Over the past six months, a team of lay leadership began gathering around one central question, How are we as a church intentionally supporting adults to grow in discipleship, to grow in love of God and neighbor? Through thoughtful conversation and prayerful planning, a new framework for discipleship at Belmont UMC has been cultivated: Discipleship Pathways.
The purpose of Discipleship Pathways is to help us nurture our spiritual lives so that we might more fully love God and neighbor. The way this is done is through engaging three interconnected pathways.
The Learning Pathway invites us to connect to God with our heads. Through study and reflection we learn to love God with our minds, questions and all.
The Equipping Pathway invites us to connect to God with our hands. Prepping our faith for action by developing our gifts for where God calls us.
The Forming Pathway invites us to connect to God through our hearts. Growing a faith rooted and grounded in God through prayer and spiritual practices.
You’ll begin to see this framework come to life in the coming weeks! From January 11–February 1, our sermon series, Foundations: The Path of a Disciple, will focus on the topics of four Foundational Courses—Scripture, Methodist theology and social principles, spiritual formation, and discerning gifts and call—which serve as the building blocks of the Discipleship Pathways framework.
At the same time, our WNAB program, Exploring the Pathway, will dive into the three pathways—Learning, Equipping, and Forming—and explore how each helps us grow in love of God and neighbor.
To support this work, we’ve created a Discipleship Reflection Guide, a simple tool to help you reflect on where you are in your discipleship journey and identify your next step. It is designed to be completed individually and then shared in community.
Next steps are simple:
- Download the Discipleship Reflection Guide or pick up a copy in the foyer
- Join us in worship for the Foundations: The Path of a Disciple sermon series
- Join us on Wednesday nights and Thursday afternoons for Exploring the Pathway
We’re excited to continue down the path of discipleship together—intentionally, faithfully, and as a community!
Wednesdays, January 14, 21, 28, and February 4
6:00pm in room 124
Thursdays, January 15, 22, 29, and February 5
12:00pm on Zoom
January 14 and 15 – Exploring the Pathway – Introduction to Discipleship Pathways and Foundational Courses
January 21 and 22 – Exploring the Learning Pathway
January 28 and 29 – Exploring the Equipping
February 4 and 5 – Exploring the Forming Pathway
For more information, contact Hunter Wade.