For years, I have kept a John Wesley quote at the very top of my personal rule of life. He said, “Do justice to your own soul; give it time and means to grow. Do not starve yourself any longer.”
Wesley was writing to a young minister struggling with his preaching. His presentation was energetic, apparently, but lacked depth. Wesley critiques, “It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought. Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian.”
The purpose of the Adult Discipleship Team is to create an atmosphere for the laity and clergy of the North Alabama Conference to become “deep preachers” and “thorough Christians,” through Wesley’s prescription of reading “with meditation and daily prayer.” In short, we foster discipleship. As a local expression of Discipleship Ministries, one of international agencies of The United Methodist Church, we are part of the shared dream of making disciples for the transformation of the world.
Our Adult Discipleship Team consists of Rev. Eric Bagwell, Teri Barnes, Rev. Josh Hickman, Rev. Delaney Holloway, Becky Walker, staff member Lyn Cosby, and myself. Our exciting goals for this present year are:
1. Establish the annual presentation of
the “One Matters Award” at Annual Conference. This award from Discipleship Ministries recognizes one special
congregation in each Annual Conference in the United States. It will be awarded
this year in North Alabama for the first time. It goes to a congregation that
has demonstrated revitalization in discipleship, marked by an increase in
professions of faith from zero in the previous year to at least one on the
Weekly Benchmark Report. The award includes a commemorative plaque and a $1,000
check.
2. Develop a resource on “How to Start
a Prayer Team” for local churches. Our
plan is to have a practical and easy-to-use resource available for release at (and
following) Annual Conference this year. We desire every local church to
saturate their ministries with prayer through developing prayer spaces,
providing prayer experiences, and organizing ongoing prayer ministries. It is
our hope that this resource will help many churches deepen their call to form
people spiritually.
3. “Beef up” the Annual Conference Prayer
Room. The prayer room
is a sacred tradition of our gathering at Annual Conference and provides quiet
space for healing, grace, and depth during our family gathering. We plan
promote the prayer room earlier at the Annual Conference session, hold a prayer
vigil and prayer walk over the prayer room and outdoor labyrinth, and send a
mass email to clergy spouses beforehand to encourage participation.
4. Hold an annual “Spiritual Formation Day Apart” that is deeply spiritually enriching for participants but also gives us a forum to spread the word about discipleship ministries beyond our local church and the Annual Conference. Our goal is to hold this in January of 2026, in collaboration with the Annual Conference Spiritual Formation Team.
In addition to these short-term goals, we of course continue to promote ongoing ministries in our Annual Conference that foster discipleship. These ministries include:
1. “Read Together” and “Pray Together.” These life-changing podcasts involve
laity and clergy from our Annual Conference who submit recordings most weeks of
the year. The podcasts guide us as we read the Bible together and deepen our
prayer life. You can easily access both podcasts from our Conference website
and social media. Or you may simply download the podcasts “Read Together UMCNA”
and “Pray Together UMCNA” using your favorite device.
2. “Sabbath Stays” at the Sumatanga
Lake Cabin. It’s
not easy being in ministry, and we need to support our leaders as they journey
into the wilderness like Jesus did. Through the generosity of Sumatanga in
coordination with the Spiritual Formation Team, we offer “Sabbath Stays” for up
to two nights a year at the Sumatanga Lake Cabin for North Alabama clergy
and church staff. A spiritual formation library and “retreat in a box”
is provided by the Spiritual Formation Team. Retreatants provide their own food
and enjoy the privacy of the beautiful three-bedroom lake cabin for only a $50
cleaning fee. Registrations are made by contacting the retreat center office
and are based on availability. This offer is not available on weekends or
during summer camp.
3. Portable Labyrinth Ministry. Our Annual Conference owns a
30-foot canvas labyrinth available for check-out by churches and ministries of
the North Alabama Conference. There is no cost, and the labyrinth may be
reserved for indoor use only for any length of time based on availability. You
may find more information on care for and use of our labyrinth, the spiritual
practice of using a labyrinth, pick up and drop off requirements for use of our
canvas labyrinth on loan, and a reservation form at www.umcna.org/labyrinth.
4. Periodic Conference-Wide Studies. This past Lent, we made available
a book-study curriculum from Discipleship Ministries on the new book Our
Hearts Are Strangely Lukewarm: The American Methodist Church and the Struggle
with White Supremacy. We organized and held numerous in-person and Zoom
book studies around the Annual Conference, as well as encouraging local
churches to organize their own.
5. Other Ongoing Discipleship
Ministries. We
offer a weekly “Examen,” a prayer and reflection practice that helps people
find God in their lives, meeting on Wednesday evening at 8:15 pm on Google
Meet. We promote various spiritual formation and discipleship experiences such
as the Walk to Emmaus. We offer a scholarship program for laity and clergy to
attend Spiritual Formation experiences. We periodically offer curriculum
reviews. All this and more may be found on our website at www.umcna.org/adultdiscipleship.
Our most adventurous long-term goal for this quadrennium is to connect the “average layperson” with ministries and resources for discipleship and spiritual formation in unprecedented ways.
One of the most unique strengths of the work of the Adult Discipleship Team is the development of a thriving Spiritual Formation Team over the last several years. This ad hoc team under the umbrella of Adult Discipleship works to pursue these and other goals and projects, such as:
1. Silent Retreats – Held twice a year at Sacred Heart
Monastery in Cullman, Alabama, Silent Retreats for laity and clergy sponsored
by the Spiritual Formation Team help people experience a deeper listening to
God through the rhythm of Benedictine silence and prayer. Our most recent one
was held March 27-29 (Thursday-Saturday) and the next one will be October
3-October 5 (Friday-Sunday). More information and registration may be found at www.umcna.org/silentretreats.
2. Community of the Mantle – This is a covenant group that
meets monthly by Zoom and annually by retreat at Sacred Heart Monastery. It is supported
by, but not limited to, those who have attended Academies for Spiritual
Formation. Our primary purpose is to support each other in our call to prayer,
and we follow a shared rule of life. More information about the Community of
the Mantle may be found at www.communityofthemantle.com.
3. Sponsoring and Promoting Four-Day Academies
for Spiritual Formation
along with our partners in the Alabama-West Florida Conference. These local
expressions of this ministry of the Upper Room are held almost annually in
alternating locations. The next one features Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry Brown and Rev.
Dr. L. Roger Owens and will be held August 11-15, 2025 at Camp McDowell. The
following Four-Day Academy is scheduled for October 5-9, 2026 at the Sumatanga
Retreat Center. More information about Academies may be found at www.academy.upperroom.org.
4. Directory of Spiritual Directors. We keep a continually updated
directory of spiritual directors in North Alabama that are available to join
you for your walk with God. This ancient companioning ministry brings life and
accountability to discipleship. Contact the conference Adult Discipleship
office for contact information on how to receive an updated list with contact
information.
The Spiritual Formation Team is chaired by Rev. Renae Perry and includes Rev. Michael Bowman, Rev. Dale Clem, Robert Ferrell, Rev. James Fields, Bonita Gill, Rev. Carol Gullatt, Rev. Susie Knedlik, Rev. Emily Penfield, Rev. Judy Shepherd, Rev. Roger Short, Becky Walker, and myself.
To keep up with the work of the Adult Discipleship Team and the Spiritual Formation Team, as well as learn about the vast number of quality resources and curriculums from Discipleship Ministries, follow “Adult Discipleship UMCNA” on Facebook (be sure to like it and share it!). Browse our pages on our Annual Conference web page regularly at www.umcna.org/adultdiscipleship.
Rev.
Dr. Steve West, chair
Adult
Discipleship Team
