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Education for Discipleship

People have a variety of reasons for wanting to know more about the Christian faith. It may simply be curiosity, but often it is a desire to understand more about the roots of Christianity and explore the implications for belief and behavior. Education for Discipleship is intended to inform and help people discover what it means to be a disciple of Christ today.

This website provides a broad overview of the course. Beyond this, we have a team who can provide you with more information about the Education for Discipleship programme. We are happy to visit your area for a group presentation, or just for a chat to discuss the course and whether it would be helpful in your area. Day time or evening visits can be arranged.

Tel: 01452 835544
Email: efd@glosdioc.org.uk


The Course

The Education for Discipleship course is designed for groups of up to a dozen people with the guidance of someone with skills in group leadership. Groups generally meet weekly or fortnightly in people's homes or a public venue such as a church hall.

There are nine modules, packed with material for group learning, discussion questions and ideas for private study. Most modules have eight sessions, each taking approximately two hours. Groups can follow the suggested sequence if all the modules are to be completed, or they may select which and how many modules they want to complete. All modules have a workbook with ideas for study and worship and a box of topic related books, some include a CD-Rom. The modules have been written by people with relevant expertise.

The course is inexpensive. A contribution of £5 per copy issued is requested towards publication costs. Some groups reproduce the materials in house, paying for only one copy.


The Modules

Introducing the Old Testament The Old Testament is very much part of our Christian heritage but many people need help to see how it all fits together & to discover its relevance. This module looks at how & why the various books of the Old Testament were written. It explores how the people of Israel encountered God through the experience of the Patriarchs, exodus, kingship & exile and how the various sorts of writing - history, prophecy, psalms & wisdom reflect that. In the process it seeks to connect those experiences to ours today.

Introducing the New Testament The message of Jesus is 'gospel' - 'good news'. This module explores the nature of that good news, as it was experienced & proclaimed by Paul & lived out in the churches he founded & to whom he wrote. The four Gospels each present their own angle on the good news of Jesus. The module looks at them in turn & seeks to present the challenge of being a disciple today.

The Spread of the Gospel module takes up the story of the Church in the early centuries with an optional session on the arrival of the good news in Britain. It shows how the Church responded to the challenges of persecution & false teaching. It focuses on some of the key individuals such as Irenaeus, Tertullian and Augustine & their thinking & the way that our doctrine of God was focused by the need to respond to Gnosticism (a sort of early 'New Age' thinking) & other heresies. The story of the first Christians faces us with the challenge of continuing to pass on the good news to the next generation.

The Church since the Reformation We take up the story of the Church at the end of the 15th century as Luther & others present the Church with the challenge of reform. We then look at the things which have shaped the Church in England beginning with the Reformation & moving on through Puritanism, Methodism, the Evangelical and Oxford movements in the 19th century to issues facing the church in the 20th century. This module develops an understanding of churches of other traditions & reflects on how church life is shaped.
Christian Worship - Why do we worship in the way we do? This module looks at the nature of worship & the things which have shaped how we worship today. It takes a more detailed look at Holy Communion but also gives an overview of other Sunday services, baptism & the pastoral offices such as funerals & marriage. The module will help participants understand our worship more fully so that they can take part in it more meaningfully.

Christian Ethics This module takes several sessions to explore how we as Christians make ethical decisions & the influences which shape our thinking & the challenges that presents for us. It then gives the group a chance to choose a number of case studies to reflect on, examining particular issues they would like to look at such as war, world debt, environmental concerns, drug abuse.

My Neighbour's Faith We live in a country with people of other faiths living around us & even if we don't frequently encounter people of other faiths we live in a multi-faith world where religious beliefs are affecting political decisions & how people behave towards one another. This module helps us understand the beliefs of others, including Moslems, Jews and Buddhists & encourages reflection on how Christians relate to people with other faiths.

In Deeper is a module exploring spirituality & the various approaches which people find help them deepen their relationship with God - things like contemplation & the use of visual images. Ignatian bible study, Taize and Youth Worship. As well as offering a theological perspective on each topic, it is designed to be practical, with a CD-Rom which helps in give a taste of the various approaches.

Apocalypse Now The book of Revelation has often puzzled Christians & some people have derived some very weird ideas & predictions from it. This shorter module seeks to show how a book which would have given great encouragement to persecuted Christians in the first century can still give inspiration to us as we discover something about God's control of history and his concern for his Church. The CD-Rom which accompanies this unit has some very helpful extra resources.

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