Discipling (Christianity)

Weizhong Geng D.Ed.Min.

Discipleship training is becoming more and more popular in Chinese churches, but the methodology is still based on traditional centralized teaching. Generation Z is growing up in an era of rapid technological and informational advancements where the internet and the smartphone are necessities for daily life. As the times change, the tools we use must adapt as well, which is why I believe the "Honeycomb Discipleship" mobile app can be a bridge to the existing gap.
The Honeycomb model is rooted in the core principles of Theology, Hermeneutics, Spirituality, Pedagogy and Psychology. The seven modules of the model include: biblical teaching, empowerment through the Holy Spirit, development of beliefs, altering our thinking, influencing our feelings, change in desires, and ultimately reshaping our behavior. The structure of the curriculum is built upon the Domains of Learning (Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor), Methods of Practice (through God, Self, Others), and some spiritual disciplines from the Middle Ages. So as to shape young Christians to have the six Christlike characters for becoming future leaders (See Appendix IX).
Twelve master and doctoral students were trained with the Honeycomb App from September 2021 to March 2022. I collected data on the students before, during, and after the study to evaluate their spiritual growth. Based on the results of The Christian Life Profile Assessment (R. Frazee), I observed an average increase of 10.4% within the group of twelve, thus verifying the original hypothesis of my dissertation.

Kyle Boone D.Min.

Youth group is a youth ministry model that pervades the North American landscape of churches. However, rural and small-town churches often lack the necessary resources and critical mass to sustain the youth group model. This leads to burnout and apathy for these church leaders as they seek to obtain a youth group.
However, the Bible does not prescribe youth group as a mandate for churches, rather that the church makes disciples. This researcher believes that rural and small-town church leaders have mistakenly conflated youth group and the biblical mandate to make disciples. Subsequently, burnout, despair, and apathy stem unnecessarily from conflating the mandate with the methods.
Therefore, this research project sought to give rural church leaders clarity concerning this conflation through an educational intervention. This project hosted eight training programs for forty-eight rural church leaders that addressed conflation issues within youth ministry. Two weeks following the training program, these participants engaged in focus groups. The focus group sought to understand, “How does the biblical discipleship youth ministry training program address conflation issues and foster confidence and creativity of rural churches in the discipleship of their teenagers?”
The focus groups were transcribed and analyzed. The analysis focused on three main propositions. First, did participants receive greater clarity concerning conflation through the training program? Second, did clarifying conflation lead to more confidence among church leaders to minister to their teenagers? Third, did the clarity over conflation cultivate greater creativity in their discipleship methods? All three of these propositions received confirmation in the focus groups.

Fernando Clemente Bochio D.Min.

Mentoring is a strategy to promote learning through the intentional relationship between a mentor and a mentee where both benefit from sharing ideas and experiences as a legacy. Although mentoring can be informal, mentoring programs have been used as a systematic way to promote human development and leadership building in a variety of fields. In the Christian context, mentoring is grounded in the biblical concept of mutual growth while mentor and mentee serve one another as Jesus did with his disciples. The objective of this research was to evaluate if the project could become a mentoring program. It evaluated whether (1) the relationship learning methodology addresses the mentee’s personal and ministerial life; (2) the project enhances the mentor’s and mentee’s competency and commitment profile; and (3) how this project employs biblical and theological principles that strengthen pastors and Christian leaders in Brazil.
This project used a qualitative approach. The research involved eight participants, six men and two women, with over two years of ministerial experience. The participants had to participate in the project for a year and a half as mentees. They answered two questionnaires: one at the beginning to find out main needs and expectations (Admission Questionnaire) and one at the end of the process to confirm if the project could be a viable program for mentoring in the RPV Ministry (Conclusion Questionnaire). Data was collected using five categories for analyses: contributions to personal life; contributions to ministerial life; the essentials of learning relationship pedagogy the essentials of mentor and mentee, and the essentials of biblical and theological content.

David Brent Willis

The purpose of this project was to develop a discipleship strategy for Mary’s Chapel Baptist Church, in Ripley, Tennessee. I first determined MCBC’s current discipleship practices by means of a Spiritual Growth Assessment and then compared those current practices with existing discipleship strategies to identify the best discipleship practices. I then created a strategy team composed of church members of various ages and their purpose was to discover the best discipleship strategy for the church based on the best discipleship practices identified. The strategy was then
presented before the church for approval. If approved, implementation of the strategy
would begin immediately.

