At Bushey Baptist Church we reached the point where we need fresh ideas in our approach to discipleship. We were encouraged by the growth of converts and their effective follow up in post-Alpha groups. However, the participation of our established members in discipleship groups had been declining.

In April 2006 I invited Tracy Cotterell from the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC) to lead 4 interactive teaching sessions on the subject of whole-life discipleship. We were delighted when over 100 members attended on a Thursday night.

They were inspired by the LICC vision which is to equip, resource and support Christians for life in today’s world. This vision is rooted in two great biblical truths: the concern of the Creator-redeemer God for every aspect of our life and Jesus’ mandate to make disciples not just converts. It is an approach which inextricably links discipleship to mission. Lives which consistently display Christ create hunger for Christ in others.

In January 2007, we deepened our partnership with LICC by becoming a pilot church for the Imagine project. LICC is working closely with 12 churches in this way, meeting regularly with the church leadership as an agent of change towards a whole-life disciplemaking culture.

In June 2007 we surveyed the congregation about their discipleship needs and gathered very useful feedback. Our preachers now work harder on practical application and write the small group notes after they have preached. Once a month we devote the whole service to looking at a discipleship issue in-depth with an interactive teaching style.

Mark Greene has indicated that cultural change in a church is difficult because ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’. However, we have been encouraged by the centrality of whole life discipleship to almost every area of church life which means we don’t apologise for re-casting the vision. The sharing of stories is a powerful catalyst for change. Memorable times in our worship have included praying for a postman facing conflict with management during a strike, and a diplomat sharing how God had guided him to lobby for the human rights of a persecuted minority. If you want to find out more about the journey we have taken. Visit: LICC’s Imagine page

Alasdair MacLeod (Pastor, Bushey Baptist)