Covenant discipleship groups and the office of class leader offer two working, proven models for doing evangelism. As an African American raised in the tradition of Methodism, I have found the class leader system to be crucial to my understanding of a holistic ministry of nurture. What is even more intriguing are the possibilities of the office of class leader with covenant discipleship groups within local congregations.

The Wesley societies of the eighteenth century wanted to project a "corporate-lived faith" of disciples of Christ Jesus. With the recovery of the Class Leader system and the emergence of covenant discipleship groups, the logical question for these models is, What are we doing for justice, compassion, devotion, and worship as faithful Christian disciples?

Justice in the Wesleyan tradition is concerned with that which is social. Wesley did not want religion to be "solitary." Wesley would say that social justice is to "love God and neighbor as self"--e.g., advocating race, class, age, and sex inclusiveness within the church and within the local and global community. For example, my local congregation makes our church building available to the local Coalition for Community Concerns and encourages our members to participate.

Compassion--the ability to "feel with" someone--is extended to persons in need by members of my local church, through, for example, serving food at a local mission center and collecting and taking clothes to a clothing shelter.

Devotion, as I interpret it, is personal time with God. Many times I spend devotion time reading scripture, not for a sermon, but for enjoyment. Additionally, many times I wake up with a song on my heart and I proceed to "talk with God" through the sharing of the song. Devotion time is pivotal to helping one enter into the presence of God in corporate worship.

Worship is participation in praise to God. It is giving of your "time, talent, and treasure." In my congregation, there is a prayer team that prays during worship for those on the prayer list and for the congregation as a whole. Additionally, when someone calls the prayer team leader for prayer outside of the church service, she calls everyone on the team to share in that prayer request.

Personal devotion and corporate worship under the guidance of the Holy Spirit lead one to witness--reach out--to those who are in need within the community. In this way, we as Christians not only profess the faith; we live the faith. Personal piety leads to corporate piety, which leads to concerns for social justice and mercy.

Empowering the Laity

Wesley never wanted "Methodism" to become an "institution." He wanted Methodism to be a move of the Holy Spirit within the lives of people who want to help usher in the kingdom of God. The thrust of the Methodist movement was "from the bottom up." That is, the class meeting helped to empower the laity. There were many lay people who had responsibilities within this structure. The Methodist Church today, as an institution, is structured from the top down.

It is structured from the Bishop down to the local church member. The emphasis today shows a dissipation of lay empowerment. Covenant discipleship groups place the thrust of discipleship back in the rightful hands of the laity. Jesus trained the disciples and sent them into the world. Clergy today must be able to train church members and send them into the world as witnesses (evangelists) of the gospel of Christ Jesus. And when the laos gather again in the covenant discipleship groups and the worship service, it is in these environments that we hold ourselves accountable for our Acts of Mercy and our Acts of Piety.

Christians must become the embodiment of Christ Jesus in the world. Then and only then can we help to usher in the reign of God on earth.

K. Llewellyn McGhee was a student in the Covenant Discipleship course taught by the Rev. Dr. Phyllis Tyler-Wayman in 1996 at Saint Paul School of Theology. These excerpts are adapted from a required assignment.

This article is from the Summer 1997 issue of Covenant Discipleship Quarterly.

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