A Word from Pastor Lisa: Learning in Community

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” – Acts 2:42

I am beyond excited to launch our new Discipleship Hour on Sunday, and I can’t wait for us to explore it together. Why? Disciples of Jesus are made, not born. We don’t learn about Jesus by osmosis, but through intentional practices that help us grow together in community. Maturing in Christ requires more than weekly worship. We need small groups, classes, studies, retreats, and age-related ministries to understand our faith while nurturing Christian friendships. Through these experiences, God’s Spirit works in us to perfect in the practice of love as we grow in love for God and our neighbors, says Bishop Robert Schnase in his book The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.

Why is this important? First, it’s the method of Jesus and the early church. Learning in community models the way Jesus deliberately taught his disciples as they listened to his stories, instructions, and lessons around dinner tables, hillsides, and at the Temple. Immediately after Pentecost, the earliest Christians thrived in communities where they devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, breaking bread together, and praying. All of this was happening in small house church communities.

Second, growing in faith together is central to Methodism. Founder John Wesley taught about sanctification, which means growing in grace and Christ-likeness over our lifetimes. He designed a system of societies, classes, and bands of Methodists who would meet regularly for prayer, Scripture study, and spiritual accountability.

Finally, we need each other. There is no such thing as a solitary Christian. Growing in Christ requires both knowledge and relationship. Ideas change people, and moreover, people change people. God uses both together to shape our lives in the image of Christ. My seminary ethics professor wanted to take all Bibles out of the individual hands of Christians and chain them to church altars so that we would have to read them in community, where we might be challenged in our own interpretations and stretched in new ways.

One of my great joys in ministry is watching people grow in faith through discipleship classes and small groups. Here are some examples:

· The child who learned about the generosity of Jesus in Sunday School and for her birthday party asked friends to bring donations for a local shelter in lieu of presents.

· The youth whose experiences on a service trip to Appalachia inspired her to take a year off college to help migrants in Greece.

· The college student whose experience with a vocational discernment ministry helped him to change majors and better live into God’s call on his life.

· The young couple whose small group studied a book on simplicity and encouraged them to buy a smaller house and be generous in other ways.

· The senior adults who participated in a Disciple Class and then felt called to help children at a local elementary school.

I hope you will challenge yourself this fall to engage in our Discipleship Hour. It may require some rearrangement of your life and your family’s schedule to ease into this new adventure, but I promise it will be worth it. I’m eager to see how God will stretch our faith and challenge us to grow beyond what we could ask or imagine.