Jeffrey D. Jones, Traveling Together: A Guide for Disciple-Forming Congregations. Alban Institute, 2005.
Referenced in: Strategies for Church Renewal – Diagnostic/Prescriptive, Disciple-Making
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Jones begins by surveying the marginalized state of today’s church alongside other characteristics of the “post” world that affect ministry. His essential message is that established ways of doing ministry simply do not work anymore. As an alternative, he suggests a movement back to the basics of the earliest disciples and Jesus as revealed in the gospels and Acts. Based on this, he offers a description of the elements of true discipleship – deepening, equipping, and ministering. The appendix arranges these elements into a tool for assessing a church’s capacity for disciple formation.
Deepening – growing in relationship. These are the experiences that encourage people to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ through personal and corporate spiritual disciplines. Recommended experiences: worship, prayer groups, spiritual-growth groups, seasonal reflection groups (Lent, Advent), spiritual emphasis events, seasonal devotional booklets, mentoring relationships, Bible-based sharing groups, spiritual growth retreats.
Equipping – growing in giftedness. These are experiences that encourage people to claim and develop their gifts, discern God’s call to them, and acquire the knowledge and skill needed to live out that call faithfully and effectively. Recommended experiences: Bible study classes, gift assessment tools and groups, opportunities to experiment using spiritual gifts, training opportunities to develop skills and gain knowledge, study groups on issues of faith and/or theology.
Ministering – growing in service. These are the experiences that provide opportunities for people to live out their call and through that both deepen their relationship with Christ and become more effectively equipped to live as Christ’s disciples. Recommended experiences: mission trips, service projects, serving in a leadership role within the church, local mission outreach, volunteer work, understanding work, parenting and other involvements from a perspective of ministry.
Throughout the book, he underscores how important it is to view discipleship formation in the context of the community of faith.
There is no such thing as solitary disciple. At times we may be alone, but we are never solitary. One-to-one relationships may be important in discipleship, but they cannot carry the full load. Important discipleship experience may occur outside the bounds of congregational life, but disciples always come from and return to the community. The community of faith is essential to forming disciples. The community is the bearer of the tradition – the Story that tells of God’s purpose, the salvation of Christ’s sacrifice, the Spirit at work in us and among us to attune us to God’s presence and power. The community provides the setting in which our call can be discerned. Only the community brings together the variety of gifts and experiences that are essential for discipleship. It takes a community to form a disciple. (45-46)
This begs the question, “What kind of community builds disciples?” To answer this, Jones surveyed literature on congregational renewal and transformation by leading authors such as Thom Bandy, George Barna, Rodney Clapp, Bill Easum, Stanley Hauerwas, William Willimon, Brian McLaren, Christian Schwarz, and Jeff Woods. He tried to find the common threads that ran through their literature, and derived the following characteristics of disciple-forming communities.
- Spiritual Vitality
- Vital, Transforming Worship
- A Focus on God’s Mission
- Gifts and Call as the Basis for God’s Ministry
- Shared Ministry
- Commitment to Equipping
- Lean, Permission-Giving Structures
- Holistic Small Groups
Jones has provided a good tool. Those familiar with the leading authors he surveyed will find a great deal of dependence on their ideas and metaphors. Jones claims no less. Thus, his approach is not unique. He demonstrates that a person can indeed read through some of the best approaches and develop their own hybrid for their congregation.
From the Publisher
Many church leaders feel—at least on some level—that virtually all the old answers about what it means to be and do church don’t work anymore. Author Jeffrey D. Jones believes that if the old answers don’t work any more it is because the world in which they had worked is no more. A new world has dawned and new answers are urgently needed.
In Traveling Together, Jeff Jones takes his readers on a journey, providing a guidebook that maps out:
- The factors facing congregations in this post-modern, post-Christian world
- What it means to be a disciple
- Biblical foundations for understanding the purpose of the church—to become a disciple-forming community
- Key experiences that contribute to the growth of disciples
- Eight important qualities of a disciple-forming congregation
Rather than bemoaning the state of the church in the world today, Jones says we need to be open to the possibility that the struggles of these times are God’s way of calling the church to be what it is supposed to be—to do what it is supposed to do in this new world.
Traveling Together is a travel guide for a journey with a sacred purpose—discerning God’s call, both as individuals and as the church. The destination will look different for different congregations, but Jones provides the tools to help pastors and other leaders embark on their own unique quest to respond to God’s call.
Anyone concerned for the life and ministry of the church, who has a sense that things are not what they might be, and who is seeking a new understanding of congregational life and mission will find hope and help in these pages. With the heart of a pastor, Jeff Jones shows congregational leaders how to embrace the best parts of their church’s rich heritage and reclaim it for a new day.
About the Author
Jeffrey D. Jones is the pastor of First Baptist Church, Plymouth, Massachusetts. A former denominational executive, he is the author of nine books and is the director of distance learning for Andover Newton Theological School.
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