Discipleship training

a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America
DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING

DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING What is Discipleship Training At Uptown Church we are convinced that one of the central purposes of the church is to train its members to minister effectively to one another, to their communities, and ultimately to the world. Thus, Discipleship Training at Uptown Church can be defined as "Equipping the saints for the work of the ministry" The biblical basis for this training can be found in Ephesians 4:11-13:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some
to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare
God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ maybe
built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the
Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of
the fullness of Christi This passage reveals a divine pattern for the church to follow i) God has established leaders ii) Leaders "prepare" God's people iii) God's people do "works of service iv) The body of Christ is built up. Discipleship Training is designed to fulfill this pattern by equipping God's people for the good works he has prepared in advance for them to do (Eph 2:10). Structure of Discipleship Training What are we doing at Uptown Church to prepare the saints for works of service There area number of different resources that are available that members of Uptown can utilize in order to promote their spiritual development. These include things like Sunday School, Life Groups, strategic training seminars, retreats, and many others. At the center of all these resources is a relationship with a spiritual mentor that can help guide the member through the various resources at his disposal. This concept of mentor-based training is foundational to the entire process and accomplishes two critical tasks (i) It allows Discipleship Training to happen within the contexts of loving relationships, (ii) It allows Discipleship Training to be specialized and focused upon the specific needs of each person, rather than occurring in a "one size fits all" manner. The purpose of this manual is to help members of Uptown Church learn how to begin this program of Discipleship Training. It will proceed step by step through entire process and will reference several charts and forms that will appear in the appendices at the end of this manual. Note the following
■ All charts are contained in Appendix I.
■ All forms are contained in Appendix II.
■ All training modules are described in Appendix III. So, let us proceed to examine the various steps in the Discipleship Training program. All of these steps in this manual are documented on the flowchart, Chart 1, Finding Your Bearings
Discipleship Training Process, which is found in Appendix I. This flowchart is a helpful overall guide to the Discipleship Training process and should be referred to regularly.