Through discipleship we make disciples

THROUGH DISCIPLESHIP WE MAKE DISCIPLES.

INTRODUCTION.

This topic has been an interesting subject to many Christian churches for centuries of which the members follow the great commission by Jesus Christ which the disciples were told to make disciples, baptize and teach. A disciples is usually defined a person who has accepted Jesus Christ as savior, committed himself/ herself to the growing relationship with God through guidance of the Holy Spirit. According to Gordon Allport he stated, “Intrinsic, or mature, religion regards faith as a supreme value in its own right. It is oriented toward a unification of being, takes seriously the commandment of brotherhood, and strives to transcend all self-centered needs… A religious sentiment of this sort floods the whole life with motivation and meaning. Religion is no longer limited to single segments of self-interest.[1] “Without any doubt we could say that this is aim of many churches and pastors, however the church is faced with many challenges. These challenges not only have effects on church faith development and how to transmit it but also on church growth in terms of members in general. The problem that we are trying to address in this paper is how and which way we can help process of faith development and maturing in our churches especially in this century?[2]

·                   Each church needs its members to be disciples who are responsible and consistent participation in and out of the church activities so as to impact the local community to join the church especially with the young members. In this century, where the church is heavenly influenced by  material  benefits, modern technology,education,the church is slowly losing its young members to the ‘outside world’.Hence,its become important for the church to focus on faith transmission and growth among the youths. Through introduction of discipleship the church, is able to impact on the growth and maturity of the faith, hence the members grow and feel the need to evangelize and capture the outside world with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit.[3]

According to (Bertram Melbourne, 2007) there are two different levels of discipleship which are;

·         The first disciples of Jesus.

·         The subsequent followers of Jesus after the accession i.e. the church members.[4]
Statement of the problem.

The research will help to answer the question of how the church will recruit, teach and maintain both old and new disciples in the church, since the main focus of Christianity is to make disciples. In all the major churches, they have been experiencing a slow growth because they are unable evangelize expeditiously to recruit more church members in the younger generation.[5] The youths especially have stopped attending church because they feel the church programmes to be boring and out-of-touch. The church members i.e. the older generations have been strict about the youth services, hence the youth number is dropping this is especially the age group of 13-25 years. The youths that remain the church is unable to know whether they have matured in faith or not, hence the most committed youths leave the youth department without the sufficient spiritually infrastructure to make it as disciples in an adult world. [6]

Due to the introduction of contemporary service in the youth programmes, the older generation has been observed to leave the church because they view this as secular. Hence the research will be able to show how the two generation can get along by coming to a common ground i.e. making of disciples through faith transmission and growth. [7]

The purpose of the study.

There for purpose of this paper is to explore and analyze possible solutions on how the church can help in the faith maturing process in the congregations.  This paper will suggest on looking to design possible worship service as potential solution on challenges the church is facing with the young generation. This is by examining and proposing parallel contemporary service that all church members are comfortable and appreciate which adheres still to the Biblical teaching hence easing the way forward to faith transmission among the youths in the making of disciples resulting to growth of the church. This will involve the use of comparison of normal human development and growth by renowned psychologists to show how faith transmission and growth can be developed in the church starting with the children till they reach adulthood.[8]

Significance of the study.

The study will be a big help to the church, by demonstrating them with methods on how to ensure the youths remain in the church and their growth in discipleship especially with the rapid change in technology, material growth etc which has resulted to decrease of attendance by the young people.[9] Researching and assessing the most appropriate or effective methods to reach the youth and other members so as to enable church growth and faith development are the clear justification for the study. This will be done by designing an alternative service for the youth; so as to address the members who have left, through a parallel service model in the church .This would eventually be an example for other churches in there fights for active, growing, mature churches.[10]

Limitation of the study.

1.      The time factor was an issue, because the researcher is a student.

2.      Most churches are uncomfortable to give out information about their church, because they don’t want to be perceived as they don’t care.

The case study

History of the stanborough park church.

The foundation stone of the church was laid on 14th November 1927 by the British Union President, Pastor W.H Meredith and the church was a branch from the Watford town church. Dr. Rebel of the san was the driving force behind building of the church, by this he led the band of workers with forks, spades, pickaxes etc to clear the wood, hence the church was known as the church in the woods.[11] The church was dedicated and was free from financial devt, on July 22, 1928. The need for the church rose because of the population and the wants by the Seventh – day Adventist to have a church in their locality. On the same year on 17th October Herbert Barham was the first person to be baptized and the first wedding to be solemnized was that of Daisy cash and Wilf Proudly on July 30, 1931 which was officiated by Pastor Wolf Meredith. [12]

Over the years the church was grown and has just celebrated their 71st anniversary.

