DISCIPLING, NURTURING, AND RECLAIMING

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The following pages represent a small selection of content

from this valuable resource. To learn how to obtain the full

book or to make copies available in your territory, contact

the General Conference Sabbath School and Personal

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sspm.adventist.org

Or email:

[email protected] ventist.org.

May the Lord bless you!

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Nurture and Retention Committee.

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Mei Lin Koh, Gary D Krause, Elbert Kuhn, Duane McKey, Willie Oliver, Karen J Porter, Heather-

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DISCIPLING, NURTURING, AND RECLAIMING

Tle of Contents

vii

Note from the Editors

Foreword

1 | Introduction

3 | Jim Howard

New Member Discipleship: Disciple-Making Principles

and the Discipleship Handbook

14 | Leigh Rice & Glenn Townend

Membership or Discipleship: What you Aim for is What you Get

26 | Kleber de Oliveira Gonçalves

SigaMe (Follow Me): An Experience in Creating a Culture of Discipleship

43 | Anthony WagenerSmith

Implementing a Mission Scorecard

52 | Marcos Antonio Salas Nuñez

What Did Jesus Do to Become the Communicational Impact of History?

65 | Tim Madding

The Reclamation of Discipleship as the Primary Missional Focus

in the Seventh-day Adventist

Church

73 | Ramon Canals

The Amazing Infuence of Sabbath School for Discipleship Growth

81 | Bonita Joyner Shields

Two Sides of Sanctication

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DISCIPLING, NURTURING, AND RECLAIMING

89 | Marcos Bomﬁm

Nurture and Heart Retention

95 | General Conference Women’s Ministries

Discipleship—Woman to Woman

105 | Fylvia Fowler Kline

Nurture and Retention through Service: Creating Opportunities

that Strengthen Faith Communities

119 | Gorden Doss

Cross-Cultural Disciple Making

122 | Bruce Bauer

The Importance of Contextual Discipleship

130 | Paul Tompkins

What’s Missing: CH- -CH?

138 | Gary Blanchard

Cure for Hezekitis: How to Reach and Retain

the Younger Generation

145 | Stephan Sigg

Rethink Church

153 | Paul Tompkins

Feeding the Core, not Entertaining the Fringe

159 | Galina Stele

What Does the 2017–18 Global Research Reveal

about Adventist Young People?

177 | Willie & Elaine Oliver

The Spiritually Vibrant Adventist Home

187 | Linda Mei Lin Koh

Intentional Discipleship of Children and Teens

197 | Wesley Taylor

Joining and Remaining—A Look at the Data

on the Role of Adventist Education

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DISCIPLING, NURTURING, AND RECLAIMING

210 | Alina Baltazar

Living Up to Adventist Standards: The Role Religiosity Plays

in Wellness Behaviors of Adventist College Students

222 | David Trim

The Need for Loving and Supporting Local Churches:

Church Statistics and Research Findings

236 | Anthony R. Kent

Barnabas: Epitomizing Discipling and Nurturing

246 | Brian Litzenberger

Connecting with the Disconnected

258 | Edward Heidinger & Charles Rampanelli

People Behind Numbers: A Positive Perspective

of Membership Auditing

270 | Emmanuel Guimarães

The Care and Rescue of Members Who

Left the Church: “Reencounter Project”

278 | Gerson Santos

Discipling, Nurturing, and Reclaiming

APPENDICES

282 | Appendix A

2013 Nurture and Retention Recommendations

284 | Appendix B

2019 Nurture and Retention Summit Recommendations

288 | Appendix C

SAMPLE SURVEY FOR THE LOCAL CHURCH

Self-assessment of the Implementation

of the 2019 Summit Recommendations

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DISCIPLING, NURTURING, AND RECLAIMING

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DISCIPLING, NURTURING, AND RECLAIMING

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THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH is “Go . . . and make disciples” (Matthew

28:19).

We cannot aord to make anything less. Many churches have

mistakenly assumed that baptizing new converts is equivalent to

bringing them safely into the fold. Yet the startling number of members

who have left the church over the past 50 years tells a dierent story. The

truth is that baptism is only one of many steps toward becoming a mature

disciple of Christ. And it is this, becoming a mature disciple, that is needed

to help members grow stronger and keep them faithful to Christ.

