Attachment 7 – How to use these resources.

The resources are arranged under four thematic categories as described in the DNA framework . These four operate together to determine how the church grows in health and vitality. You may want to concentrate on one or another for a time but, they are all integrated and inter-connected. The four elements of the DNA framework are:

DNA Strand #1 – Looking beyond: Hopeful/Adaptive, willingness to risk, experiment, learn and innovate

DNA Strand #2 – Outward focused: open hearted and open handed (loving others)

DNA Strand #3 – Inward directed: deep rootedness. Centred on Jesus, growing in spiritual maturity: spiritual disciplines of prayer, bible study, fellowship (loving God)

DNA Strand #4 – Empowering, gifts-based servant hearted, catalytic leadership

The middle two strands (#2 and #3) could apply to any sized community of faith – from a small house group of six people to a large church group of six hundred. Loving God and Loving others are an indispensable part of being a follower of Jesus.

If you need to consolidate these communities of faith into an organized entity such as a congregation, then you will need the outer strands # 1and #4.

Resources for Strands 2 &3 (taken together) are found below.

1. Whole life discipleship: If you want to begin by introducing the community to being disciples of Jesus, we suggest you explore this resource:https://licc.org.uk/.  It is designed to help believers live as  “whole-life disciples” meaning that their faith is to be lived out in every sphere of life: home, work, community and in church. There are ample resources to choose from (see three options on right side of their web page). The resources are heavily subsidized to make them accessible to churches. Congregations that have engaged in this series have seen exceptional transformation in their congregants and church culture.

The world needs whole-life disciples of Jesus. As disciples, we are envisioned, shaped, and affirmed in the callings that God has for us in our gathered church lives. But too often the church can seem like an organization that takes our time, energy, and focus, but doesn’t equip us well for these lives. How can we be leaders of churches that set people free for the mission that God calls them into? Listen to this 25 mts explanation of how this concept could transform the way you grow as a community of believers:

 

You may contact Rev Lawrence Nyarko at Lawrence@alderwooduc.ca (Alderwood United Church) for more information and support.

2. Practicing the Way: If you want to introduce your congregation to a new way of practicing your faith, visit this site. Resources are free. https://www.practicingtheway.org/

Information alone is not enough to produce formation. We need to practice Jesus’ teachings, to get his ideas from our minds into the muscle memory of our bodies. We do this by adopting practices from Jesus’ own life, time-tested disciplines for the spiritual life that open up our entire being to God and allow him to transform us into people of love. These nine core Practices work together to form a Rule of Life for the modern era. Apply via the website to join the practices.

Find out how one minister describes the intersectionality between deepening your roots and widening your reach and how her community practices both, integratively –