The earlier years the church has been involved into the community through the children dedication the formation o the male voice choir which won afield during the Archway in London music festival. The church also introduced first aid classes by Nora Mariner and also master guide classes in 1947.[13] The church is geographically situated at a predominantly West Indian and stanborough are white, hence the church evangelism targets to recruit more of the black Caribbean, the Pakistani and the Indian communities. The church runs the soup Run for the poor and homeless and was initiated in 1976, together with the participation of flower festivals which was first held in w981 and has consecutively run over the years rising over $40,000 for the local charities and the ADRA. The youths have also participated in various mission projects in other countries for example Parkstan (1987), Poland (1992).[14]

Present situation of the church.

One of the most outstanding factors about the church is that majority of the members are British and is considered as a conservative church, hence the assumption that the church in reality is not so active in the outreach programme to recruit more members. The church is facing  a major problem whereby the number of the youth is decreasing, hence leaving the older generation in the church which is asking for disaster and total collapse of the church. [15]The young people have always complained and felt that they felt ‘out of place’ in the church, because the church has refused to change its style of praise and worship, hence the youths regard this as a backward style of worship. For example, the youth service is usually under constant critism because of the type of music they play and the songs they sing. Unfortunately for this the senior members have been leaving the church. Due to for example the use of drums during praise and worship. For the church to grow in numbers and maturity in faith, the church through its board has had to find ways to make sure that all the members needs are catered for, for example through the provision of a youth pastor and the stanborough church can boast of having one. One of the most successful programs that usually runs inn weekly basis is the youth united (yu) where approximately around 40-60 youths/teen attend every Friday and the program involves contemporary band singers together with short games and interviews, regarding the topics the mainly involve the youth. Through this initiative the local youths have been attracted to the church.[16]

The other problem that faced is with the youths who left the church a while back, and are now having families and they want their children to know more about God in the church but are uncomfortable to come back to church. The church has been experiencing for example, 4-5 families who would just attend Sabbath school then leave without waiting for the whole service to finish. This is because they believe and say that the church has not changed and hence don’t want to be part of it, while others are afraid of being judged by other members and some just want a small community to worship.  [17]

The proposal of contemporary parallel service and proposal for stanborough park 11 am parallel service.

Vision statement: To know Christ and make him known.

Mission statement: Through a Sabbath morning service we aim to reclaim those who have dad an association with this church and reach those who have never met Christ. Through discipleship we plan make disciples (Math. 28:19-20)

Method

·         The ministry will take place on Sabbath morning because of the familiarity’s target group with the 11 am service. The service will run every Sabbath except the 1st of the month. Special service e.g. Christmas, harvest and communion will be combined. [18]

·         After the Sabbath morning services there will be an opportunity for all worshippers to join together e.g. the traditional refreshments.[19]

·         Utilize the programmes of the other departments of the church.

·         Seek to develop a culture of discipleship.

·         Through personal invitation and regular contact of the youth and continual challenge give to the youth.

·         Aim to nurture and baptize disciples of Jesus Christ through the teaching and practice of basic Christianity in line with Adventist believe.

Leadership.

·         Pastoral team will deal with the general administration of this ministry. The ministry will be answerable to the church board. The leadership team will be made of members of the church and will be sponsored and guided by the pastoral tem.[20]

·         Select a tem to help out with the parallel service. There will be no specific leader, but will be led by the committee. The committee will select a representative when the board require one, for example, for the stanborough park church.[21]

Proposal of people to go on to committee.

·         Outreach- pats Walton.

·         Creative worship – Johanna poddar

·         Discipline – Nathan stick land.

·         Consultation – Panl Tompkins

·         Discipline – Steve Moses.

·         Pastoral team – Youth pastor, senior pastor.

·         Elders – dare Burgess

·         Student  missionary

·         Worship- Dan Sabatier.

·         Why a parallel service and not an afternoon service to complement the YU?

