This page contains an overview of some of the published discipleship resources available.
You can also find a wealth of discipleship resources (and reviews) on the DiscipleKit website.
essence
(Rob Frost, Share Jesus International)
essence boldly goes where few courses have gone before. The course is designed for those who recognise that they are on a spiritual journey and want to explore what Christian spirituality is all about.
A Passionate Life
(Mike Breen, Walt Kallestad, Kingsway Publications, 2005, 978-0781442879)
A Passionate Life is an easy to read guidebook (236 pages) that takes the reader through eight ‘life shapes’, providing memory models for key areas of discipleship. The book reads like an amalgam of a management handbook and a revision guide. This does make the teaching highly memorable.
Read a full review of A Passionate Life
Living Faith: Exploring the Essentials of Christianity
(Tom Wright, SPCK Publishing, 2005, 978-028105743-6)
Living Faith draws on the scholarship of Tom Wright to explore the Biblical story, Christian history and doctrine. The material is presented in the style of a university tutorial. For those wanting a good introduction to, or a reminder of, the essentials of the Bible, Christian history or doctrine, this is a very helpful resource.
Read a full review of Living Faith
Come as you are…
(Brenda Woods, MPH, 2004, 978-1858522401)
Come as you are… explores Christian discipleship and church membership. It was written specifically for use in Methodist churches but could be adapted easily to work in other denominations. The course is well connected, with clear links between each part. It is very easy to use. There is a welcome and strong emphasis on prayer and spirituality. It feels like an up-to-date church membership course.
Read a full review of Come as you are…
The Imagine Project
(Mark Greene, Tracy Cotterell, London Institute for Contemporary Christianity)
The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity is passionate about whole life discipleship. LICC has a mission to help Christians apply their faith to every aspect of their lives; from prayer to football, from studying the Scriptures to shopping, from work to worship. LICC is developing the Imagine Project which aims to help churches recover the centrality of disciple-making.
Read a full review of The Imagine Project
Covenant Discipleship Groups
(David Lowes Watson)
Covenant Discipleship Groups have been developed in the United States with the aim of helping established Christians grow in all areas of Christian discipleship through a process of mutual accountability. Covenant Discipleship is not another course. Rather, it is a way of being that ensures growth and development are ongoing processes in the discipleship journey.
Read a full review of Covenant Discipleship Groups
Freedom in Christ
(Neil T Anderson, Steve Goss)
The Freedom in Christ Discipleship Course aims to help Christians grasp the truth of who they are in Christ, sort out personal and spiritual issues and become more fruitful in their discipleship.
The course emphasises personal responsibility and the need to make the right choices. The focus is very much on the individual.
Read a full review of Freedom in Christ
Foundations21
(Bible Reading Fellowship)
Foundations21 is a major, online discipleship resource. A great deal of care has been put into the accommodating of different learning styles.
Read a full review of Foundations21
Glad you asked
(Rachel Lane)
Glad You Asked uses key questions people ask about Christianity to help group members explore the faith. Very much in tune with the post-modern/spiritual age, the course starts where people are.
Read a full review of Glad you asked
Discipleship Explored
(Rico Tice)
Discipleship Explored is the official follow-up to the well received and widely used Christianity Explored course. The title is somewhat misleading – ‘Philippians Explored’ might be more helpful.
Read a full review of Discipleship Explored
A Life Worth Living
(Nicky Gumbel)
A Life Worth Living is one of the official follow-ups to the Alpha course. It retains the style of the most popular process evangelism course, with a series of talks by Nicky Gumbel with follow-up material for use in small groups.
Read a full review of A Life Worth Living
lyfe
(The Bible Society)
lyfe has been designed to help people engage with the Bible to discover what God is saying about their lives and the world around. lyfe groups meet in a variety of social contexts to read, reflect and respond together. Just as fresh expressions are seeking to be culturally authentic forms of church in changing world, so lyfe aims to help Christian disciples and seekers engage with the Bible in ways that connect with 21st century life.
Sometimes books and studies like these are just springboards to allow people to open up and locate their point of need. For me personally, I have not used any prepared resources like these books or courses for a very long time, but have instead, often, found good results from a simple Bible study with key questions that get at what stood out to people in their life situation and what applies to them. I suppose the ‘Lectio Divina’ type questions are similar and allow God to speak to people where they are, and find ways for discipleship and real life transformation to happen in a group context.
Andrew Jones (tallskinnykiwi)