This reflection is offered by Loren Dixon, Director of RenewalWorks.

During Lent, the Center for Discipleship and Renewal (Cedar) at Forward Movement is offering Lenten Lunch and Learn webinars on Wednesdays at 12 noon eastern. Each one-hour session includes a brief presentation from creative thinkers and leaders from across the Episcopal Church, and time for discussion with participants. (Click here to sign up for the final webinar in the series, happening next Wednesday, March 25.)
 
The first Lenten Lunch and Learn session, held on February 25, hosted Dr. Scott MacDougall, Director for Theological Resources for The Episcopal Church. In his presentation, titled Thinking Theologically about Discipleship, he explored what it means to be a disciple from an Anglican theological perspective. What does it mean when the simplicity of faith meets the complexities of today’s world?
 
More than a few things have stayed with me from that presentation. Scott discussed how being a disciple means living with a focus on loving God and loving neighbor despite the other voices competing for our attention. He discussed how, in our world today, there can be so many other voices. Scott also stated that discipleship embodies a whole bunch of action verbs—to commit, to engage, to seek knowledge, and to act with intentionality. Faith and discipleship are not passive. He reminded us that being Christian is not simply claiming that title and receiving it. We are called to live out this relationship by living an active life in a complicated, changing world, and to do so in community with others.
 
At RenewalWorks, about 25% of the churches we work with present in an archetype we call “complacent”. Parishioners in these churches love their church, their clergy, and the people in church with them, but outside of the Sunday service, they are often not actively engaged with their faith Monday through Saturday. Despite being older and long-tenured parishioners, they have not identified being committed followers of Jesus as important. (There can be many reasons for a complacency archetype. If you are interested in learning more, I recommend reading Signs of Life by Jay Sidebotham.) For some complacent churches, this culture evolved slowly over time. Sometimes, no one within church leadership has made discipleship the goal (or even the discussion). What do you think the culture of your church is focused on? I wonder how many of us use action verbs to describe our faith.

In my role at RenewalWorks, I work with churches that want to explore their current cultures, discover ways to deepen their faith, and orient their cultures around growing in love of God and neighbor.

I often begin discussions around discipleship by reading a reflection Jay Sidobatham wrote way back in September 2014 (we were just beginning RenewalWorks back then!). It discusses an experience Jay had as a young priest presiding over a funeral service for a prominent parishioner. Jay completed the service and then proceeded with the attendees to the cemetery. In his haste, however, he forgot to bring directions to the gravesite, and so was forced to blindly follow the procession of cars in front of him, hoping they would lead him there. It all went fine until a badly timed red light and another car’s decision to bail from the ceremony. As Jay writes, there were many lessons learned by a young priest that day, but suffice it to say, it matters who you follow. (You may read the entirety of that Monday Matters here.)
 
I find this reflection opens the chance for a group discussion around what people expect from their faith and their church. Who do we follow in our life? Why do we give our heart and time to this group of people and church community?  What are we hoping to get from this relationship?
 
Ultimately, the role of RenewalWorks is to sort through these types of conversations and help the church orient itself to meet those desires. I continue to return to what Scott MacDougall discussed in his Lenten presentation: being a disciple requires us to follow a life of intentionality, allowing the guidance of scripture, relationships and our critical minds to discern what is being asked of us in this time and place. Ultimately, we are all theologians, sorting through how we will work together to find our way in love.

Click here to view "Thinking Theologically about Discipleship" with Scott MacDougall