Discipleship

Dear Friends:

The first thing to say is that it is unlikely that i will post on a weekly basis - though I will try. My life as a parish priest is a busy one and I find that I spend most of my time actually engaged with God's people and devote enough of my time to the computer terminal or blackberry keyboard. SO...I will post to the blog as I can and try and make whatever I post worthy of your kind attention.

I have been doing a great deal of thinking about discipleship lately. Specifically; I have been asking myself in what ways we might need to transform parish ministry if one was single- mindedly devoted to forming Christian disciples.

On one hand - that is the work to which the Church has always been called and I believe most churches believe that is what they are doing. I also believe most of us are wrong. If we think we are forming disciples with any intentionality, I think we are kidding ourselves. Don't get me wrong, every now and then a true disciple will manage to survive the post-modern institutional Church and appear in the world making a difference in the name of Jesus..but..if we were doing what we were really intended to be doing we would be sending disciples out 2 by 2 and dozens at a time. So, why aren't we?

Well...that is the question on my mind. The answer that I most often come up with is: "Because we don't really know how to!" SO...how and from whom do we learn?

Over the next several months I am going to devote considerable energy to answering that question. How do we as a parish church transform ourselves into a community totally devoted to preparing and sending disciples into the world to share the Good News of Jesus Christ? What are the implications of such a decision?

I am willing to learn from anyone who is willing to teach - so bring it on.

I wish you the peace of Christ in your every day and walk with the Lord Jesus.

Faithfully,
Fr. Paul+