 "People of faith are extolled to teach faith to their children throughout the scriptures. This is especially clear in Deuteronomy 6:1-9. "Recite [these words] to your children and talk about them … ." In our community, we wanted to give families and others tools to facilitate faith discussions." (from Deepening Your Effectiveness: Restructuring the Local Church for Life Transformation)
Our church recently held a retreat for young families and young adults at a nearby water park. The theme was "Diving Deeper in Faith." Throughout the weekend we discussed stages of faith and explored ways to "dive deeper" into our faith. The first session introduced participants to stages of faith. During the "dive deeper" session, we considered the challenges of balancing acts of justice, compassion, devotion, and worship as we live out our faith. The participants were encouraged to spend the evening thinking about what they were already doing and if they had achieved a good balance.
It was interesting to hear children, families, and young adults interpret these aspects of discipleship. Acts of justice were a particular struggle, while acts of compassion came quite easily. Many of the participants work for large organizations where vulnerable people become easily lost. One act of compassion they identified was literally helping people find their way!
At the end of the retreat, each couple, family, or individual made a contract describing how the individual, couple, or family would "dive deeper." The blank contract began with an introduction, "We recognize it is important to grow in faith as a family/couple. In order to deepen our discipleship, we covenant with God we will. . ." This was followed by blank spaces with the headings, "Acts of Compassion . . . Justice. . .Worship. . .Devotion." The instructions were simply "Be specific, spell them out, be realistic, and don't forget what you are already doing." Nine families completed covenants to do things including:
- "Be informed in local elections"
- "Lead Children's Worship"
- "Shop at the Farmer's Market"
- "Sit together in church once a month"
In six months we will send them a copy of their covenant, and ask them how they are doing.
 Each covenant was unique to the person or people who made it. Even though several examples kept coming up over the weekend, the families and individuals found their own ways to express how they intended to "dive deeper." Being honest about what specifically we are being called to do and expressing that in our own unique and diverse language is, in my opinion, discipleship at its best. I am looking forward to catching up with the participants to see if this made a difference for them.
Resource
Glover, Dan and Claudia Levy. Deepening Your Effectiveness: Restructuring the Local Church for Life Transformation. (Nashville, Discipleship Resources, 2006.)
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Amanda Larsen is an Associate Pastor at Christ United Methodist Church in Rochester, Minnesota. You can read her blog at http://pastors-cumethodist.blogspot.com
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