So what is needed in order to fulll the commission to make disciples,

and not mere members? This article will begin by establishing principles

that are important to remember when making disciples. It will then

explain how these principles can be applied in an intentional and sys-

tematic new member discipleship plan using such tools as the Discipleship

Handbook. The rst principle is that the process of discipleship is the

growth cycle. Second, the instruments of discipleship are people. Third,

the goal of discipleship is Christlikeness. And last, the power of disciple-

ship is from God.

THE PROCESS OF DISCIPLESHIP

When Jesus described the evangelistic mission of the church, He

often used the analogy of the agricultural growth cycle to describe the

growth of the kingdom of God: “A sower went out to sow” (Luke 8:5). “The

elds . . . are already white for harvest” (John 4:35). “The seed is the word

of God” (Luke 8:11). “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are

few” (Matthew 9:37).

The farmer must prepare the soil, plant the seed, cultivate the

growing plants, harvest the crop, preserve the harvest, and then repeat

New Member Discipleship

Disciple-making Principles

and the Discipleship Handbook

JAMES HOWARD

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the cycle using the seed reaped in the previous harvest. Similarly, the

gospel sower must prepare the soil of the heart with friendship and

service, plant the seed of God’s Word with literature or spiritual conver-

sations, cultivate spiritual interest with ongoing Bible studies, harvest

decisions for Christ with personal and public appeals, and preserve the

harvest of souls with a systematic and intentional discipleship plan for

new members (see gure).

The GROW Model. Learn more at https://grow.adventist.org.

The top icon represents the rst step of preparing the soil of the

heart. Continuing clockwise, the second icon represents planting

the seed of truth, the third icon represents cultivating spiritual

interest, the fourth icon represents harvesting decisions for

Christ, and the fth icon represents preserving the harvest with

ongoing discipleship. The continuous circle represents the

cyclical and multiplying nature of discipleship.

Figure:

The key principle taught by Jesus in His agricultural analogy is that

making disciples is a process, not an event. Far too often we describe the

mission of the church in narrow terms. We consider evangelistic outreach

to be isolated from nurture, and we view numerical growth as separate

from spiritual growth. Yet we discover that discipleship, when properly

understood, is a process that includes both! Notice the following state-

ments by Ellen White: “When souls are converted, set them to work at

once. And as they labor according to their ability, they will grow stronger.”

“The more one tries to explain the Word of God to others, with a love for

souls, the plainer it becomes to himself.”

“Let ministers teach church

members that in order to grow in spirituality, they must carry the burden

that the Lord has laid upon them—the burden of leading souls into the

truth.”

“Those who are most actively employed in doing with interested

delity their work to win souls to Jesus Christ are the best developed in

spirituality and devotion.”

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From these inspired statements we discover a beautiful synergy

between evangelistic labor and personal spiritual growth. It is by

laboring for souls that we grow spiritually ourselves. Outreach and

nurture are two sides of the same coin. Whether we call that coin evan-

gelism, discipleship, or soul winning, a true and comprehensive

denition will include every phase of disciple-making. It will include

ministering to people’s needs, introducing them to Bible truth, engaging

in ongoing Bible studies, leading them to follow Christ and be baptized,

and then nurturing and training them as they grow into well-rounded

and active disciples of Christ.

We have only one mission. It is both the best strategy for church

growth and, at the same time, the best strategy for the nurture and

retention of our members. Discipleship is one continuous process that

begins before baptism, continues after baptism, and leads the disciple to

become more like Jesus and to carry on His mission of winning souls. The

process of discipleship is the growth cycle taught by Jesus.

THE INSTRUMENTS OF DISCIPLESHIP

When Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19),

He was talking to His disciples. While it is true that books, classes, and

sermons may be helpful in the discipleship process, we must always keep

in view that it is people who make disciples. True discipleship requires

relationships, time, and a living example. The reason Jesus was so

eective at making disciples was that He understood this principle and

therefore invested signicant time and energy in developing the Twelve.

They learned to pray by watching Jesus pray. They learned to depend

upon the Scriptures when they saw how Jesus depended on the Scriptures.

They learned how to sacrice and deny themselves by how Jesus denied

Himself. They learned how to minister to others’ needs and teach the

gospel by watching the Master Healer and Teacher.

Paul also understood this principle. He wrote to the young minister

Timothy: “And the things that you have heard from me among many

witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others

also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Christ and certain representatives of the church

taught Paul, Paul taught Timothy, Timothy was to teach faithful men, and

these faithful men were to teach others also. That’s four generations of

discipleship in one verse!

