The 2012 General Conference of The United Methodist Church has done its work. The quadrennial General Conference is an important event for United Methodists because it speaks for the denomination and produces the Book of Discipline that governs the church’s mission and ministry. We now begin to live with the changes and priorities it affirmed.
As important as General Conference is we need to remember that it does not make disciples of Jesus Christ. While it determines how the denomination is organized and funded, General Conference has never made a disciple of Jesus Christ. We need to remember that General Conference, Annual Conferences, General Agencies, and programs do not make disciples of Jesus Christ. Ideally, they provide the institutional supports that help disciples in local congregations and faith communities to make disciples.
The General Rule of Discipleship remains (¶ 1118.2a) unchanged. The paragraphs describing church membership were not touched. In particular ¶ 220
The Call to Ministry of All the Baptized – All members of Christ’s universal church are called to share in the ministry which is committed to the whole church of Jesus Christ. Therefore, each member of The United Methodist Church is to be a servant of Christ on mission in the local and worldwide community. This servanthood is performed in family life, daily work, recreation and social activities, responsible citizenship, the stewardship of property and accumulated resources, the issues of corporate life, and all attitudes toward other persons. Participation in disciplined groups is an expected part of personal mission involvement. …
When it comes to disciple-making, another important paragraph that is untouched is 256.1b. It provides important guidance to the Wesleyan way of Christian formation:
Accountable Discipleship—Historically class leaders provided lay pastoral leadership, and classes and class meetings were the basic structural means of Christian spiritual formation in the early Methodist societies.
Class leaders may be commissioned and classes may be organized within the local congregation for the purpose of forming persons as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ through mutual accountability and support for witnessing to him in the world and for following his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
The best response we can make to the 2012 General Conference is for congregations and faith communities to focus on the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We need to always remember that from the beginning of the church described in the New Testament to today disciples are made by disciples. John Wesley knew this very well. His deep knowledge of the Scriptures, Christian tradition, and human nature led him to develop a network of communities focused on Jesus’ commission to “go and make disciples of all people” (Matthew 28:18-20). The muscle that moved the network of Methodist Societies was the small groups known as “class meetings” and the lay pastoral leaders known as “class leaders.”
Congregational and pastoral effectiveness will be greatly improved by re-traditioning the class meeting and the office of class leader for today.
Covenant Discipleship groups is a ministry supported by the General Board of Discipleship that is designed to foster the re-traditioning of the class meeting for today. Covenant Discipleship groups focus upon one aspect of the early class meeting that is most absent in the church today: mutual accountability for discipleship. These groups are designed to form leaders in discipleship who will help the church to participate with Christ in his mission for the world. Some CD group members will respond to God’s call and the church’s invitation to serve as class leaders (see The United Methodist Book of Worship, pages 602-604).
Class leaders for today are Covenant Discipleship group members who work in partnership with their pastor by “accepting basic pastoral responsibility for classes of church members. These classes are not the same as Sunday school classes, nor are they convened as class meetings. They are rather in the nature of pastoral groupings, consisting of fifteen to twenty persons who receive guidance and support from a class leader in living out their discipleship according to the General Rule of Discipleship” (from David Lowes Watson in Class Leaders: Recovering a Tradition, page 72).
Covenant Discipleship groups form disciples who make disciples. Some of these leaders in discipleship become Class Leaders. The class meeting and class leaders are important parts of the method of Methodism that help congregations and other faith communities live into the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Another General Conference has come and gone. The church’s mission remains: to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We have the way (Christ and his grace) and the means (Covenant Discipleship, class leaders and class meetings) to carry out the mission. When we are focused on Jesus Christ and his mission, the vision of the church given by the apostle Paul will be realized:
The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love (Ephesians 4:11-16).
Steve Manskar
[Class leaders for today are Covenant Discipleship group members who work in partnership with their pastor by “accepting basic pastoral responsibility for classes of church members. These classes are not the same as Sunday school classes, nor are they convened as class meetings. They are rather in the nature of pastoral groupings, consisting of fifteen to twenty persons who receive guidance and support from a class leader in living out their discipleship according to the General Rule of Discipleship”]
I am trying to understand this. Does this mean that “class leaders for today” do not actually meet with a group? They are not “convened as class meetings,,,” but are “pastoral groupings”? What does that mean? It sounds like membership care more than discipling. Am I missing something?
