Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Russell Burrill

Second Advisor

S. Joseph Kidder

Abstract

Problem. The lack of a disciple-making plan and irregular leadership training for members in the South Flint Seventh-day Adventist Church resulted in undeveloped and ill-equipped members operating in a reactive and survival mode leading to frustration and leader “burn outs.”

Method. The Discipleship Master Plan was developed and implemented in the South Flint Seventh-day Adventist Church in Burton, Michigan, which consisted of two major formats: (1) Four Levels of Discipleship Training, and (2) a Discipleship Master Plan Infrastructure. The four levels of discipleship focus on the development of all members. This training took place primarily during Sabbath afternoons and worship service sermon series. The Discipleship Master Plan Infrastructure is designed for leaders and developing new leaders and lay ministers. It consists of (1) Leadership Team I, (2) Church Teams, (3) Home Bible Fellowship Groups, and (4) Leadership Team II.

Results. The Discipleship Master Plan survey revealed the spiritual growth of members more than doubled and in some areas tripled after the training. Members spent more time with God in prayer and reading the Bible, involved in small groups, engaged in soulwinning ministries, and received training and leadership mentoring. The Decadal Growth Rate was 90.28 percent for the seven years from 1998-2005.

Conclusions. The Discipleship Master Plan proved to be an effective training disciple-making model for the South Flint Seventh-day Adventist Church. This resource, when implemented, has the potential of helping churches become a strong disciple-making church.

Subject Area

Mentoring in Christian education, Church work with students--Seventh-day Adventists, High school students--Religious life

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/118/

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