One of the key aspects of our individual and collective lives as God’s people is growing as disciples of Jesus and helping others to do the same. We have labeled this process “Intentional Disciple Formation.” We aim to develop intentional pathways for each of us and for all of us at Trinity to be growing disciples. While there have been growing disciples at Trinity for all of her 77 years, I believe that an intentional and specific focus on disciple formation will be a great blessing to our “Community Following Jesus.” Whether you’re new to the faith, or have been following Jesus for longer than Trinity has been around, each of us are called to follow Jesus and grow in our discipleship.
Here are two exciting developments in the process of intentional disciple formation:
1. Life Measures Assessment
At the January congregational assembly, we introduced our customized assessment. The purpose is to help us think about and measure growth as disciples of Jesus in areas such as worship, Bible study, application of grace, service to others, etc. Anonymous data from the assessment will also help ministry leaders determine whether the pathways to discipleship growth we are using are effective. If you haven’t already done so, please sign in to Trinity Cloud and take the assessment today!
Additional resources will be added to the assessment site as time goes along that will help you develop a personal plan for growth in discipleship.
2. Missional Communities
Pastor Phil, Vicar Ben and I have been researching and discussing new ways to reach those that the Christian Church is largely not reaching. As you are likely aware, there is a whole segment of people “out there” who are very unlikely to come to either of our worship centers. How do we impact their lives with the Gospel of Jesus?
We are convinced that the best way to do this is by establishing what are called “missional communities.” Missional communities can be described as the “church deployed.” Instead of expecting people to come to us, we go out to the communities and neighborhoods God has called us to serve and provide opportunities for relationships and spiritual conversations to happen.
Watch for much more information about the strategy we will be using to launch missional communities at Trinity! In the meantime, take advantage of the existing, intentional pathways to discipleship: regularly (weekly!) attending a worship service to hear the Word proclaimed and receive the Sacrament, participating in a Bible study, daily reading God’s Word on your own, utilizing one of the special Lenten devotionals. God has such rich gifts to give us as we follow him; don’t miss out on that relationship!
