Ministry Monday: Developing Discipleship
Developing Discipleship is the first of a number of papers recently published to be discussed at General Synod in February. It has a rather modest aim, namely “to begin a more intentional conversation across the Church about discipleship” (5).
What does it mean to be a disciple? (6-15)
The first main section, entitled, “What does it mean to be a disciple?” (6-15), is steeped in biblical references and citations. These begin with Jesus’ call for disciples “to learn from him, to pattern their lives upon his life, to follow him.” This means repentance and faith, participation in a community shaped by a rhythm of gathering and scattering (6), growing in Christlikeness (7), witness and service in the world (8), which is costly (9), yet also a life in all its fullness (10). Disciples are called by grace (11) to live in the power of the Spirit (12). Of all the rich variety of New Testament images of discipleship, the report settles on the sacrament of baptism as primary.
All in all it is heartening to see much reference made to the Bible in this section, although there is not much synthesis of the various passages. It is a pity that other biblical images of discipleship (such as holiness, pilgrimage, athletics and races, obedience and good works, liberation and slavery) are marginalised. There is also no reference to secondary literature on the topic, which is in marked contrast to later parts of the report. For all the desire in the report to connect with the real world, there is a distinct lack of the sociological reading of the New Testament to describe what difference discipleship actually made to the everyday lives of the early disciples.
Finally it should be noted that in a sense we already have a description in the Church of England of what mature discipleship looks like: it is called “the Criteria for Selection for Ordained Ministry in The Church of England” (removing all occurrences of the word ‘ordained’). For what is Christian ordained ministry if it is not first of all exemplary, mature discipleship?
How are disciples formed and sustained? (16-21)
The second main section handles the question, “How are disciples formed and sustained?” (16-21). Here there is a grasp of the combination of human and divine agency (17), so that the main answer to the question is “through the grace of God, …through a community dedicated to a life of prayer, service and witness in daily life which is a living interpretation of the Christian faith” (16). The Church, “a community of missionary disciples,” is central to forming and sustaining disciples.
What is a church to do? The report highlights the importance of catechesis and the value of courses such as the Pilgrim Course. We should be offering “opportunities for prayer, accompaniment, formation in holiness and learning the faith as a regular part of the life of every parish and fresh expression of church” (17).
The contrast in the use of biblical references in this section is very striking – there is only one! The answers also do not seem to get very deep into the problem. All churches engage in worship and prayer: Why is it that some grow disciples while others do not? I think one of the most striking omissions in this section is the powerful value of example in teaching the Christian life. Jesus and Paul both spent considerable time with people modelling mature faith. It is vitally important that people learn the theory from the Bible, but they also need to see that theory modelled in real people’s lives. A clergy-led gathering on a Sunday will not suffice now that culture contains so few godly role models. It might also be interesting to explore if an exclusively liturgically-shaped spirituality can realistically be lived the other 6 days of the week.
Discipleship in the tradition (22-30)
The third section, “Discipleship in the tradition,” describes four historical sources for reflection on discipleship: monasticism, the Reformation, the nonconformist Puritan Richard Baxter, and the Wesley brothers. The Anglican Reformers “paid careful attention to the power of liturgical worship and the reading of scripture in the formation of the Christian community” (25). The Reformers had an emphasis on teaching through printed homilies, exposition of scripture, priests as men of scholarship, and the development of catechism (27).
However, the lessons learnt are particularly in the areas of liturgy and sacraments. There seems to be a lack of awareness of the danger of liturgy just repeated parrot fashion, alongside some kind of mystical view of the sacraments. The selection of historical snapshots is a little odd, with no mention of the wider impact of the 18th Century Evangelical revival and its impact through men such as Wilberforce on the 19th Century political and social scene. There is no analysis of pre-Christendom modes of discipleship which might be relevant to today’s post-Christendom period.
Reflection on discipleship in the contemporary Church of England (31-40)
The fourth section, “Reflection on discipleship in the contemporary Church of England,” highlights a number of problems across our denomination. “Lay development and discipleship are not clearly articulated as strategic priorities in most dioceses” (33). The biggest obstacle is perceived to be the “clericalised culture of church and ministry” (33). There were a number of reports in the 20th Century on developing discipleship, but Jeremy Worthen, Secretary for Ecumenical Relations and Theology, laments: “there is no well-developed authoritative source for the theology of discipleship to which the contemporary Church of England can readily look to inform its teaching here” (37).
The absence of a coherent and concisely stated common understanding of discipleship has a number of consequences:
1) the vision for discipleship is not clear;
2) service becomes restricted to life of the Church;
3) our theological understanding of ministry becomes lopsided;
4) “the witness and mission of the whole Church is impoverished as Christians are neither encouraged nor sustained in the living out of their Christian faith in daily life” (38).
What should we then do? (41-46)
This leads straight into the fifth and final section, “What should we then do?”
There are three recommendations:
1) Implement the “Ten Marks of Developing Disciples” strategy in dioceses and parishes (attached as an appendix to the report);
2) Begin a new theological conversation on discipleship and ministry;
3) Develop a revised catechism to be useful in a society that is no longer ‘Christian’.
This last proposal presumably will answer Jeremy Worthen’s concern, although it is unfortunate that the quote from him undermines Scripture as the primary and final source for all the Church of England’s theological reflection. Whether a catechism that has any theological depth can actually be agreed in today’s Church of England remains to be seen. Evangelicals would do well to propose a catechism, and preferably one with a bit more depth than Two Ways To Live, which is about as close as we have got to a catechism for our generation. The Anglican Church in North America catechism, To Be A Christian, might be a good starting point.
The second proposal risks us talking ourselves to death.
The first proposal is exactly what healthy evangelical churches have been seeking to do for at least a generation. The Ten Marks are indeed a helpful summary, although the lack of a category for baptised-but-not-practising-Christian is a substantial problem for the report and its proposals.
Until the Church of England recognises the limits of liturgy and the value of sermons that last more than 12 minutes, there is a great risk that we are just tinkering with a ticking bomb. Evangelicals may be in danger of losing some of the benefits of liturgy, but we do at least offer in many Sunday gatherings forms of spirituality that are reproducible the other 6 days of the week and take seriously the task of education in the process of discipleship.
We can welcome this report as a great opportunity to show how evangelical ministry built on evangelical theology contains just what the Church of England needs for a return to health.