On November 2, 2000, a “celebration” of 25 years of Covenant Discipleship in The United Methodist Church will be held at Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC. On Thursday evening (7:00 pm) a worship service and commemoration will be held in the York Chapel of Duke, as the opening event of a 2-day workshop on accountable discipleship. Please mark your calendar now!

In 1975 the first Covenant Discipleship group was formed in a local congregation: Holly Springs United Methodist Church, Holly Springs, NC. David Lowes Watson was at that time serving this congregation. He was working on the re-traditioning of the historical class meeting of Methodism for his doctoral dissertation at Duke. Gayle Turner Watson, David’s wife, who recently published A Guide for Covenant Discipleship Groups (please see the review) says in the opening pages of this splendid publication, “Members who were a part of this first Covenant Discipleship group had no intention of designing a program for the church. Their only desire was to have fellow Christians accompany them on their journey in discipleship, friends in the faith who would hold them accountable for their day–to-day efforts to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. This modern adaptation of the early Methodist class meeting enabled people to experience the unique Wesleyan tradition of watching over one another in love, just as their Methodist forebears had done in 18th-century England and America.”

Bishop Ann Scherer will be the preacher for this comemorative worship event. Members of Holly Springs United Methodist Church will be joining us. Worship will be followed by a keynote address from Dr. Watson, ending with a reception.

The Accountable Discipleship workshop, which will begin the next morning, is designed to train pastors and lay leaders in how to introduce and initiate covenant discipleship in the local congregation. It will be led by the Council for Accountable Discipleship, under the leadership of Mark Wethington. Workshop leaders will include David and Gayle Watson, Duke Divinity School faculty, and trained CFAD members. Sponsors of this event include CFAD; the Office of Accountable Discipleship, Gen-eral Board of Discipleship; the North Carolina Conference Council on Ministries; and the Office of Continuing Education, Duke Divinity School. Continuing education credits will be available through Duke.

The workshop begins Thursday evening, November 2, with worship (the 25th Celebration) and continues through Saturday, November 4, adjourning late morning. For information, contact the Office of Accountable Discipleship in Nashville (tollfree 877/899-2780, Ext. 1765), the Office of Continuing Education at Duke Divinity School (phone 919/660-3448 or fax 919/660-3528), or Mark Wethington, 910/692-3518.

Mark Wethington is pastor of Southern Pines United Methodist Church, Southern Pines, NC.