The Pastoral Team of Sage-Granada Park United Methodist Church, Alhambra, California, includes five people with four native languages who are working to form a mutually agreed-upon covenant and to become a Covenant Discipleship group.

The four cultures of English, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Gujiradi of India are miles apart in the sounds of our words, but through our efforts to uphold compassion, justice, worship and devotion, we find our hearts are walking to the same beat. Our goal is to continue to grow in discipleship through the use of this re-traditioned model of John Wesley's early class meeting.

As we achieve this goal, we shall be one step further into living the General Rule of Discipleship — to witness to Jesus Christ in the world and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Since 1988, when I became the Director of Covenant Discipleship for the General Board of Discipleship until now as I serve as pastor of a local church, I have continued to discover ways to uphold the mutually agreed-upon covenant in my daily life. In each meeting for accountability, I find that my discipleship is deepened and the challenge to live faithfully is before me.

I find the General Rule of Discipleship and the groups are excellent guides in living faithfully in this world as disciples of Jesus Christ. I invite my congregation, wherever they are each day at 7:00 a.m., to join me in prayer for one another and for the world. We are of one heart as we pray, even though we are of multitudes of opinions on every subject. That prayer includes the increase of faithfulness to being disciples of Jesus Christ. Covenant Discipleship groups are a means to that end.

Whatever awaits me now or in the future, the General Rule of Discipleship is my rule of life. And Covenant Discipleship groups are central to the shaping of my discipleship.

I am grateful for the genius of John Wesley as he addressed the Methodist societies, and for David Lowes Watson in our time, who recognized Wesley&339;s genius and brought it alive for our world. And I am grateful to the General Board of Discipleship and the Council for Accountable Discipleship for the continued ministry of Jesus Christ that commands us to love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. The General Rule and Covenant Discipleship Groups are a good means to this end.

Phyllis Tyler is pastor of Sage-Granada Park United Methodist Church, Alhambra, CA, and one of the original members of Covenant Discipleship.