Making Missionary Disciples

"I dream of a 'missionary option'... a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything..." Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium Do you have the same dream as Pope Francis? Would you like to see your parish, apostolate, or family flourishing in Christ like never before? In Making Missionary Disciples, Curtis Martin, founder of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), explores how to build a vibrant culture of faithfulness and fruitfulness. He doesn't just remind us how every disciple is called on mission to share the love and truth of Jesus Christ. He gives us practical ways to do this in our ordinary daily lives. • Know the three crucial habits of effective evangelization. • Grow in Divine Intimacy following the four essential practices to which the early disciples devoted themselves. • Learn the importance of becoming not only a disciple, but a missionary disciple. • Understand the three-phased "Method Modeled by the Master"--the approach to evangelization modeled for us by Jesus in the Gospels and rooted in Catholic magisterial teaching. Experience the transformation for which we all long--through Making Missionary Disciples.

There is a growing awareness among Catholics that we ought to become a Church of "missionary disciples." Much is being said and many wonderful programs have arisen to help make that vision a reality. But what can each of us do to foster the "needle-moving" transformation which we all long to see in our parishes, homes, and personal lives?While programs are vitally important, people are everything. Everything begins to change when a culture of missionary disciples is established. When the Church is overflowing with true disciples who are on mission for Christ, her light can shine in the darkness with ever greater splendor, giving hope to those on the peripheries: the poor, the lonely, the lost, and the bored. Learn how to live the high call God has created you for in Making Missionary Disciples.

How can we transmit a living, personal Catholic faith to future generations? By coming to know Jesus Christ, and following him as his disciples. These are times of immense challenge and immense opportunity for the Catholic Church. Consider these statistics for the United States. Only 30 percent of Americans who were raised Catholic are still practicing. Fully 10 percent of all adults in America are ex-Catholics. The number of marriages celebrated in the Church decreased dramatically, by nearly 60 percent, between 1972 and 2010. Only 60 percent of Catholics believe in a personal God. If the Church is to reverse these trends, the evangelizers must first be evangelized-in other words, Catholics-in-the-pew must make a conscious choice to know and follow Jesus before they can draw others to him. This work of discipleship lies at the heart of Forming Intentional Disciples, a book designed to help Church leaders, parish staff and all Catholics transform parish life from within. Drawing upon her fifteen years of experience with the Catherine of Siena Institute, Sherry Weddell leads readers through steps that will help Catholics enter more deeply into a relationship with God and the river of apostolic creativity, charisms, and vocation that flow from that relationship for the sake of the Church and the world. Learn about the five thresholds of postmodern conversion, how to open a conversation about faith and belief, how to ask thought-provoking questions and establish an atmosphere of trust, when to tell the Great Story of Jesus, how to help someone respond to God's call to intentional discipleship, and much more. And be prepared for conversion because when life at the parish level changes, the life of the whole Church will change.

This close look at what the Lord is doing to spread the gospel highlights the key scriptural principles that help Christians reach out in love to share the gospel in their own community.

Culture affects how we make disciples. We often unconsciously bring our own cultural assumptions into ministry and mission, not realizing that how we think and operate is not necessarily the best or only way to do things. In today's global environment, disciplemaking requires the cultural humility and flexibility to adapt between different cultural approaches. Charles Davis, former director of TEAM, provides a framework for missional disciplemaking across diverse cultural contexts. He shows how we can recalibrate our ministry efforts, like adjusting sound levels on a mixer board, to accommodate different cultural assumptions. With on-the-ground stories from a lifetime of mission experience, Davis navigates such tensions as knowledge and behavior, individualism and collectivism, and truth and works to help Christian workers minister more effectively. Ministry teams, church planters, pastors and missionaries working interculturally at home or overseas can be part of God's movement of making disciples. Discover how the body of Christ grows in the unity and diversity of the global church.

Father John Bartunek insightfully combines Bible passages and Church teaching with practical and actionable advice that you can apply to your daily life. Throughout the book, he clarifies commonly misunderstood terms like mission, apostolate, evangelization, and new evangelization. The book also helps those pursuing Christ to take the next step in spiritual maturity. By identifying where you need to grow, you'll experience renewed enthusiasm and discover a new depth to your prayer life.

Description: In this collection of inspirational and challenging essays, Methodists from around the globe reflect on the practice of disciple-making in their own contexts. From their own perspectives, they address questions like: What are the challenges you face? What biblical images shape your missional practice? What examples of Christian authenticity inspire your communities? What gifts related to mission and evangelism do you offer the global community of faith? Churches on every continent have their own stories of struggle and faithfulness. Indeed, each distinct community within any given region has a voice of its own that deserves to be heard. The voices included in this volume belong to women and men alike. Likewise, they resound with the accents of Africa and Asia, Latin and North America, Europe, and Oceania. Each voice is distinct, but all articulate a vision of faith made effective through love. In a world characterized variously by poverty and violence as well as prosperity and peace, the church must reclaim its central mission ""to make disciples of Jesus Christ."" In their effort to articulate a vision of mission and evangelism, the contributors to this volume bear witness to the fact that we can no longer do this work in isolation from one another. To be the ambassadors of the gospel, we need each other and we need to pay attention to the voices that sound different from our own. This volume takes a large step in that vital direction. Endorsements: ""This is a first-rate collection of essays that takes the debate about discipleship to a whole new level. It is indispensable reading for all who are interested in the survival and flourishing of Christianity in an increasingly hostile world. Both scholars and church leaders should read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest its riches without delay."" -William J. Abraham Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. ""Inspiration and hope emerge as one reads Paul Chilcote's new collection of essays. Images, stories, ideas, and perspectives regarding the global context and reality of evangelism spring from the voices of the writers. Insights about evangelism described in multifaceted realities propel one to read the next sentence and paragraph with the expectation of finding yet another perspective-shifting angle of view."" -Karen Greenwaldt General Secretary, General Board of Discipleship The United Methodist Church About the Contributor(s): Paul W. Chilcote is Professor of Historical Theology & Wesleyan Studies and Director of the Center for Applied Wesleyan Studies at Ashland Theological Society in Ohio.

Drawing on thirty years’ experience among Hindus, Timothy Shultz writes this book as a testimony of the kingdom of God growing in a non-Christian environment. Disciple Making among Hindus: Making Authentic Relationships Grow describes how Hindu people experience and respond to Jesus Christ. What are the core values and rhythms of their cultural world? What are the patterns of community and discipleship that help them draw closer to Jesus? Through moving personal stories, biblical reflection, and practical wisdom, Shultz introduces us to the centrality of family, the covenantal relationships that make up Hindu social life, and the yearning for authentic spiritual experience. While this book will benefit anyone wanting to make disciples among Hindus, it is far more than a strategy of contextualization or a blueprint for successful evangelism. Read it to discover the beauty of Hindus as Jesus sees them—and the beauty of Jesus through Hindu eyes.