Disciple-Making Leaders Foundational

EUROPEAN DISCIPLE-MAKING LEADERS NETWORK - FOUNDATIONAL SEMINAR

The aim of the Disciple-making Leaders Network Foundational Seminar is for each participant to develop Biblical convictions about leadership and disciple-making, so that by the end of the Forum they understand their calling as leaders to build relationships that help God’s people become mature. A key component of this Network will be small group interaction and discussion throughout the four days of the Forum to help deepen participants’ learning. The Network will also include discussion of pre-Forum reading, lectures on key Biblical material and discussion of practical examples. Participants will be encouraged to develop practical strategies for becoming more effective in disciple-making. Applicants should be those involved in Christian leadership (at any level) who desire to develop maturity in the members of the body of Christ and are willing to grapple honestly with their responsibility to make disciples.

NETWORK SPEAKERS

Mark Stirling is the leader of the European Disciple-Making Leaders Network. He is a former medical doctor who has worked in student ministry with the Navigators in Edinburgh. In 2007 he completed an MA in Exegetical Theology at Covenant Seminary in St Louis. He, his wife Jenny and their four children now live in St Andrews, Scotland where they seek to help students grow to maturity in Christ. Mark is also engaged in PhD studies in Theology and Biblical Studies (Learning Christ in Ephesians) at the University of St Andrews and is involved in helping to lead the work of the Navigators amongst students in the UK.

Mark Batluck is an ordained minister now serving university students with The Navigators in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has been in university ministry since 2001 and has a Masters of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS. Mark is currently pursuing his Doctor of Philosophy degree in New Testament at Edinburgh.

Eric Bobbitt is a pastor of Zionsville Fellowship in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. With a MA in Counselling Psychology and a M. Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, he directs the pastoral care and counselling ministries, along with providing leadership in men’s discipleship. His service in a variety of settings includes university ministry, substance abuse residential treatment, public school counseling and pastoral ministry. He and his wife, Jan, have five children.

Phil Boydell started working in full-time student ministry with the Navigators in 2004. After four years in Edinburgh working with the Navigators there, he and his wife (and three children) moved to Stirling to do similar ministry there. Their ministry is a partnership between the Navigators and UCCF in discipling and mentoring students. In 2008 he finished his Masters in Biblical Interpretation from Aberdeen University (ICC Glasgow). He is also involved in co-leading a graduate development program of the UK Navigators called Connect - a one or two year program seeking to develop future disciple-making leaders for the church and society.

George Craig works part-time as a General Medical Practitioner in Edinburgh and is involved in training younger doctors. He also works with The Navigators UK and seeks to encourage and strengthen younger working men in following Christ. He has recently completed an undergraduate degree in Theological Studies and is contemplating postgraduate research in the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament.

Pete Dowse is the leader of the Navigators in the UK. He became a Christian while in Cambridge studying Maths & Management, and later studied at London School of Theology. During many years working with the Navigators Pete has pursued his passion to reach and disciple those beyond the churches. Until taking on his current role he combined this with acting as MD for a company providing leadership development for secular organizations. In his spare moments he is currently pursuing a masters in consultancy for mission and ministry.

Iulian Ghica was born in 1981 in Iasi, Romania, to a Christian family. In 2004 he graduated from the Faculty of Psychology (4 years of study) and in 2006 he graduated with a Master in Psychology. Since February 2005 he has worked at a Foundation as counsellor and coordinator of the volunteer programme that develops programmes for professional and social integration of youngsters leaving the orphanages after they are 18; he is now leading this organisation. He is also as an elder in Nehemiah Church in Iasi, Romania, where he serves by Bible teaching, leading a small study group and counselling.

Eric Larsen serves as the Director of Global Youth & Family Ministry and Institute for Mission to the World. He has worked with youth and their families in the local church for 20 years. An ordained pastor, he holds degrees from Covenant College, Covenant Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary where he earned a doctorate in youth, family and culture. He serves as adjunct professor of global youth and family ministry for Covenant Theological Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary. He has lived in Kenya, Australia, and the United States, and has served in well over 25 countries throughout Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific regions. His work involves training cross-cultural youth ministers and equipping national leaders and local churches to reach the youth in their context. He and his wife Rebecca have four children.