The purpose of a parallel service is to recapture lapsed members and people on the the fringe of the church.[22] In past experience it’s easier to invite the demographic to something that familiar to them, hence the 11 am service. To invite them to a Sabbath afternoon service might interfere with their plans. Also, we are targeting new converts and it’s the church preference to introduce them at a time when the church normally holds a church service.[23] This familiarity time will also encourage the demographic to the special service in the main sanctuary e.g. Christmas service.

Will creating a parallel Sabbath morning service disrupt how the church currently does things and the use of the cedar/ sycamore room for our current members?

1.      The most preferred option is to set-up for the parallel service before Sabbath school hence way it supports the Sabbath school and to then complete final set after 10: 45. The other Sabbath schools and other church members will be required to cooperate by vacation the cedar/sycamore room.

2.      After service refreshments: This is an important part of the social life of the church and hence 11 am service will be finished promptly.

3.      Car parking: The members will be encouraged to use the secondary ca park at the BUC. This will be assisted by the deacons.

4.      Church hurly-burly- The church anticipates that there will be an initial interest and an initial attendance that shall stabilize over a short period of time. [24]

NB The primary functions of the parallel service and would it would benefit to Stanborough Park are

a)      Discipline.

b)      Ownership.

1 Discipleship model for the parallel service a stanborough park church.

Introduction

The purpose of this service is to redaim those who have occasionally attended the church but have stopped attending church service.

Biblical directive and Inspiration.

Any person who attends church can subscribe to become a member through baptism and then can participate in the church departments. The members are not compiled to be accountable in any way for example to participate in witnessing, evangelism and sharing your faith. The great commission (math.28:16-20) given by Jesus, prescribed the sequence on how to make disciples which is to make disciples, baptize and teach them. This shows that the church concentrates more on discipleship, rather than leaving it to chance. Every church member is urged to make disciples as they go about their business.[25]

Discipleship model for all parallel service members

Step1: every member will select 3 people they know who often the church.

The three people become discipleship target group. Each member will join with two other members, to form a group of three, to act as an accountable group.[26]

The accountable group will meet or be in contact with each other weekly. They would pray and know more about each other at least once a week. These groups will act as support and encourage each other.

Step 2: the group will evolve eventually resulting to the target group attending the parallel service. The group focuses on God and doesn’t have prescribed materials. The group will just be doing Bible study.[27]

The groups should meet not less that fortnightly which could be in home, café, park etc.

Step3: This involves bringing someone who wishes to follow Jesus to become a disciple, and then the disciple would make a public dedication to get baptized.

Step 4: Once the disciples is baptized, the teachings of Jesus and God’s commandments are taught to them. This will be done through teaching and group studies.[28]

Project outcome.

The outcome to this ministry is: Stumble, stable or saturation.

Stumble: The failure of this service would be through warning support and the fluidity of members.

Stable: When members do not see beyond there own physical space he growth of the growth slow down or even stops. There is no intention to create an alternative worship hence a stable church can either grow or go to decline.

Saturation: Following Jesus formula, the church will find itself increasing in number. Rightly fully planned the church should expect growth that would also include the future needs. I should be realized that one day a planned division and plant will be necessary. [29]

Ownership.

Its been noted that its not the style of worship that would keep people in church rather of ownership that members/people have of he service will keep them interested in church. Te satisfaction of involving in church activities and the progammes [30]

Worship style.

There are several styles that could be employed:

a)      A café style service which would involve serving break before worship.

b)      A praise and worship service.

c)      Explored service Bible study.

NB The parallel service is planned to begin on 13th Sep 2008 and the youth would be involved in the planning of the service so as to empower them to take future leadership position. The service will not interfere with the other youth programme e.g. YU, Aspire and Sabbath school but rather complement them. Finances would be generated from the SEC and all offering would be given to the church’s treasurer.[31] The trial period of the service would be evaluated on a weekly basis by a committee and monthly and monthly by elders and church board.  The service will become sustainable and not collapse after 3 months by:

i)                    Tier structure of groups to be responsible for parts of the service. The group will also involve people who are trained in the specialties that need for a service.

ii)                  Rotation of people in services.

iii)                Involve the use of Rota to ensure there is no ‘burn-out’ of the people involved.

The literature survey on the discipleship: Faith Transmission.

