Discipleship of New Members Through Teamnet Ministries Teams

During the calendar year 2009 Canyonville Church plans to conduct a minimum of two full-message evangelistic series. These meetings will be conducted by our Evangelism Team leaders and members. Canyonville Church is organized as a networking system of individual teams focused on various aspects of church life.
The team responsibilities relating to discipleship of new members are as follows:

• The Evangelism Team will lead out in continuing personal Bible studies with the new members, utilizing the Good News for Today Bible study guides and the gift NKJV Bibles.

• Discipleship Team will encourage new members to active participation in the Pastor’s Bible Class during Sabbath School time.

• Ministry Team will give support to health education, lifestyle changes, and group clinics for victory over destructive habits and addictions as may be needed.

• Fellowship Team will foster integration of the new members into the fabric of the church family by providing safe and wholesome social events and encouraging healthy relationships.

• Worship Team will encourage worship leaders and “up-front” participants to always be sensitive to the needs of new members and guests who may not be familiar with in-house “Churchese.”

• New members will be immediately included in one of the 12 Pastoral Care Parishes led the church elders, deacons, and deaconesses.
It should be noted that although the organizational structure is in place, the responsibilities and relationships outlined above are still somewhat formative. We are growing in our understanding of these ministries, but we believe that by God’s grace we can truly make a kingdom difference in the lives of people in our communities who are hungering and thirsting for the gospel.

Relational Evangelism

For far too long the emphasis of Christian evangelism has been on proclamation and little else. We preach from pulpits or rostrums, even via satalites, television, radio, and now the Internet. Once we've delivered the message we "make an invitation" that basically translates to, "Now that you know this, what are you going to do about it?" We assume that the mere delivery of information, i.e. Bible doctrines, prophetic interpretations, original language nuances, etc., will somehow result in people changing their lives for the good. Unfortunately, the reality is that most don't. Here is a profound truth: Information does not change lives. Experience does. In other words, you really don't learn something until you personally experience it. So the question is, Why do we spend thousands and thousands of $$$ on proclamation and little or nothing on building healthy relational bridges? Maybe because proclamation is easier and cleaner. Relational evangelism is a lot messier.

But here is another inconvenient (?) truth. About 95% of Christian conversions happen because of personal relationships and tangible experiences. It seems to me then that the primary goal of evangelism must no longer be to convince people of what we believe to be the truth, but rather to establish bonds of friendship and godly love across the great gulfs of separation. If we are to faithfully pattern our life after God's way of doing things, relationships MUST be at the forefront of our thinking. After all, the heart of existence is the Trinity -- a bond of holy relationships between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Of course, a growing understanding of biblical truth is essential to discipleship. I'm not throwing that out at all. But first things first! God's way is to first establish the relationship, then to encourage growth in grace.