice of promoting and supporting healthy lifestyles among church staff? If you work in a leadership position, has your health suffered due to the demands of ministry? Does your church pay attention to the physical health of its staff? Would your church recognize in time signs that a pastor or staff member was neglecting their own health in order to meet the pressures of ministry?
(Via Theophiles.)
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This can be related to boost discipleship:
http://thedisciplers.com/excerpts-and-thoughts-on-the-book-by-wes-roberts-and-glenn-marshall/
http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/2009/04/29/why-people-leave-the-church/?disqus_reply=8977850#dsq-alerts
Christ came not only to save mankind’s souls, but even also their broken bodies, ruined lives, fragmented minds, and destroyed spirits. He came to give life for the wholeness of the person, not only mankinds’ fragmented parts. Abundant life at that, not abundant death as what hypocritical religion like that of the Pharisees’ will really impose on its hapless, helpless, and hopeless adherents.
The Lord’s style of disciplership is integrative, i.e, integrating the practical aspects of life to spiritual truths underlying the practical aspects of life. Wholistic perspectives, not dichotomizing life into meaningless and unrelated components which can not really transform the disciples to the plans and intentions of God in their lives!!!!!
This is really true bro.Oggie. This is why the life of a discipler is very important. It’s hard to preach when you are doing what you are preaching. The same thing in discipleship. You cannot disciple someone of something that you do not really do.
When it comes to indoctrinating, one of the main failures of a discipler is just to “over” spiritualize things without even applying it.
problem sometimes in discipling process is indoctrinating the disciples to be so heavenly minded without eartly use. If we study how the Lord discipled His apostles, he taught them not only spiritual truths, but practical aspects of life, which we can sometimes read in his parables.
Part of the discipling process should be the informal kinds, not in the formalized programs of bible studies and prayer. Say, in incorporating the learning process even in trivial everyday life, like in work, family life, and other whatever should be sanctified in life, even in drinking and eating!!!