Class Response #1 - Jan Workman

Discipleship Process at a Peak :)          


           What does the discipleship process look like?  That is something that Jan Workman  along with Christian Life Assembly works on.  Fornication and crucifixion is something she has been trying to teach students at her church.  She said that adults are in the same plus sometimes which tends to be a bit scary.  She believes in 3 things: Kids are capable of glorifying God. 

Move finish line from 18-25 years old…young adult ministry at CLA.  They have a kid’s ministry up to 5^th grade, a middle school aged group to 8^th grade, then high school group.  This generation is “caused driven”.  I love that she talked about the “Armor of God”.  One of the things in that she talked about was forgiveness.  Currently I am having a hard time with that so it is something to definitely pray about.

            I can tell that she loves working in kids ministry.  She worked with many kids who are now, vision-oriented young adults changing the lives of students from what God has taught them.  She isn’t teaching the same way at CLA that she did at FV but she always loves working with both.  Something I never knew about her was that she helped or lead at one of our church plants.  Church wide, what does discipleship look like from start to finish?  They aren’t completely sure but what they do know is that the staff at CLA is working hard to develop a process for all ages.  It isn’t all about students learning, parents teaching, staff doing all the work.  The barriers need to be broken down between these areas.  Students can also be teachers.  Parent may be trying to teach kids around them but they could also be learning in the process.  Staff doing all the work, that’s not even an option.  Everyone who goes to church I believe, should be involved somewhere in the church, in the body of Christ.  You have to think outside the box.

It takes a team of people to launch from a ramp, not just one person.  There may be a lead person on the team but we are all part of the leadership building.  The leader of the group puts the vision into the rest of the team.  She talked to us, reminded us about the whole spiritual gifts survey.  That is a very huge and important test to take.  That shows us what are strengths are, where they could be, where God has placed us in the Kingdom of God.  I love how she quoted from the Bible about the truth.  “And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  It made me think back to when we went to Allison Park Church.  It’s a great thing to be vulnerable in trying to find truth.  It’s great to be trying to better yourself all the time.  Knowing the truth is good, but that doesn’t mean that it always gets easier.  That’s part of the verse is something that I’ve seen people and myself tend to look over sometimes.

The whole “adopt-a-block” idea she mentioned is great but what caught my eyes and ears even more was the whole portion of team building.  If there’s anything I got from her teaching it is team building.  I still don’t know how to completely make team-building better but it is a start.  I’m still in the learning process of this, especially with our worship team.   It is very hard at times to work with others who were already strong leaders when I’m just a growing leader built it also makes me very excited.  It’s so hard at times to work together but it’s during the hard times that the team can grown the most.  One of the best forms of Discipleship I’ve ever learned up to this point is from Gerry’s book “83 Lost Sheep”.  Following up is a huge thing too.  Keep following up with your team and those wanting to be a part of that group.  No one is beyond accountability.  Always keep that in mind with any relationships with others.  Not only with people but in anything you do.  Always keep that in mind.  This is what I learned from Jan’s fantastic message to the class. J