NETWORK PROGRAMME

Day 1:

Introduction and Overview of Network

(Foundational and Advanced Seminars combined)

Mark Stirling

This introductory session will introduce the aims and methods of this Network. This first session will include an introduction to the members of the small group. Participants will work in the same small group for the duration of the Forum. These will be facilitated by experienced small group leaders.

The focus of this session will be upon the nature of biblical maturity, how people grow to maturity, and how leaders facilitate and nurture that growth. The second half of the session will be devoted to group work engaging with the question of what key biblical convictions need to be built into people’s lives in order for them to grow to fruit-bearing maturity.

A Biblical Vision for Disciple-making

(Foundational and Advanced Seminars combined)

Pete Dowse

In this session we will take a closer look at the way in which disciples came to maturity in the New Testament. We shall give particular attention to the dynamics of the relationships within which we are established in faith and equipped for the work of ministry. We shall also seek to learn from the self-understanding and practice of those giving a lead in this.

Day 2:

Disciple-making for a Lifetime: An Examination of the Life of Christ

Mark Batluck

The essence of Christian ministry and the call of every believer is one of 'making disciples of all nations'. This talk will discuss the foundations of biblical discipleship, drawing from Jesus' example in Mark 3.13–15, and moving toward an analysis of the methods needed for such a ministry.

Disciple-making in Different Contexts

Discussion facilitated by Eric Larsen

This session will consist of three short contributions from people who are disciple-making in different contexts. Each will then be followed by group discussion.

1. The first contribution will be from Phil Boydell on disciple-making in the home and community through hospitality. Hospitality is one of the qualifications for eldership in 1 Timothy 3, but increasingly we see our homes as places into which we retreat from people. However, we need to see our homes as gifts from God for serving him: the home is the environment in which people can see the reality of the Gospel lived out. Phil will share some of the practical considerations regarding home-based disciple-making. Phil and his wife Ros have an open home which is their base for disciple-making ministry.

2. Eric Larsen is an experienced youth pastor who grew up in a cross cultural context. He has pioneered and led fruitful disciple-making ministry amongst teenagers and will talk about the challenges of investing in the lives of children and teens.

3. Eric Bobbitt, serves in Zionsville Fellowship in Zionsville Indiana where he is the pastor responsible for discipleship. He will share some of his experience of disciplemaking in the context of the local church and then lead a discussion on the subject.

Day 3:

Building a Disciple-making Church

Iulian Ghica

Discipleship is central to the life of the mature Christian. One cannot take salvation seriously, nor one’s purpose in the world, without embracing this concept embedded in biblical teaching. Established as Jesus’ plan, discipleship is not an “add-on” to the individual’s life or a “programme” added to the schedule of a local church. Rather, it is a serious and intentional response to how we live and conduct our lives in answer to the call of Jesus to “come and follow Me.” Each local church is intended to be a disciple-making body, and each Christian is called to discipleship as a way of life. This session will look at how we nurture a discipling consciousness and how a local church from Romania established discipleship at the heart of their ministry.

Helping People Through Roadblocks to Maturity

George Craig

Many issues hinder growth in Christian discipleship. As we seek to make disciples we will inevitably encounter several diverse reasons why people do not make progress in their faith. This seminar will identify some of these areas and begin to explore approaches to overcoming such hindrances to growth. The session will be practical and will facilitate sharing the wide experience of folk involved in helping others develop as disciples.

Day 4:

Power, Authority and Leadership

Mark Stirling

The approach to disciple-making outlined in this Network is highly relational (without sacrificing content) and also very powerful. However, as with anything that has potential to do great good, it also has potential to do great harm. Sadly, nowhere is this more true than in Christian leadership.

This seminar will explore the nature of the power we exercise in relationships and how we can develop a properly biblical perspective on how we exercise authority. Having laid a biblical foundation, the small groups will then discuss a series of illustrative case histories to help us think very practically about some of the potential pitfalls of leadership.

So What? Or, Where Do We Go From Here?

(Foundational and Advanced Seminars combined)

Discussion facilitated by Mark Stirling

In this final session, each small group will work for 45 minutes at clarifying the take-home messages of this Network and generating specific personal applications, revisiting the list of biblical convictions they generated on Day 1 of the Network. There will then be a final 30 minute plenary when groups will feedback on what they have learned during the Network and what ways their learning will inform their ministries when they return home. There will be a particular focus in the final session on the question of leaders’ responsibilities to train and equip (“multiply”) other leaders.