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NEW Tools for Discipleship are Now Available

The letter below was sent out, along with samples, to each church.

September 2006

Dear partners in Kingdom mission,

At a recent conference on spiritual formation, Dallas Willard delivered a significant challenge: If we’re going to see spiritual transformation in our churches, we need to change the way we teach. We need to help people assess what is really true of themselves. We need to give practical tools to do that.    

Congregations experiencing such spiritual transformation are placing an intentional focus on spiritual growth…preaching it, teaching it, expecting it, and planning for it. September 10 has been designated by the Evangelical Covenant Church as Christian Formation Sunday, providing an opportunity to review God’s transforming work during the past year, and to look ahead with anticipation to our next steps on this faith journey. It is a time to share stories of God’s impact in our lives as individuals, as families and as a church community.

We’ve developed a series of tools to help you do just that. We call it our “Growing Deeper” series.

Here are just a few ideas to get you started.

• On Christian Formation Sunday (or a Sunday of your choosing) focus the worship on the importance of spiritual growth for all ages. Distribute Making Commitments or Using a Rule of Life. These two tools, in particular, are a great place to start.
• Challenge the congregation to read through the Bible together, using the reflective questions in Reading the Bible. Use these questions as the focus for a Sunday School class or small group.
• Use either Developing a Rule or Reviewing Your Day as a shared practice for elected leaders. Incorporating these practices into your business meetings will help leaders stay focused on the spiritual nature of their leadership. Expect leaders to lead by example through Telling Your Story.
• Plan a Sunday School or small group experience focused on spiritual practices, using a different practice for each lesson.
• Some pastors have used a Praying Scripture approach to prepare the congregation for the sermon. This can be done as a group within the worship service itself, or encouraged ahead of time as an individual or family practice.
• Host a dinner especially for parents of preschoolers. Distribute Worshipping with Children and/or Mentoring Children. Ask how the church might better assist them as spiritual nurturers for their children.