Thanks for the comment Mike. You are correct in understanding that the contemporary class leader does not necessarily convene his or her class as a regular meeting. Their job is to be in regular contact with class members to help and encourage them with their discipleship. It is a combination of care and discipling.
In the Wesleyan tradition the two are synonymous. We genuinely care for fellow Christians when we help them to grow as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
Steve, so for moving from a congregation without any class structure to one with classes, you would first organize a CD group (my church is very small) to help group up the leaders who would then become class leaders down the road. Yes?
John, The purpose of CD groups is to form leaders in discipleship, some of whom will serve as class leaders. So, my answer to your question is, “Yes.”
For the contemporary model of class model to work properly, the congregation must be intentional about forming the lay pastoral leadership needed. Covenant Discipleship groups are designed to form lay persons who will work as partners with the appointed pastor to disciple and care for the congregation. This frees up the pastor to focus more effectively on the ministry of proclaiming the gospel, administering the sacraments and organizing the missional life of the congregation.
This model recognizes that clergy cannot effectively disciple the congregation. Discipling is the work of the laity in partnership with clergy. In the process clergy learn about discipleship from the laity they are are appointed to serve. The model frees the laity to do the ministry God has called them to do (discipleship & mission) and frees the ordained/appointed clergy to focus on the ministry God has called them to (word, sacrament & order).
Thank you, Steve. I’m not sure my tiny church has the resources to sustain even a minimal effort, but I feel the need to try, learn, and fail at starting this process. If it bears fruit here, great. If it does not, perhaps I will learn some things to help me be better next time.
Steve, thanks for that clarification. The church I serve had something like that in place – a “lay pastor” with responsibility for 10-15 people in the congregation. Problem is, there was no sense of discipling. It was about helping stop the “drift” that can happen when people feel they are not connected or cared for. The Lay Pastors were not really trained in discipling or how to encourage others in their discipleship. At the same time, the people contacted would not know how to respond to questions about their “discipleship”. It seems to me that this only works for those who are willing to seriously engage in the work of discipleship so it would not include all persons in the church.
The way it was done here, the Lay Pastors could easily get lax and their enthusiasm quickly waned. It seems to me that we have to begin with some sort of discipling process running parallel which is comprised of those who are willing to engage and learn. Once you have that, then those people are encouraged to disciple others but organically not as an extension of the pastors office per se. When it was done the latter way here it often got discouraging because no one was really offering pastoral care, and did not really want to.
If what you propose were to work, it seems to me it would take a significant period of time and a persistence in developing the process. And that’s not a bad thing, we just need to recognize the time it takes and the energy it will require of the pastor. Being busy enough already, such an endeavor cannot easily be added, something else will have to be put aside.
Mike,
Yes indeed, developing the contemporary system class meetings and class leaders will take years to develop. I requires the participation and ownership of the congregation. There are no short cuts. There will be resistance. It requires consistent, loving pastoral leadership on the part of appointed clergy and lay leadership. If a congregation is going to seriously engage the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, I frankly see no alternative. The good news is Christ promises to lead, equip and accompany is by the power of the Holy Spirit when we make the commitment to obey his commandments and participate in his mission in the world. After all, it is all really and ultimately about Jesus and his mission.
“Recovering a tradition” seems to be the watchword in this discussion… And if I understand the “why” the “why” is because as a denomination we seem to have lost our zeal for discipleship? That was akind to John Wesley’s great fear as I recall. So is what you are suggesting we somehow apply the class leader model of 200 years ago to the contemporary church model? I’m trying to think of how to do that within the context of what we are involved in today as individual Christians and as part of the church, that didn’t exist in Wesley’s day… We’ve come a long, long way, women in ministry, care and nurture of the young and the old in both the scriptural word and physical comfort and care … The denominational agencies that exist today for such things as ministry to prisoners and searching out the causes of poverty and justice needs around the world were only dreams in Wesley’s day. This church is involved in many areas and since we are does it make sense that we may need to re-examine how we can incorporate teaching discipleship along with all these different endeavors? Sounds like a plan and maybe we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of being disciples eh?