The Methodist Way of Making Disciples: 3-5-5-1

A visitor appears in your congregation and is attracted to something that causes him or her to return. The port of entry varies. It might be a friendship or the worship environment or the message or the lived wisdom of the pastor or the hospitality of the participants or the missional actions of the faith community.

Most church leaders know from experience that visitors as well as loosely committed participants will eventually exit through a back door unless they experience a shared Christian life with others—a discipleship pathway. Some congregations offer a traditional membership orientation and suggest a group. Other churches seem more independent or are attuned to local cultural expectations and thus work on belonging and discipleship before articulating a formal membership commitment.

The early Methodist movement literally began and thrived because of a discipleship pathway articulated by John Wesley, which is based on small groups. The Wesleyan innovation for small groups is a convergence of evangelism and discipleship. A shared and disciplined Christian life together attracts others to this way of following Jesus. The groups (“societies”) attracted participants with no previous religious experience as well as Christians from Anglican, Presbyterian, Quaker, Moravian, and many other faith communities. As the small groups multiplied, John Wesley’s earliest published resources were foundational and established the discipleship practices that formed the Methodist identity. This guidance from Wesley is found or repeated in many writings, but it is crystallized in the following:

1. General Rules (1741)
2. Character of a Methodist (1743)
3. Means of Grace (174_)
4. Wesleyan Covenant for Renewal (1755)

Over the centuries the Methodist small-group movement morphed into congregations, where these foundational practices for discipleship can be overlooked or forgotten by subsequent generations. Now a congregation can recover and standardize Wesley’s discipleship pathway by offering a series of small-group experiences, perhaps to the entire congregation or any given class or group, and subsequently for visitors or inquirers who are encouraged to walk in the Wesleyan way of life together.

John Wesley’s foundational instruction for the formation of a Christian and Methodist identity is updated into four small-group study experiences, which each include a participant book, a leader guide, and brief teaching videos. Each study experience is completed in six weeks and is described as follows:

Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living, Rueben P. Job

This study experience is drawn by Wesley from the ministry of Jesus, which is taught as a “rule” (a way of life) for Christians, who are expected to do the following:

1. Do no harm.
2. Do good.
3. Stay in love with God.

If this simple Wesleyan rule for life in your congregation is practiced, it becomes a yardstick for the ministries offered in your mission field.

Five Marks of a Methodist: The Fruit of a Living Faith, Steve Harper

Wesley describes the “character of a Methodist” in terms of the marks or habits or practices that produce desirable fruit from a faithful follower of Jesus. These marks can bridge our differences and produce mature fruit:

1. A Methodist loves God.
2. A Methodist rejoices in God.
3. A Methodist gives thanks.
4. A Methodist prays constantly.
5. A Methodist loves others.

After an individual understands what is expected for this approach to Methodist discipleship, the marks become a powerful habit when the participant practices. One rhythm for practice is to reread a chapter from the book each day of the week (Monday through Friday), which can turn the marks into habits.

Five Means of Grace: Experience God’s Love the Wesleyan Way, Elaine A. Heath

(available for preorder, ships August 2017)

Notice that the previously mentioned general rules and five habits for a Methodist include love of God. The Methodist way of life is thoroughly based on God’s love for us and our love for God. Wesley confirmed our tendency to allow the love of God and others to grow cold so that we drift away from the gift of God’s unmerited grace. So Wesley showed us ways to reorder our lives through the “means of grace.” These means are the ordinary channels that God uses to draw us into a fruitful and faithful relationship:

1. Praying
2. Searching scripture
3. Receiving the Lord’s Supper
4. Fasting
5. Conferencing (worship together)

We reorder our lives by recognizing and affirming the outward signs, words, and actions of an invisible divine grace. Through these “means” we receive God’s gifts together, and we experience the power of a spiritual relationship with God.

One Faithful Promise: The Wesleyan Covenant for Renewal, Magrey deVega

Any discipleship pathway tends to crumble and develop potholes. Wesley saw the need for renewal of the Methodist movement a mere fifteen years down the road. So he pulled together the people called Methodist and taught for several mornings about “the means of increasing serious religion.” This renewal was taught through five steps:

1. Confide in God
2. Compose your spirit
3. Claim the covenant
4. Choose faithfulness
5. Connect to God in prayer

Then they worshipped together and reaffirmed their promise through a Covenant prayer to stay on the pathway. Charles Wesley also wrote a hymn supporting the prayer: “Come, Let Us Use the Grace Divine.” Wesley’s covenant renewal can function now as an accessible church-wide campaign that culminates in the liturgical affirmation and faithful promise to love God and neighbor faithfully. The campaign could be

1. used during Advent and culminate on New Year’s Eve with the Covenant prayer committed to memory and resolve;
2. used from mid-September, with emphasis on homecoming and harvest, and culminated with the liturgical event on All Saint’s Day;
3. used prior to Lent and culminate on Ash Wednesday; or
4. used during Lent and culminate during holy week.

Nearly all church leaders yearn to help individuals and groups grow in faithfulness through love and service. The Methodist way of doing this can be instantiated through our three rules, five marks, five means, and one promise. This is a handy way to remember our method.

---

Paul Franklyn is Associate Publisher for Bibles, Leadership, and Textbooks at The United Methodist Publishing House. He directed the Common English Bible translation.

Speaking Without Words in the Classroom

Have you ever felt yourself thinking, “The students do not listen to me”?  I repeat myself over and over again, and they still do not get the directions. So how might you speak without speaking? How might you give directions and other cues in the classroom without ever saying a word? Teaching is as much about what you do as what you say.

In the Sunday school classroom or other studies, children tire of hearing the voice of one person. They want to speak and be heard. Below are five ways you as a leader can provide direction and leadership in your classroom while limiting how much you speak. The less you actually say, the more the students will listen when you do speak.

1. Teach students hand signals for often-repeated directions. Sign language or hand signals will help the students understand without the leader having to give verbal directions.  Use the sign for yes, no, or wait for standard questions asked in the classroom.  This might even be a helpful cue for behaviors as well.  An example might be one hand up to indicate “wait” or the sign-language sign for “yes.”
2. Provide tones or bells to indicate different aspects of the session. An example might be the lighting of the candles for worship, or a bell to indicate that it is time to begin wrapping up an activity.  This provides the students with a different sound or cue that will enable them to be leaders.  The more unique the ritual, or sound, the more likely the students will respond.
3. Many times questions, which are posed for students, require the student to think and consider the answer. Give the students the time to think… don’t take this away from them. When you think you have given them enough time, allow a few more seconds for them to think.  Great results come from the students figuring out answers.
4. When asking questions, ask open-ended questions. If the students appear to be confused by directions, ask them to put the directions in their own words so you know what they did not understand. Repetition is good on occasion, but only if you don’t repeat yourself too often.  Allow the students to work with each other and in groups.  The more they speak the more they will hear you when you speak.
5. Invite the students to lead in prayer or offer time for quiet, individual prayer. The more opportunities for prayer the students have the more intentional their prayers become.

Rev. Dr. Leigh Meekins is an ordained United Methodist deacon and has over twenty years of experience in Children’s Ministries. With a Bachelor of Arts from Birmingham-Southern College, a Master of Religious Education from Duke University, and a Ph.D. from Capella University, Leigh’s focus has been on children and the different intelligences. Leigh writes the Deep Blue Curriculum for Older Elementary.