Beyond the domestication of discipleship: Critical pedagogy as a framework for Wesleyan Christian Religious Education

The world is in need of persons and organizations to draw attention to issues of justice and strategize ways for people of good will to work together for the betterment of the global community. Justice is not simply political or social concern, addressed through political promises, policies, or better citizenship education. Equipping Christian disciples to work for justice is not a supplemental activity. It is at the core of our disciple-making mission. Justice is the very mission of The United Methodist Church.;Contemporary Christian Religious Education is in need of a paradigm shift to move beyond a domesticated definition of discipleship, engaging and equipping Christians for the work of social transformation. Rather than pushing the liberal-conservative theological pendulum back in another direction, giving primacy to certain practices over others, I argue what is needed is the expansion of the elements of ecology, methodology and aim of faith formation praxis, as framed by critical pedagogy and the Wesleyan tradition of discipleship. Beyond the domestication of discipleship, Christians are better equipped and more deeply compelled to address the needs of the world. These disciples of Jesus Christ refuse to leave the world broken in this way.;This dissertation follows historical, theological, and pedagogical arguments to offer a framework for Christian Religious Education in the United Methodist Church in the 21st century. The chapters expand upon the elements of ecology, methodology and aim, and then turn to an example of these frameworks as found in the pedagogical practice of partnership. Finally, in an auto-ethnographic exploration of a local church, I offer example of this framework in practice.