In 1988/9, a research project was undertaken and was known as effective. Christian education. Tithes involved almost 11,000 members of evangelical denominations in the US. Jome of the churches involved are Evangelical Lutheran church, the Presbyterian Church, Southern Baptist convention, United Methodist church. The project answers from 3,500 adults, 3100 teenagers, 500 teachers, and 500pastors. The results of the survey include that a minority of the Christian adults show an integrated, life – encompassing faith and this percentile was 32%. 10% said to have a vertical faith, 22% a horizontal faith and 30% an underdevelopment faith.[32] There were some questions that rose from the survey which are:

i)                     Is mature faith a natural, spontaneous outcome?

ii)                  How do we get ere?

iii)                How do we help people grow in their faith?

iv)                How do we promote a sense of commitment to the church?

v)                  To what extent are we intentional in making plans to promote maturity of faith?

vi)                How do we build our strategy to get this result?

Over the years the youth ministry has to lead the young people towards fellowship and have relationship with Christ (col. 1:1:28. Every church has been coming up with ways on how to integrate the youths to have a growing relationship with Christ and to grow their faith.[33] Having a youth group that is active or full of fire doesn’t necessarily imply that they will necessarily grow to be men and women living with a passionate love for Christ as they become adults. Hence, the fragmentation of the youth ministry explains why most of the committed youths leave the youth department without fully maturing in faith, hence become the disciples in an adult world. [34]The whole responsibility of nurturing the youths has been left to the parents and the church has to re-connect the youth ministry, family.

Research by Greg Johnson and Mike: Faithful parents, faithful kids, showed some of the most effective faith nurturing practices the youth parents can apply. From their collected data, it showed that there is no single or uniform practice which works for the majority of families. The only single faith-nurturing factor that all the people who surveyed suggested was having ‘mentors’ present during their growing up years. In 1955, from university of California Emmy Wener had been studying resilience.[35] She showed the ability of children from problematic background e.g. poverty, addiction, live happy and productive lives among people because of an adult mentor (grandparent, pastor) who gave them a sense of being hence assist them in nurturing their faith, they replaced by friends, music and media as surrogate mentors.

In 2004 the search Institute of Minneapolis researched involving 1005 parents and the project was called ‘building strong families’ an In-depth Report one preliminary survey on what parents need to succeed. The research discovered the 5 key issues.[36]

A)    Most parents are going it alone.

B)    Many parents lack a strong relationship with a partner.

C)    Many parents feel successful as parents most of the time

D)    Most parents face ongoing challenges

E)     Many things that would help parents quite simple to do.

According to the survey, the churches are urged to:[37]

·         Create an environment where help seeking and mutual support are honoured.Include a parent gathering into a fellowship activity

·         Be attentive to different parenting situation

·         Make parents and families visible in the church.

·         Create a parent directory

·         Ask for parents input.

Theology critical reflection on Faith and Discipleship                      (Math. 28:19-20)

One aspect when Jesus said this command to his disciples is that the church was to spread the gospel all over the world, without discriminating of race, ethic background or even age. He was able to portray this in the entire gospel when he preached and interacted with other communities regardless of their age, sex, or even community.[38] The proposed worship service is biblically supported because it ensures that the whole church is involved in making of disciples among the youth and helping them nurture their faith in Christ. One thing the church has to realize, that youth members are at vibrant age where they need to feel and enjoy being in church and being Christ’s disciple so as to attract the other youths who don’t attend church.[39] Jesus demonstrated how the church needs to come up with ways to involve more youths when he was making disciples i.e. he had all ages from 22-above 40. Unfortunately, the church over the years has refused to change their style of helping the youth ministry grow by restricting some of the contemporary way they do their own service and constantly criticizing them. It’s been observed that the church is shifting to accommodate the youth programmes and vibrant activities. [40]

The stanbrough church 11 am service is a good start of attracting the youths who had left the church.

Critical reflection on proposal.

The proposal seeks to address the issue of making disciples but doesn’t not evaluate on how to the main theme which is faith transmission will be done to equip the disciples. The church not only does it not need to focus in making of the numbers of the church, but to also ensure the growth of faith among them members. Unfortunately the proposal seems to be addressing youths while leaving the whole other group of younger children. Of age below 13yrs. According John Fowler, He defines faith as:

1.      Trusting and believing.

He says that people of mature faith trust in God’s saving grace and believe firmly in Jesus. This faith creates a bridge between the ‘cloud of witnesses’ of the past and God’s love in the present. Faith actively shapes life in all its expressions.[41]

2.      Experiencing the fruits of faith.

Through the proposal one concept that service should look is he growth of the faith so that the disciples can bear fruits of faith which a sense of personal wee being security and peace.[42]

3.      Integrating faith and real life.

Faith is just a Sabbath morning experience. Christianity is a filter through which a believer evaluates he/she see hear or think. Faith is integrated into vocational mealier, relational, financial, political and ethical decisions.

