Increasing discipleship: A foundation for mission

Believing that mature Christian faith is a developmental process, the purpose of this project was to help members of the First Baptist Church of Mansfield, Connecticut, move toward a more mature discipleship through identifying and strengthening faith development skills.;This project was an effort to help members of the congregation increase their skills in Bible study, prayer, devotional life, etc. so that they could move toward a greater depth of maturity in their faith. People responded to an Invitation to participate in the program so that there was intentionality in the entire process. The skills were presented in five Growth Sessions which taught and gave practice in the skills through group and individual processes. After the sessions were completed a three month mentoring period provided formal and informal support to persons' efforts to mature in the expression of their faith. Group and individual evaluation completed the process whereby both the participants and I celebrated the progress they saw themselves making because of their intentional efforts in their relationships with God and other people.;The skills they learned gave them confidence to respond to the commitments they felt called to make in the practice of their faith--discipleship.;Adults have different learning styles and need support and encouragement in their efforts toward growth and maturity. The intentional process--invitation, increased skills, mentoring, and evaluation--provided the means for involving people in the journey of discovery that is the setting for growth toward the single-minded obedience that is discipleship.;While faith and discipleship should be synonymous, they most often are not because faith (relationship with God) has not matured to the stage where discipleship, the action component of faith, is the totality of the person's life rather than just a portion of it.