Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Gerson P. Santos

Second Advisor

Clodoaldo Tavares

Abstract

Problem

The Adventist Church (and the Christian Church in general) has the great challenge of leading God's flock to spiritual growth and presenting the fruits of this development. These fruits are measured in the areas of faithfulness, mission, Bible study, participation in activities and worship, among others. -- Within this framework, the Church (in many places) began to worry about filling a calendar with various activities and felt fulfilled by providing members with the feeling that there was growth, since they participated in numerous activities - many of them simultaneously. -- This understanding that being busy brings spiritual growth led to many debates and dialogues with pastors, leaders and members in many places, resulting not only in books and articles, but also in the departure of a good portion of the members, especially within the newer generations. For many pastors, it led to the loss of ministerial fulfillment and physical exhaustion of members and leaders, to the point that a large number gave up their activities. -- Many understand that discipleship is the turning point in helping the Church live the Christian experience in a healthy way. Even though it doesn't solve everything, it can help with most problems. -- However, with so many programs and events, ideas, dates, materials and departments, how can we systematize an easy route that helps in the development of discipleship? -- There are several ways to practice or live discipleship, such as: a more experienced Christian accompanying a new convert (mentoring); giving Bible studies; preaching the Word; building intentional spiritual relationships; practicing cognitive teaching in the Sabbath School class; being part of the relational life of the small group; participating in the Pathfinder and Adventurer club and family seminars; teaching in the post-baptismal Bible class and in the areas of stewardship; encouraging missionary movements, among others. -- This research aims to describe a route that facilitates this edification of the body of Christ, using what the Adventist Church works on and knows. It is a proposal for cohesion, integration and optimization. -- The reading of Acts 2:42-47 highlights a threefold movement of the early Christians: they went to the temple, edified themselves in their homes and witnessed in the streets. Since today's Christians already understand that they must go to the temple for public worship and teaching (here we also include Sabbath School), the challenge lies in the other two scenarios, homes and streets. -- The small group is presented in the Scriptures as a principle of administration, service and formation of leaders in Exodus 18 and as a healthy relational community, edifying, forming leaders and fulfilling the mission through the ministry of Jesus. Therefore, the small group, integrated into the Sabbath School action unit, can become the ideal environment for the development of discipleship, since it provides several aspects (integral): teaching (Saturday morning in Sabbath School), relationships, pastoring (caring for one another, including visitation), formation of leaders (children, teenagers, young people and adults can lead a small group), development of spiritual gifts (which is easier for members to begin in the small group than in the church), mission (Bible studies can be given during the week with missionary teams, Bible instructors, public evangelists, digital evangelists, mission trips, etc.), ministries in the community (care and development) and multiplication (small group in a new neighborhood or city). -- This thesis intends to answer the question: how can small groups facilitate integral discipleship in which the people who worship in the temple also become leaders, grow in communion with God and other Christians, get involved in the mission and multiply their influence in the community?

Methodology

The research was carried out in a qualitative and quantitative format. The idea was to evaluate the implementation of discipleship through a network of small groups that the pastors of the East Brazil Union have been experiencing since 2023. -- In the qualitative proposal, each conference and mission field selected two pastors to answer a form with open questions about their experience with discipleship. There were 14 pastors (the East Brazil Union has 7 fields) chosen because they were achieving good development in the churches (there are many other pastors with good results, but a small number was necessary because it was a qualitative research). -- In the quantitative form, all pastors had the opportunity to answer a questionnaire sent through Google Forms. -- The idea was to listen to all pastors, since they are all working with the same discipleship proposal, even if some are more experienced and have better results than others and are experiencing the discipleship journey through small groups.

Results

The results reveal several relevant aspects of the still initial journey of pastors and churches. Initial not because they do not know what a small group is, but because it is part of an integral/wholistic proposal, in which the small group is a basis for many actions of the churches.

To mention a few aspects found in the survey:

- 96% of pastors believe in the efficiency of the integral discipleship journey through small groups. It is almost unanimous. They may even be in different realities, but they see that by prioritizing, training and accompanying, it is possible to reach new levels of growth.

- 87% of participants believe that it is essential to dedicate more time to properly forming the vision of small group leaders, since they are the ones who shepherd and help to build the flock.

- 79% of the ministry believes that small groups can better mobilize churches for the mission, especially because they more easily attract friends to the informal spiritual community.

The other results are equally encouraging and signal an aligned, nurtured and missionary path.

Conclusion

Research has shown that integral discipleship, when prioritized and intentional, bears fruit not only for churches, but for leaders as well. Pastors can see the difference between a ministry based on activities and programs and a ministry based on discipleship, leadership training, and a pastoral and mission network. --Many are beginning to understand that small groups can move beyond the category of a missionary strategy (as some classify them) and become a platform (base) for carrying out many activities of Christian life. This is the big difference that happens to the church when it abandons the mentality of having small groups (just another item on the agenda) and becomes a church of small groups (the priority is to divide the church into groups so that they can live together many edifying experiences).

Subject Area

Discipling (Christianity); Small groups; Seventh-day Adventists; Brazil

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