4.      Seeking spiritual growth.

Faith is a journey and like any other relationship, the relationship with God through Christ should not be static. They seek to grow spiritually through study, reflection, prayer and discussion. They also conceive changes in belief and meaning as they grow in faith (Eph. 4:14-16, Col.1:9-10 etc.)

5.                 Nurturing faith as a church.

The church is where we encounter people who already committed to the same journey. In community people witness to their faith and nourish one another. They support others faith and share their own faith story- and they experience God through these interpersonal encounter. (Rom. 18-12, Col. 3:12-17 etc)

6.      Holding life- affirming values, advocating social change and acting and serving.

Mature believers are committed to practice love and justice. They support life affirming values as equality for diversity, responsibility to the environment and for others health and welfare. These values affect both their personal and public lives. [43]They believe that faith implies a deep concern for the other and that the church needs to be present in the social spire. (Math. 25:31-36)

Through the incorporation of fowler’s definition and growth of faith it should be addressed in the proposal for the parallel youth service. Te church needs to address the issue of equipping the disciples target group with materials for their own group bible study and personal Bible e.g. provision of Bible, devotion books, prayers etc. The steps given by fowler should be integrated into the parallel youth service for successful discipleship programme together with equipping the youth to mature in their faith.

For the faith transmission to e successful in the church especially among the new disciples, the church should acquire this model to assist them in the discipleship programme in the church. This model addresses issue in stages which are seen as how faith just as learning should be integrated in the disciple. The model suggests:

·         Learning as Acquisition of knowledge.

To learn is the gaining of knowledge where the mind is like a storage compartment that acquires sorts, labels and stores materials for precise and prompt retrieval. The task of teaching is to organize and present information in logical and memorable forms.[44]

·         Learning as Acquisition of Responses.

When the mind is presented with a task, it responds in a given way and this connection is seen as evidence of learning. The task of teaching becomes a matter of conditioning learners to respond in a correct way to specific task or questions. Which the church is no exception it if wants to do the faith transmission. How one views learning has much to do with educational and pastoral choice.[45]

·         Learning as construction of knowledge.

The study of human perception and brains function has expanded the understanding of learning. The learner is not seen as a passive recipient but as someone who actively discovers, builds and reorganizes. Learning doesn’t only involve quantitative also qualitative development. The learner makes new interactions and new experiences, weaving new materials and old onto in sight full organizations. Teaching is helping learning process the meanings of new experiences and deepened awareness within deliberate nurture of the connections between old and new.

Faith transmission in the Christian education as a field of practical ministry over the years has paid little concerns with matters of theory especially if these do not derive directly from theology or church matters. However, with the increasing development of psychology and social studies, the Christian religious education has started to pay attention to ‘outside’ data. According E. G. White, Education (pp. 17-18) she says that every human is created in the image of God and is endowed with a power a kin to that of the creator. Individually, power to think and to do… She continues to say the power of true education of other thoughts. [46]

There has also been addition of other researchers especially in the cognitive development studies which can be-adopted into the proposal for the parallel service. Using this study by the researchers, will show that faith transmission which leads to discipleship would be done and started when the youths are still children, so as to help in the maturity of faith of the youth. [47]The searchers are:

a)      Jean piaget

b)      Lawrence Kohlberg

c)      James. H. Fowler.

a)      Jean Piaget

His studies have provided precious insights for any minister in the task of faith transmission. In general the Christian education, the faith transmission swings in two extremes

·         Mindless learning of doctrines and bible facts. (if they know the truth, they will automatically be good people)

·         Emotion- filled spiritually with little root in the bible. ( It feels good, so it is true.)

His studies help find a balance between the two extreme i.e. how does external ‘knowledge’ relate to the way people build meaning? How does the bible knowledge relate to being a good person? How can the church avoid cramming raw facts down the throats of children, or at the other extreme, merely using he bible as a toll for feeing food about oneself? [48]Through his studies, he suggests that interaction as on of the most powerful stimuli to growth; hence the church could be an ideal setting for health growth. He derived stages which show how the different stages learn and interact i.e.

a)      Sensor motor (birth to 18 months): Here children learn their relationship with their space to coordinate and make sense of the information they receive from their senses and progress from trial and error learning.[49]

b)      Pre-operational (2-7yrs): This is the age imagination and creativity.

c)      Concrete operations and formal operations (from 7yrs upwards):According to Paget moral development is linked to cognitive growth which determines what a child can learn and how in faith transmission e.g.

