Australian College of Ministries

Subject: PCB213 Youth Leadership Development and Education

Lecturer: Andrew Ball

Date of Subject: 31^st August - 3^rd September 1999

Ministry Centre of Subject: Carlingford

Student’s Name: Grant Mitchell

Student’s ID: C9901028

Item Of Work: Assignment 1 (Significance of Discipleship)

Words: 2268

Worth: 50% of subject mark

Date Submitted:

Due Date: Tuesday 30^th November 1999

Signed:_____________________________ Date:______________

This paper will aim to show the significance of discipleship for youth ministry, and the strategy of "Teen Church" [1] to implement discipleship for a particular target group of youth.

Teen Church is a new strategy, a new group, to occur during the Sunday morning program, for youth aged approximately 12-16 who are predominantly the children of families who attend the Sunday morning programs.

Teen Church, shaped by the vision of Epping Church of Christ, and the goals of the Youth Department, will be shown to be a vital ministry with discipleship as its main content.

The vision of Epping Church of Christ (ECOC) shapes who we are, and particularly guides us to how we will operate in ministry. Discipleship is a key part of that vision.

"The bottom line is that we… do not understand that Bible study is essential to making disciples." [2] Discipleship involves teaching from the Bible, the Word of God. The vision of ECOC describes the involvement of the Word of God:

It is important to ensure, in many varied ways, that the Bible is involved in our ministries.

Discipleship involves bringing people into the centre of the worshipping community. Not only in public worship times, but learning to live a life of worship. The vision of ECOC describes how worship is to be a part of the church:

Discipleship will involve care, and drawing people into the community. Worship is a key component of growing in discipleship.

Discipleship will also involve a learning process of not only a person’s value in God’s eyes, but also the purpose and calling God has for an individual:

In light of these points, discipleship is an important strategy in our church life because it will:

• Lead people to listen to God, through teaching people from the Bible;
• Lead people to interact with God and the community through worship;
• Grow people in a caring community; and
• Grow people into their God-given calling.

Teen Church is such a strategy. Since,

Teen Church will provide more than a place for outreach events and more than a group Bible study. It will be a discipling environment, a shepherding environment, where:

• The Word of God is taught with enthusiasm, relevancy, and authenticity;
• Young people can engage together in meaningful worship;
• Youth and leaders will grow in caring for each other not only during group time, but throughout the whole week (since "real-life discipleship is what happens between meetings" [7]); and
• Young people will be challenged to discover what calling God has placed on their life.

This may be a frightening thing, being such a new strategy, but the vision of ECOC describes such new communities:

This vision statement was further clarified with respect to new youth ministry programs:

Teen Church is a new congregation networked within our church community. Teen Church is a church plant, which will develop, grow and resource a community of teenage disciples.

Teen Church is a discipleship strategy that is developed from the vision of Epping Church of Christ.

The goals of the Youth Department of ECOC have a key statement about the use of discipleship:

The youth of ECOC need opportunities to become effective in discipleship.

This goal is further clarified and given expanded steps:

• Develops children and young people into fully devoted and mature followers of Christ;
• Provides opportunity for children and young people to be involved in missions, both within the church and elsewhere; [and]
• Has appropriate programs that are practical, relevant, communicate the gospel, and facilitate relationship building." [11]

Discipleship provides the development of devoted and mature followers of Christ. Through relationship building and loving care youth will grow to know Christ more and more, and then want to share him in mission. This kind of intentional care and growth can best be facilitated through a discipling environment, where worship, teaching, reflection, and caring will provide the means. Discipleship is important to the goals of the Youth Department of ECOC.

Discipleship is already happening in the youth at ECOC through Small Groups Network. However, these groups have begun with those youth that predominantly have contact with our church through Friday night events, and only a few of them will participate in Sunday morning programs.

Teen Church is a strategy in the youth department to fulfill its goals of discipleship with youth that participate in Sunday morning programs, particularly those who are the children of regular worshippers at these services. Teen Church will provide a discipling environment where:

• Young people will be challenged in their experiences of following Christ;
• Youth will enjoy being together so much that they cannot help but intentionally invite their friends who are not disciples of Christ; and
• Relationships will be built between the young people and between the youth and leaders, so that discipleship through care will have practical and relevant effects.

Teen Church is a discipleship strategy that is developed from the goals of the ECOC Youth Department.

Since Teen Church is a discipleship strategy that is developed from the vision of ECOC and the goals of the ECOC Youth Department, the vision of Teen Church needs to reflect the significance of discipleship. At this point the vision of Teen Church is:

Planting such a community is necessary for discipleship, as the past programs for the same group at the same time have:

• Remained with the larger church service for only a portion of the time, mostly to include worship and communion;
• Focussed on Bible teaching; and
• Had care as an implicit need, but never known an explicit strategy for care throughout the week.