Daniel R. Strickland

The purpose of this project was to develop a NextGen discipleship strategy for First Baptist Church, Opelika, Alabama. The project director accomplished this in four steps. Step one was to gather the demographics of Lee County, Alabama, to better understand the need for age-graded discipleship. Step two was to explore the existing models and methods of discipleship to find best practices. Step three was to develop a discipleship strategy for the NextGen ministries at First Baptist Church of Opelika. A strategic planning team was used to develop the strategy. At the conclusion of step three,
a comprehensive strategy, including a mission statement, vision, core values, milestones,
and key events, was developed. The final step was to present the strategy to the Executive Team at First Baptist Church of Opelika for evaluation. Although implementation was outside the project's scope, the strategy was presented to the church and fully implemented in January 2023.

Zane Officer

The purpose of this project was to develop a strategy for making disciples for
Libby Baptist, Libby, Montana. The project director researched demographics for the
community which resulted in a report of areas of focus for evangelism. An internal audit
of the congregation was conducted alongside the church’s ten-year Annual Church
Profile data resulting in a report of areas of focus for discipleship. The project director
developed an annotated bibliography and report of best practices after conducting
research in the field of disciple making. The reports of areas of focus and best practices
were used to lead the Libby Baptist Church leadership team to develop a strategy for
disciple making. The completed disciple-making strategy was presented to the church
during two Sunday morning worship services and approved in a special-called business
meeting.

Clinton A. Morgan

The purpose of this project was to equip parents and guardians at First Baptist Church, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to utilize their family settings for intentional disciplemaking. To accomplish this purpose, I first researched essential skills needed for familycentric disciple-making. From this research, I created an annotated bibliography on the subject and identified seven groupings of essential skills required to begin the familycentric disciple-making process. From these resources followed the development of a
curriculum based on the skills identified. After creating the curriculum, I hosted seven sessions over four weeks for a pre-established small group of six family units ranging from newlyweds to parents of teenagers. The family-centric disciple-making curriculum taught the members of the small group to view disciple-making as more than just family Bible study but a constant part of everyday life. These skills will help the members of this group improve as spiritual leaders inside their own homes. Expert evaluators in discipleship, curriculum design, and small groups provided feedback during the project to ensure the effectiveness of the project.

Yesupadam Bandela

My goal in doing this thesis is to explore biblical and historical perspectives of Christian discipleship to equip The Gospel Association of India’s churches with a solid foundation for making disciples as the Lord Jesus Christ commanded, and to strengthen them for evangelism and church growth.

I chose to use a theological methodology to build a core understanding of true discipleship. An historical methodology was used for understanding The Gospel Association of India churches perspectives on discipleship. Focus groups and personal interview methodology were used to understand the perspectives on Christian discipleship among Christians in The Gospel Association of India.

I explored the many themes that provided the basis of discipleship in the Old and New Testaments. God’s people in the Old Testament underwent discipleship with God as their teacher and Israel as the disciple through God’s covenant, God’s election, and encountering God collectively and individually. The New Testament provides an abundant basis for discipleship. We can become true disciples by following Jesus, being obedient to his teaching. With the aid of the Holy Spirit, we can be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ, which is the goal of discipleship.

As the original disciples impacted their world by following their master, Christians in The Gospel Association of India can impact their world by living as true disciples of Jesus Christ. And from whatever background the readers of this thesis come from, it can help them become true disciples and impact their world.

Adrianne Wendy Sequeira D.Min.

This research portfolio presents an integrated psychospiritual approach to Christian spiritual formation. It arose from the author’s reflection on her own spiritual journey, from her professional experience as a psychotherapist, and from the observation that psychological barriers often impede spiritual progress. While the psychotherapeutic and spirituality literature often exist in separate silos, and the two professions tend to operate in different domains, the author contends that spiritual formation/direction and psychotherapy in combination are often what is needed to bring about Christlikeness. A psychospiritual model of Christian formation is presented that integrates insights from both domains with particular attention to the rich spiritual traditions of Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic understandings of psychological wholeness and spiritual holiness. To test this integrated model, a field research project was carried out to explore the effect of an integrated, eight-session psychoeducational program with individuals whose spiritual lives were affected by trauma and unforgiveness. The findings of the study suggest that attachment theory and trauma-informed principles may help people move forward in the process of forgiveness and spiritual growth. The limitations of the study are discussed, and recommendations are made for further study on how to extend a psychospiritual approach to spiritual formation in the case of similar issues that present barriers to wholeness and spiritual transformation into the imago Christi.

James Allen Ross

The purpose of this project was to develop a strategy of intergenerational discipleship for Church on Bayshore, Niceville, Florida. The primary goals for this project were to explore existing models of intergenerational discipleship, assess Church on Bayshore’s potential receptivity to intergenerational discipleship methods, lead a team to develop a strategy of intergenerational discipleship for Church on Bayshore, and present the strategy for approval. To accomplish the goals of this project, the project director utilized various methods to measure achievement. This included evaluations, tests, expert evaluators, and designated groups within the church. The strategy was developed and approved for implementation. The implementation of the strategy is beyond the scope of this project.