1.      What is sanctification or atonement?

2.      What do you teach about prayers to all the stages?

3.      What parable to use?

4.      When to share your conversion story?

B. Lawrence Kohlberg studies.

·         He studies were heavily influenced by Paget and he organized his findings about human moral development in a two stage theory i.e.

·         Children younger than 7yrs think about moral dilemmas one way (moral constraint). They regard value a faced, absolute and sacred and handed down adults or God and the value can’t be changed.

·         Older children consider moral decision as morality of cooperation. He/she understands that it is permissible to change rules if everyone agrees.

Through the use of moral dilemmas for interviews eg Heinz steals the drug, Kohlberg was able to come up with sex stages of moral development.[50]

1.      Pre-conventional morality. (4-10yrs)

2.      The child thinks about obedience punishment orientation i.e. which behavior will help to avoid punishment.

3.      Conventional  morality (13-young adult)

d)     James H. Fowler.

He was able to address and apply the stage to faith development through familiarizing himself with Kohlberg studies on moral development. He describes faith as a composing, dynamic and holistic construction of relations that include self to others, self to world and self to self, construed as all related to an ultimate environment. His research separates the content of faith (what people believe) from the structure of faith (why people believe it) and tries to examine the deep mechanism of how people believe. His study attempts to identify if there is a predictable pattern of faith development. He suggests that faith develops through six stages.[51]

            Stage zero: Primal or undifferentiated faith (birth-3yrs)

Faith is shaped by experiences of love care by primary care gives.  Theses first experiences result in a disposition of trust toward life. In these stages the seeds of faith are sown.

                        Stage 2: Mythical literal faith (8-11yrs)

Children start taking on stories, beliefs and actions heard and seen at church. Faith is mystic because the stories can now transmit meaning and be applied to concrete life situations. The children start questioning ‘the childish’ explanation of the previous stages and become critical. God is seen in anthropomorphic term as someone who keeps record of good and wrong actions and gives rewards and punishment. Children have a limit on what they understand and respond to biblical stories.[52]

                         Stage 3: Synthetic /conventional faith (12-22)

Young people start reshaping their self-identity by roles and building relationship i.e. an emerging sense of selfhood develops. They tend to be highly committed to the church and are seen as an idealized extended family. Their typical image of God is that of a personal friend, and he deeply loves me and interested in my best interest.[53] Young people tend to be quite sure about who are ‘the people of God’ and who aren’t what is the truth and what isn’t and have a black white view of life and people. The pastor, adults or youths leaders are often seen as source of truth and self worth.[54]

Stage 4: Individuative –reflective (young adulthood)

Here, third-person perspective is developed and the young people see themselves the group and the church in relationship with the society and other people outside their circle. Young people tend to feel alone as they lose their strong identification with the group. This stage is crucial because the youth’s overreliance on one’s own perspective hence the young people can show certain arrogance and set themselves against the group to critique it.[55]

Stage 5: Conjunctive faith (middle adulthood and beyond)

People at this stage are ware of their limitation and deeper self-awareness and a better understanding of God. In this stage the conjunction faith awareness of major danger idolatry. There are characterized of having humility and open and eager for dialogue with groups outside their own community.[56]

Stage 6: Universalizing faith (middle adulthood and beyond)

Here, the individual is able to decentralize hi/her faith from the self and develops a new capacity of understanding and participating with God. People at this stage are free form the struggles with their self and see themselves as part of work for God and his kingdom. They focus on matters of love and justice and faith assumes a ‘disciplined activist orientation which involves making real and to tangible imperative) love and justice). This stage, people are entirely committed to transform the present reality in the direction of God’s will.[57]

Through the use of this studies when incorporated into the proposal of the faith transmission by use of parallel service, the making of disciple will be a process that starts when the child is young, to he/she matures into the adulthood.

Conclusion

The church proposes the introduction of parallel contemporary service which will incorporate methods of attracting and retaining disciples in the church. Some of the practical things that the church can do to make and retain disciples include:

·         Designate disciples-making as a primary goal within the church members.

