I recently read through about 80 evaluations from a day of formation offered on discipleship. One of the questions on the participant evaluation asked about specific struggles people had experienced in their discipleship efforts thus far . The most common responses had something to do with the busyness of individuals in the group or lack
How does a parish youth ministry have time to manage both a large group program and discipleship groups? Utilizing the model of Discipleship Focused Youth Ministry, this is absolutely possible, and I would argue that parish youth ministers who adopt these simple mindsets actually find themselves with less anxiety and less “work.”
If we “actually engage” the 5-10% effectively, it will mean that the other 90% receive the invitation to be engaged through them
When I was in high school, we had one “program” in our parish for youth: Religious Education. I was placed in a class based on my age and was run through a system that had been going long before I was ever even alive. I’m grateful for all of the adults who over the years
I have been assisting parishes in moving towards a discipleship focused youth ministry approach for the last four years. It was really what I was seeing happen with FOCUS on our university campuses that first got my attention, and DFYM was the result. As it has taken shape, I have drawn a lot from FOCUS,
We are so trained to be in “program success” mode that we often forget that we should instead be in “person success” mode.
In my work of discipleship and evangelization, it seems that too often, I am focused on “doing” things that I believe will make in an impact on others as I attempt to “fix” or “help” them to know Christ better. Over the last two weeks, I have been struck by three different experiences that appear to be challenging me in this mindset.
For anyone who follows this blog regularly, you have probably picked up on the fact that I don’t usually choose the theme or content based on the fads or trends of the season. To be blunt, I am ordinarily inspired more by conversations and experiences I have than the perennial rituals and practices of modern
The cure for the retreat high is NOT more retreats, but it is the process of discipleship which helps a youth give up their life and take up a new.
Over the past few years, I have seen several common mistakes, and I thought it would be helpful to share my observations in the hope that others can learn from them as well. Here are the top ten mistakes I am seeing discipleship leaders make as they strive to foster an atmosphere of discipleship in their ministry to others:
