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Newsletter
The twice-yearly DISCIPLE Newsletter aims to
keep churches, groups and new enquirers informed about
the development of DISCIPLE in the United Kingdom.
Let us hear from you!
NEWSLETTER
No: 18
Renewing the Church
Autumn
2005
in word and deed
EXCITING
DEVELOPMENTS
DISCIPLE 3
Remember
Who You Are
Now available!
DISCIPLE 3 is a 32 week course
studying the Prophets and the letters of Saint Paul.
There is no additional
leadership training required if you have already completed
leadership training for DISCIPLE 1
Becoming Disciples Through
Bible Study
DISCIPLE 1
Becoming
Disciples Through Bible Study
Now available as a one-day training seminar!
This will encourage those who
work full-time who want to train but cannot afford to take
three days off. We will be holding one of these on a Saturday.
Exciting DISCIPLE news
There are three exciting
DISCIPLE developments to share with you this autumn.
DISCIPLE 3 Remember Who
You Are is now available!
Remember who you are
is the title of DISCIPLE 3. It is a 32 week course studying
the Prophets and the letters of Saint Paul. Its focus is on
the obedient community and so it helps us to look at both our
own discipleship and at the Christian community. And there is
more good news; there is no additional training required if
you have already completed leadership training for DISCIPLE 1
Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study.
The Revd Jenny Impey has
written a helpful summary for group leaders that will be
included with the Leader’s Manual. There is also an
introductory booklet which is available free of charge.
One-day training for
DISCIPLE 1 Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study
We are moving away from
residential training and have developed a one-day programme to
train group leaders. This will encourage those who work
full-time who want to train but cannot afford to take three
days off. We are also holding one of these on a Saturday.
DISCIPLE 2 AND 3 are now
available on DVD
(DISCIPLE 1 is the process of
being transferred onto DVD and will be available shortly).
Commitment and enthusiasm!
This lovely picture is of the
DISCIPLE 2 group which finished in June and was held in
Woodley, though some members travelled some distance to
attend. The friendly faces below (left to right) belong to:
Susan, Mary, Liz, David, Pam, Sandra, Henry, Judith and
Beryl. The group is enthused and looking forward to DISCIPLE
3, so we’re pleased to be able to provide more information on
that in this newsletter.
Are you a DISCIPLE participant or leader?
Do you have any interesting /
funny stories, thoughts or experiences resulting from your
DISCIPLE course that you would be willing to share with others
through the Spring 2006 newsletter? Perhaps you could include
a photograph of your group with participants’ names? Please
email Sally at pa@mph.org.uk or post to the mph
address by early January 2006. We look forward to hearing
from you.
DISCIPLE diversity
It is great to hear
from the DISCIPLE I group from King’s Cross Methodist Church –
Chinese congregation. They write:
“The group has 16
members and is led by Rev Wilfred Ho and his wife Ee-Suen.
The 18 members (including our instructors) have started the
journey since last September and we have gone through nearly
three-quarter of it. We are expecting to finish the course in
July this year. Time flies and some of us even ‘regret’ that
the course is going to finish this summer. During the
journey, we walk together sharing our thoughts as well as our
prayers. We have built up a close fellowship and enjoy that
kind of brotherly and sisterly relationship in Christ Jesus.
Most of all, we have built up ourselves in God’s words and are
ready to serve him with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Yes, we are a working force for our Lord Jesus; and this is
our wishes.
“As nearly the end
of the course, some members want to share their thoughts with
you, the other DISCIPLE groups in UK. Here they are…”
“It is with the
greatest pleasure that the group takes this opportunity to
express our gratitude to Wilfred and Ee-Suen. (They don’t
have to serve us as Wilfred, with his family came from
Singapore, is doing his PHD in London.) For their inspiring
teaching and encouragement, all members have grown in spirit
and knowledge in God’s words.” Sandy
“During the journey
with brothers and sisters in Christ, not only have I learned
God’s words, but I have experienced God’s leading. I believe
the importance of continuous prayers; through prayers,
disciples can rely totally on God, gaining confidence and
strength.” Vivian
“Any doubt or fear
in the beginning has all but vanished. I am becoming more
knowledgeable in God’s words and hopefully, I am becoming a
more ‘mature’ Christian. I have to say that we are blessed to
have Wilfred and Ee-Suen to lead us. Anybody else would not
have been the same. His availability at this time and at this
church is nothing short of a blessing from the Most High! I
enjoy the relationship with members of the group and it is
wonderfully a close one.” Danny and Jo
“Thank God
for having me in this group. As the journey goes by, I come
to know God’s holy love for mankind, and the way he has
planned for every individual. Following the example of
Christ, disciples can experience his true blessings in their
lives. Disciples will serve God with his giving gifts. So,
have I known God’s will for me?” Sue
“We learn the hard
work of studying the Bible; We learn to discuss the truth in
an open minded attitude; We learn to commit ourselves to each
other; We learn to rejoice with those in joy; We learn to wipe
others’ tear with our tears; We are still learning to join our
hands to grow in Christ. I learn more than I give in this
DISCIPLE class!” Ee Suen
“I would
like to thank Rev. Ho for his conducting this class. I am
amazed at how the ‘disciples’ have faithfully attended the
course. As I am going to retire this Summer, I do pray that
the ‘disciples’ will share what they learnt with the others
for the advancement of God’s kingdom. May glory and honour be
unto Him!” David Foo
“It's a great
present from God for having Rev. Wilfred Ho & Ee-Suen as our
DISCIPLE Instructors. We've not only learnt God's Words
during the lessons, but also learnt how to love & care each
other in the past few months. We can actually experience the
spiritual power by the time we pray, laugh and cry together.
We hope this ‘power’ can extend to every single corner of the
world." Po & Amy
Leaders at the ready….
Eleven more leaders completed
their training for DISCIPLE 1 in July, at the High Leigh
Conference Centre in Hoddesdon. Mph staff
member, Sally, joined the group and completed the training.
This is what she had to say:
“I consider it a privilege to
have been able to attend and meet such a wonderful group of
people. Thanks to the experienced leadership of the Revd
Jenny Impey, we each had an opportunity to work with every
member of the group in pair and small group discussions and
through this and the fellowship over refreshments and meals, I
felt we developed a special bond together.
“It was a revelation to me
that there are so many different methods to study the Bible
and I gained much ‘food for thought’ from trying out some of
these methods during the seminar. My understanding of and
enthusiasm for DISCIPLE has grown incredibly through the
experience and I can certainly recommend it from the heart.
As many people have said before me, it is undoubtedly a big
commitment to undertake any DISCIPLE course, but I am
convinced it will be well worth the effort!”
Here is the group: from back
left and clockwise; Margaret, Kath, Gladstone, Ian, Mark,
Sally, Mary, Yvonne, Diane, Jenny, Sue and Liz.
A DISCIPLE 2 leadership
training event took place at mph premises,
Peterborough in May. The group consisted of (in no particular
order) Peter, Shirley, Lindsey, Wendy, Christopher, Linda,
Joan, Thomas, Denice and Norman, again with Jenny leading the
training.
We look forward to hearing
from you all about your respective DISCIPLE groups in the
future. Please do share with us how you are getting on.
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If you are interested in
leading a DISCIPLE course and you have not completed the
training, please see read the training seminars item for
further details. Please note that you do not need to undergo
training for DISCIPLE 3 leadership if you have completed the
DISCIPLE 1 leadership training course.
DISCIPLE resources
DISCIPLE 1 Becoming
Disciples Through Bible Study
One-day training place,
including one Teacher’s Handbook and Study Manual plus the
book Teaching the Bible to Adults and Youth PD463
£60.00
Student
Manual PD461 £20.50 each or
£18.50 each for 10+
Teacher’s
Handbook
PD273 £8.00
Conversion Kit – a set of
videos for all 34 weeks plus
12 Study Manuals and a set of
prayer cards PD456 £375.00
Certificate
PD431 £0.75
Badge
PD432 £2.50
DISCIPLE 2 Into The Word
Into The World
One-day training place,
including one Teacher’s Handbook and one Study Manual (see
page 9 for
dates)
PD136 £60.00
Student
Manual PD270 £20.50 each or
£18.50 each for 10+
Teacher’s
Handbook
PD272 £8.00
Conversion Kit – a set of DVDs
for all 32 sessions plus
12 Study Manuals and one set
of prayer cards PD138 £375.00
Set of DVDs for all 32
sessions
PD464 £125.00
Basic Resource Library – books
to help group members
gain greater understanding of
the issues covered
in the
course
PD846 £76.00
Certificate
PD422 £0.75
Lapel
badge
PD423 £2.50
DISCIPLE 3 Remember Who
You Are
Introductory
booklet
PD475 FREE
Study
Manual PD465
£20.50 or £18.50 each for 10+
Teacher’s
Handbook
PD466 £8.00
Conversion Kit – a set of
DVDs, Teacher’s Handbook,
context portfolio, briefing
sheet for the group leader
and 12 prayer
cards
PD467 £175.00
Certificate
PD468 £0.75
Lapel
badge
PD469 £2.50
For DISCIPLE resources please
email sales@mph.org.uk, write to or telephone Customer
Services at mph.
Leadership training events
DISCIPLE 1 2005/2006
Tuesday 13 December 2005 at
mph premises, Peterborough
Thursday 18 May 2006 at
mph premises, Peterborough
Saturday 8 July 2006 at
Trinity Church, Hexham
DISCIPLE 2 2006
Wednesday 17 May 2006 at
mph premises, Peterborough
Please circulate these
dates to the participants of your DISCIPLE group.
For further details about the
training events or for application forms, please contact Sally
Johnson at pa@mph.org.uk or via the address and telephone
number on the back page.
Wondering what to do now you've finished DISCIPLE:
Becoming Disciples Through Bible Study?
Many members of DISCIPLE
groups find themselves suffering from DWS or Disciple
Withdrawal Syndrome. Meeting together with others to
study the Scriptures has become a way of life for them and
suddenly at week 34 this way of life is cut off! It's
important that leaders plan ways of helping their group
members deal with DWS.
The temptation is to
immediately start another phase of DISCIPLE, studying either
Into the Word into the world, or the new Remember
who you are. This is not to be recommended for the first
year after completion of the course because the whole purpose
of the first phase of DISCIPLE is to help participants become
disciples and enter into ministry, using the gifts that have
been identified in week 33. In Luke chapter 9 we see how
Jesus called the disciples together for a while and then sent
them out on mission. The only real cure for DWS is to get out
into ministry.
Different groups handle this
in different ways. One possibility is to share together as a
group once a month or once every 3 months and to ask each
other specifically how they are continuing to grow in their
discipleship and how they are using the gifts they have been
given. Such a group could support someone entering into a new
ministry, challenge someone who is ignoring their gifts, and
could pray for each and every member of the group wherever
they find themselves. Another possibility for those who want
to commit themselves to growth in discipleship and to
supporting one another would be to form a Covenant
Discipleship Group.
Covenant Discipleship groups
are a contemporary adaptation of the Methodist class meeting,
the small groups that were the method of Methodism.
Each group has between 5 and 7 people who meet together for
one hour each week to hold themselves mutually accountable for
their discipleship. They are guided by a covenant that they
themselves have written, shaped by the Great Commandment of
Jesus to love God and to love your neighbour as you love
yourself. The group’s purpose is to help one another become
better disciples. There are only a few groups meeting in the
UK at the moment, but to find out more information contact
Jenny Impey on 01628 626668 or email her at Jennyimpey@aol.com
Of course, after a year or
two in ministry you may find you want to go deeper into the
scriptures and commit yourself to another 32 weeks of study.
In which case you'll want to explore either DISCIPLE: Into
the Word into the world (a study which concentrates on
Genesis, Exodus, Luke and Acts and which focuses on ministry)
or DISCIPLE: Remember who you are (a study which
concentrates on the Prophets and Paul's letters and which
focuses on the Christian community).
Jenny Impey
August 2005
Are you a DISCIPLE enthusiast?
We are looking for DISCIPLE
enthusiasts who would be willing to speak to groups and
churches wanting to find out more about DISCIPLE. If you are
prepared to become one of our enthusiasts, please email Chris
Pursehouse at marketing@mph.org.uk.
If you have changed your
address, no longer wish to receive this newsletter or would
like more copies to pass on to your DISCIPLE group members,
please email pa@mph.org.uk or contact Sally Johnson at
mph
For DISCIPLE resources email
sales@mph.org.uk.
For enquiries about DISCIPLE
leadership training events email pa@mph.org.uk.
DISCIPLE Office, 4 John Wesley Road, Peterborough PE4 6ZP
Telephone: 01733 325002
E-mail: disciple@mph.org.uk
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