The need for discipleship has been evident and satisfied in varied ways. However, these young people need a place they can call their own. There is a tension existing, since some of the young people who are involved in the current programs are only there because their parents brought them. They, and those who are there for themselves, need a place they will not only enjoy being at as they spend time together worshipping, learning, growing, caring, and being cared for, but also take hold of their own responsibility to know Christ more, and to share him with their friends. The discipleship opportunities provided need to involve them in ministry that is appropriate to their stage of calling.

Disciples are "those who follow Christ, are committed to him and his teachings… and seek to live in obedience to him." [12] Teen Church will continue to remain focussed on Christ, and building young people who have a "living encounter with the crucified and risen Christ." [13]

Teen Church will differ to other current youth programs in the way it facilitates discipleship. One philosophy for a discipleship program is:

This describes the importance of obedience, teaching, prayer, care, and mission work. Teen Church will adopt these methods, and explicitly add one more method: worship.

Worship is a personal or group experience where God is given his true worth. This involves more than intellectual acknowledgment: it will engage the whole person in encountering the living God. This is a powerful means of discipleship, because "the truth is that we nurture [youth] best when we create an environment that affects their hearts and their heads." [15]

Worship is an eternal part of being a disciple of Jesus. "The Bible gives us a glimpse of what we’ll be doing for eternity… in Rev. 5:9…", [16] that is worship.

Worship will be a part of Teen Church through:

• Large group singing and reflection in contemporary Christian songs; and
• Encouragement and teaching methods to enter personal worship throughout the week.

Jesus commanded "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." [17] Thus, discipleship will involve hearing, and reflecting on teaching from the Bible. However, with youth:

Discipleship of young people will involve more than bible study and more than a devotional talk. It will require opportunity for challenge and reflection, sharing and changing, experiencing and doing.

Teaching will be a part of Teen Church through two methods:

• Large group teaching; and
• Small group reflection.

Large group teaching will be more than a sermon, message, or devotional talk. It will seek to actively engage young people and involve them in learning. It will challenge them more than it will tell them; it will confront them more than it will give them information.

The small groups will be a "place for kids to explore their personal faith." [19] They will provide an opportunity for young people "to become more like Christ and to experience care, acceptance, and true community." [20] It will be less a place where youth are told how to be, and more a place where they can talk about their faith. [21] The groups will be less of a bible study, and more of a reflection and discipleship group. [22]

"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." [23] Not only will people know we are Jesus’ disciples, but they will know how they can be Jesus’ disciples when we love them, and care for them. This is also true for young people, because "the spirit of grace-giving love is what [youth] are starved for." [24]

If teaching is important for discipleship, how much more is love, care and concern. "Young people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care." [25]

Caring will be a part of Teen Church through:

• Intentional involvement with young people and follow-up amidst their daily struggles and triumphs; and
• Group settings not only providing opportunity for hearing and reflecting, but also sharing, prayer ministry, and statements of affirmation and care.

Discipleship is a self-replicating process – that is, disciples will create other disciples. That is the point of this paper, and that is also a trait that is important when we design discipleship strategies. Disciples, no matter how mature they may or may not be, can be involved in mission. "Our primary goal as Youth Ministers is to equip young people for reaching their generation and making it richly into heaven." [26] Young people are the mission team to their own groups, they "are the ‘tract’; their lives are the ‘paper’ for non-Christians to read." [27]

Effective discipleship needs to provide motivation for mission: "Effective student ministry happens when a Christian student feels compassion for his or her lost friend and owns the responsibility to share Christ." [28] Effective discipleship also needs to provide opportunity for mission, and opportunity for events that provide service to the community. This will mean more than having a group to bring friends to; it will require events that focus on outreach, teaching that equips youth for outreach, and leaders who model being mission-minded disciples.

Teen Church will provide a mission-edge through:

• Open invitation to all activities;
• Linking with other youth programs;
• Leaders actively engaged in mission work and sharing their experiences;
• Allowing youth to share their struggles with reaching their friends with Christ;
• Intentional events for group members to bring their friends as an initial contact with Christ and the church; and
• Intentional events for groups members to be involved in service and mission as a team that connect with other significant Christian ministries.

Teen Church will shape young people to be a vital, and growing part of Epping Church of Christ. Its importance is seen in its goals of discipleship, that is, raising up young people to be:

• People who are worshippers of God;
• People ready to listen to what God says;
• People who are loved and cared for; and
• People who are ready and willing to share Jesus with their friends.

Teen Church will bring to life the significance of discipleship.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version. Copyright Ó 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.