Discipling and retention
 

There are things I have noticed in the past decade that may be why we, as Apostolics, have difficulty building churches.

Discipling a new convert is a time consuming and selfless task. My mother was what I consider to be a super-soulwinner. Our home was open to every hurting person, family in the neighborhood. We children would babysit for free, Mom & Dad took groceries to needy families, and Mom talked and prayed with people all day every day. She won hundreds to the Lord and they are still in the church.

Today, it appears, that we are not taking time to befriend, hold Bible studies, counsel, and fellowship new converts.

What is your church's views on disciplining?

Blessings, Rhoni

Re: Discipling and retention
 

A study was conducted once on Billy Graham Crusade converts. When they came forward they were asked to characterize the person who brought them to Christ as preacher, teacher, or friend. Five years later they were asked if they were still active Christians. 95% of those who characterized their 'soul winner' as a preacher said they no longer attended church, 85% of those who came via a 'teacher' were not, but 90% of those who said a 'friend' won them were still faithful. Discipling works.

Re: Discipling and retention
 

The absence of posts to this thread is one of the reasons that we lose as many members as we gain in many Apostolic assemblies.

Discipling...what is that?

Blessings, Rhoni

Re: Discipling and retention
 

We have a class for new converts on Wenesday nights that last about a month and teaches about what they recieved, the importance of baptism as a next step, gifts of the spirit and how to grow in the spirit. They are assigned to a "Life Connections" group which meets once a month. If a lady, she is given a "prayer sister" who will become her best friend and source for answers and support.

Discipling is just as important as bringing them in. I often wonder and worry if we will have to give account for those we brought to HIM and then allowed the world to take back.

New converts should continue to be a burden on our hearts until they become a blessing in our lives.

Re: Discipling and retention
 

I think my church has this down. :)

I owe them a lot for that too.

Re: Discipling and retention
 

Great thread Rhoni...

Our churches revolve around the spirit.

WHOoooooooooooooooooooo the spirit moved last night. That is the measure of a good service.

If a preacher is going to be in demanded... he had BETTER be a high spirited one because that is our drug of choice. That is what we want. We want the high of the spirit.

But the high of the spirit does not help you when you put one foot in front of the other tomorrow. It is the teaching of the word.

And I'm not talking about that YOU CAN DO IT... GOD IS GONNA MAKE IT HAPPEN... JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE WHAT GOD IS GOING TO DO... RUN AROUND THIS CHURCH IF YOU WANT A BLESSING kinda stuff either.

I am talking about teaching that deals with our attitudes... the way we interact with others... TEACHING FROM THE BIBLE about the ways that we dress ourselves and conduct ourselves (Yelling for an hour about why you are going to go to hell for doing this or that is NOT teaching.) Of course teaching many of these things from the Bible is difficult since some of it isn't in there so yelling for an hour how you are going to hell is about all they've got.

The very fact that we have new converts does say a little bit about how the regular services have moved away from foundational, one foot in front of the other, this will help you tomorrow in the real world kind of teaching.

We want to get drunk... we don't want to learn something new.

We want to hoop and holler... we don't want to find a new way we can change who we are into more of what He is.

When the Religion Lite no longer does it for them and they can't pretend that wallering on the floor for half an hour didn't really change the battles they were facing inside they decide that THEY must not have want it takes and they go away.

The interesting thing is that a couple of months without any hooping and hollering assuming that this is accompanied with a couple of months of solid teachings about what the word of God has to say about the most basic things in life might just bring about revival. I'm not against hooping and hollerin'... I just think we need a time of refocus.

The spirit has become the main focus when, interestingly enough, the spirit is given to us to give us the power to live the WORD. The spirit is an engine... raw power.. good stuff. But the word is the transmission. It is what the engine was built for... and without it the engine is nothing more than a show of power with no forward movement to show for it.

When there is a reviving of the word within us... there is no greater definition of revival. When the word touches people where they live and changes their very lives... retention is not a problem. Space is.

Whoda thunk it.

Re: Discipling and retention
 

Yes ma'am... your church does a rare job on teaching. A very rare job.

Re: Discipling and retention
 

Re: Discipling and retention
 

Since we have to send people away to another room to receive new convert class that would appear to be in agreement with what I am saying.

It would not be a sure fire indicator... in the least... because there are things such as the plan of salvation etc that one would do well to ground these new converts in...

But the idea that we need to send them to another room to receive this teaching seems to continue that statement with the thought that the reason we take them in THERE is because it isn't going to be happen in HERE.

Re: Discipling and retention
 

It's not just the teaching, although I definitely agree that I appreciate that very, very much.

It's the emails exchanged with my pastor, the hours and hours on the telephone going over the same stupid things, knowing that he'd give everything if that's what someone needed (and being on the receiving end of that has been life changing for me). It's the tears in his eyes when we've talked about some things (my kids this summer, some things I'm struggling with right now). It's knowing I don't have to explain my past, but I'm free to if I want to, and he never discounts it. It's knowing that he, and others in the congregation, would do anything to hold me up until I can stand on my own two feet. *This* is probably the key. They would do, and are doing, and have done, ANYTHING to get me from where I was to where I'm going. I have never before in my life experienced love like this, and it's changed my life. They believed God loved me and cared for me before I could even begin to fathom the possibility.

The teaching? Yeah, that's been my key to relationship with God. But all the rest of it kept me here long enough for that relationship to start growing.