·         Formulate plans and methods to accomplish the task.

·         Train individuals for leadership for each programme.

·         Mobilize all members for involvement in discipleship.

·         Institute a programme of discipleship training.

·          Ascertain the types of people living in the community surrounding the church and their needs.

·         Institute a bridge-building programme that will break down barriers, then meet the needs of and forgo relations with the community surrounding each church.

·         Introduce programs to use the skills of new converts, to incorporate them into the local church and develop a deeper committiment to Christ.

·         Develop programs that will assist members, especially new converts, in discovering, developing and putting to use their spiritual gifts.

·         Ensure that there are adequate programs designed for making and nurturing disciples.

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[1] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York
[2] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,

[3] Hunter J.D. (2000); The Death of character: Moral Education in an age without Good or evil; Basic Books, New York.
[4] Freire P. (1983); Pedagogy of the city; Continuum, London:

[6] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York
[7] Best R.; (2000);. Education for spiritual, moral social and cultural development. Continuum, London
[8] Shelton C. ; (1983); Adolescent spirituality; Crossroad, New York:

[9] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,
[10] Hunter J.D. (2000); The Death of character: Moral Education in an age without Good or evil; Basic Books, New York.

[11] Fowler J. W. (1984);  Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Faith development and Christian faith: Harper and Row, San Francisco, CA
[12] Hunter J.D. (2000); The Death of character: Moral Education in an age without Good or evil; Basic Books, New York.
[13] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,
[14] Freire P. (1983); Pedagogy of the city; Continuum, London:
[15] Hunter J.D. (2000); The Death of character: Moral Education in an age without Good or evil; Basic Books, New York.
[16] Best R.; (2000);. Education for spiritual, moral social and cultural development. Continuum, London
[17] Fowler J. W. (1984);  Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Faith development and Christian faith: Harper and Row, San Francisco, CA
[18] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,
[19] Hunter J.D. (2000); The Death of character: Moral Education in an age without Good or evil; Basic Books, New York.
[20] Hunter J.D. (2000); The Death of character: Moral Education in an age without Good or evil; Basic Books, New York.
[21] Shelton C. ; (1983); Adolescent spirituality; Crossroad, New York:
[22] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York
[23] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge
[24] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York

[25] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,
[26] Best R.; (2000);. Education for spiritual, moral social and cultural development. Continuum, London
[27] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York
[28] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,
[29] Shelton C. ; (1983); Adolescent spirituality; Crossroad, New York:
[30] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,

[31] Fowler J. W. (1984);  Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Faith development and Christian faith: Harper and Row, San Francisco, CA

[32] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York
[33] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York

[34] Fowler J. W. (1984);  Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Faith development and Christian faith: Harper and Row, San Francisco, CA
[35] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,
[36] Shelton C. ; (1983); Adolescent spirituality; Crossroad, New York:

[37] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York
[38] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,

[39] Shelton C. ; (1983); Adolescent spirituality; Crossroad, New York:
[40] Freire P. (1983); Pedagogy of the city; Continuum, London:
[41] Fowler, I,W.(1987); Faith development and pastoral care, PA, Fortress, Valley Forge,
[42] Fowler J. W. (1984);  Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Faith development and Christian faith: Harper and Row, San Francisco, CA

[43] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York

[44] Fowler J. W. (1984);  Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Faith development and Christian faith: Harper and Row, San Francisco, CA
[45] Best R.; (2000);. Education for spiritual, moral social and cultural development. Continuum, London

[46] Fowler J. W. (1984);  Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Faith development and Christian faith: Harper and Row, San Francisco, CA
[47] Freire P. (1983); Pedagogy of the city; Continuum, London:
[48] Freire P. (1983); Pedagogy of the city; Continuum, London:
[49] Shelton C. ; (1983); Adolescent spirituality; Crossroad, New York:

[50] Shelton C. ; (1983); Adolescent spirituality; Crossroad, New York:

[51] Best R.; (2000);. Education for spiritual, moral social and cultural development. Continuum, London
[52] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York

[54] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York
[55] Fowler J. W. (1984);  Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Faith development and Christian faith: Harper and Row, San Francisco, CA

[56] Fowler J. W. (1984);  Becoming Adult, Becoming Christian: Faith development and Christian faith: Harper and Row, San Francisco, CA
[57] Coles R. (2000); Lives of moral leadership; Random House, New York