Dear friends in Christ,
Last week, I had the great pleasure of attending a discipleship summit organized by some of my colleagues at Forward Movement. The folks at our Center for Discipleship & Renewal brought together leaders from across the church to talk about the current needs for disciple-making. We talked about what’s not working and what could be working better. We looked especially carefully at a draft framework for a life of discipleship developed by some of our team.
While the challenges are considerable, hope is greater. There was a sense of hope in the room that looked beyond easy solutions toward a world transformed by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
I am always heartened to talk with leaders, lay and clergy, who are working faithfully to help more people know Jesus. We invited parish priests, diocesan staff, campus chaplains, academics, and more. While our contexts are different, we all share a love of Jesus.
The reason I’m telling you all this is that you should know that we at Forward Movement are relentlessly focused on inspiring disciples and empowering evangelists. While a lack of resources isn’t the only challenge, it is sometimes a problem—and a problem that we can solve. We’re working with you and for you. Cedar will be holding additional discipleship events in the future and is excited to be opening up this conversation to the wider church.
And, also, we won’t know all the right answers. Fortunately we have the promise of the Holy Spirit to lead the whole church into the truth. Please pray for us at Forward Movement, that we will be open to the Spirit in our work.
Stay tuned to what our discipleship folks are working on. There’s some amazing stuff on the way.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
More from our ministry:
“Advent does not deny the dark or ask us to manufacture hope.” Meet Tina Francis – the final author for our Advent devotional – in this author Q&A.
What does it mean to make gentle a bruised world, and to tame its savageness? John Ohmer reflects on compassion this week on the Cedar blog.
Suggested reading: Spotlight resources on faith and belonging