Sean
Mogee has volunteered the past 6 years serving with a youth ministry in New
Jersey and has taken on the Wednesday night teen small group discipleship. The
format that he uses to disciple those that come is unlike other discipleship
programs that have been told about in our class. The group that meets, in total, is no larger
than 30 in size and breaks down into smaller groups once the night’s topic is
mentioned and starting questions for the groups are listed. This creates a very different dynamic and
demands alternate approaches to discipling than what is ordinarily thought due
to the large nature of the group. Thirty people may be too many for one to
disciple, but 4 or 5 can do it quite well. In order to create that small, tight
and personal environment that is needed for discipleship they have to break
down into these smaller groups. He said that he always puts them in circles and
not rows. Creating the smaller groups that are manageable for a disciple help
those that are interacting and leading the small groups.
Apart
of Wednesday discipleship is the after school program that starts at 2:30 and
goes until 7:30 when NRG starts. The after school program provides the
essential and key element of relationship into the discipleship process. During
the five hours that the students are there they are able to do their homework
and ask questions to other students and adult leaders if needed. When the majority of students have accomplished
their homework food is made and served to all the students. Throughout the entire time the leaders are
able to go around, sit with, help, and talk to the students about any number of
things in their life and just joke around.
This has created very tight relationships between the leaders and the
students. These deep relationships allow for great transparency and openness, a
petri dish for great discipleship to take place.
When
looking for someone new to disciple Sean looks first to see if they have a
heart that is willing and able to take on such a responsibility as to become a
disciple of another for a period of time.
Also it’s important that they need to want to change and be discipled to the core, which also means that
they want their relationship with Christ to grow as well. Honestly is also a huge element that Sean described
within a discipling relationship. If two
individuals are in a discipling relationship but are not being honest with each
other and divulging everything that is going on in their life then they may
never have a huge road block removed or dealt with if they are not able to see
it within themselves. Lastly, Love was
needed in that relationship. Love for not only God but for the other person and
for their own self too. The commitment
goes far and wide. The extent easily
goes as far as having the meetings held on a consistent basis in light of
length of meeting and time in between meetings being consistent.
These
are also the obstacles that are faced within a discipleship relationship and
Sean had some good advice as to what to do to overcome the obstacles. “Pray,
pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray.” He
noted that if the person that is discipling is not constantly rooted in prayer
and working to deepen their relationship with God who is the main source of
wisdom and power then they have nothing above their own self to give.
In
terms of how he assesses the growth of those he disciples the tools that he
uses are ones that measure ones spiritual growth and things such as a spiritual
gift assessment. Constant reflection, he said, was a must and its importance cannot
be understated in measuring and evaluating from a holistic and personal
standpoint. Some sources of structure
that he has chosen are books such as The
Dare by Josh Mayo and then Rehab
by Josh Mayo as well. These books provide steady and structured discipleship programs
that help all who are involved know and understand where they are going much
better than it would be without them.
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