School for Discipleship

The Church – not the building or the institution, but the Body of Christ – is intended to be a community of believers in Jesus Christ being transformed into disciples that continue Jesus’s ministry on earth.  To break that down a bit, we gather in worship, fellowship and service to practice how to be as Christ-like and Christ-centered as humanly possible.  It is not easy and there is sacrifice involved. There is also experiencing real love, joy, peace and hope.

Part of the decision of being a Christian is deciding if the reward is worth the work.  I pray that we all recognize the value of following Christ, no matter the cost, even when life gets difficult and challenging.  But the reason that Jesus has a group of disciples is because he recognized that doing this work alone is practically impossible. We need the care and support of each other in order to grow and become more of what God wants us to be, beloved and free.

While all of this sound great, the reality is that we need instruction and formation in our faith.  I am chagrined that we have not had more opportunities for adult formation at St. B’s during my tenure.  We do have a small Bible Study and we have had several well attended Advent and Lenten Programs, but they lack consistency.

In light of this, the Vestry and I have discussed have a “First Sunday” School for adult formation.  The first Sunday of the month will be set aside for those who want to participate after 10:30 AM worship in adult Christian formation.  The topics will vary, and we hope everyone will contribute ideas for topics you would like to explore and learn more about.  You can bring your lunch or grab a snack from “Coffee Hour.”  We will start on January 7, 2018, when we commemorate the Baptism of Christ.  We will take time to consider our own baptisms, what it means and how it informs our ministries. 

I also offer all of us the challenge of reading the Bible.  Forward Movement is offering “The Good Book Club www.goodbookclub.org with a reading plan for the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts during Lent and Easter.  Since Luke’s nativity narrative is the most in-depth, our Bible Study group decided to start reading a chapter a week starting in December to get a jump start on the reading plan (which starts on February 11th).  One of our “First Sunday” School sessions will be dedicated to talking about Luke/Acts and what we were surprised, confused or delighted by in our reading.

Finally, I invite you to read the Diocesan One Book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond, who is currently teaching at Princeton University.  I will say that it is a lengthy book, but it offers us a way to consider how to promote God’s economy and justice in the world, which is often at odds with the way society works.  How do we reconcile these differences in order to be more Christ-centered in our lives, using our resources for the good of all?  I hope you are willing to explore this and other questions with me and your fellow disciples.

I hope we will all claim the identity of being a disciple of Christ and explore what that means in our lives.  In order to be good at anything, it takes practice – lots of practice.  Let’s make the time to practice together with other disciples we know, so when we meet others who are not yet disciples or searching in some way, we can offer them some support without feeling inauthentic or pushy.  The more comfortable we are with knowing our faith story, the better we can share the Good News.

In Christ,

Rev. Valerie+

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