The important takeaway from this discipleship principle is that we

can’t simply hold a class or give someone a book and call this discipleship.

New members learn how to be disciples by spending time with Jesus, but

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they also learn from the example of more experienced church members

who are willing to invest time in them. For this reason both Paul and Peter

emphasize the importance of being a godly example (see 1 Peter 5:2, 3;

1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-7). Ellen White

concurs, stating that “one example is worth more than many precepts.”

Since the primary instruments of discipleship are people, the quality

of the new disciples we make will to a great degree be dependent upon

the quality of the disciple-makers! For this reason the rst step for church

leaders in establishing a new member discipleship plan should be to

prepare and train godly mentors.

THE GOAL OF DISCIPLESHIP

Jesus explained the ultimate goal of discipleship when He declared,

“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained

will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). The goal of discipleship is to be like

Jesus—Christlikeness in character and behavior. Jesus had a lot to say

about what it meant to be a disciple, but in every case He was simply

calling on His followers to be like Him.

A few of Jesus’ statements are sucient in order to grasp the primary

aspects of this goal of Christlikeness in His followers: “By this all will

know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John

13:35). “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take

up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). “Follow Me, and I will make

you become shers of men” (Mark 1:17).

Jesus explained that those who follow Him were to become loving,

self-denying, soul winners—just like Him. This is a high calling indeed.

It is also a compelling reason we can’t aord to cease our labors for new

converts immediately after they are baptized. Does a newly baptized

member understand how to be a loving, self-denying, soul winner—a

disciple who makes other disciples? We are not truly fullling the

mission unless we are leading our new members to be not merely

consumers, but producers. We must encourage and help them to become

loving, obedient, active shers of men and women.

Jesus instructed His disciples to not only baptize new believers, but

to continue “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded

you” (Mat t hew 28:20). Disciplesh ip i ncludes practica l i nstruct ion i n Ch rist’s

way of living. This begins with His habit of communion with God in

prayer, His study and dependence on Scripture, His bold witness to the

truth, and His loving ministry to the needs of humanity. It also includes

many other practical areas of biblical instruction, such as baptism,

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Sabbathkeeping, reverence, stewardship, health, modesty, marriage,

and family.

It should also be noted that discipleship in the last days will reect

the unique message of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as the remnant

church of Bible prophecy. This message, entrusted by God to His people

and rmly established in the Bible, is the foundation of faith and practice

for end-time disciples. With a wealth of guidance through the Bible and

the prophetic counsel of Ellen White, our Lord Jesus Christ desires that His

disciples in the last days will follow in His footsteps and reect His image.

THE POWER OF DISCIPLESHIP

While it is true that people are the primary instruments in making

disciples, it must always be remembered that the power required for true

discipleship comes from God. No matter how much we love people, build

friendships, establish condence, provide godly examples, or show

sympathy, none of these has power to convert or transform the soul. We

must connect people to Christ and His Word. It is through the founda-

tional spiritual habits of prayer, Bible study, and witnessing that the

Christian beholds and experiences divine power.

When surveys are taken of those who have left the church, reasons

such as conicts, hypocrisy, lack of love and care, or oensive attitudes

are often cited to explain why they left. While we must take these

seriously, we should also not fail to discern and address the more funda-

mental reasons that are rarely recognized or expressed. More often than

not, the reason new members leave the church is that they failed to

establish or continue in spiritual habits that would have given life and

power to their spiritual walk with God. Without these spiritual habits,

they become easily discouraged, distracted, tempted, or oended.

Ellen White writes of the spiritual habit of prayer: “Prayer is the

breath of the soul. It is the secret of spiritual power. No other means of

grace can be substituted and the health of the soul be preserved. . . . Neglect

the exercise of prayer, or engage in prayer spasmodically, now and then,

as seems convenient, and you lose your hold on God.”

Rarely will

someone who leaves the church state that the reason they left is that they

stopped praying regularly. They may not even recognize this. Nevertheless,

the neglect of this habit causes many to lose their hold on God. This is the

hidden but true reason we lose many members out the back door.

Another essential spiritual habit is spending regular time in the

Bible. Jesus boldly declared, “Unless you eat the esh of the Son of Man

and drink His blood, you have no life in you. . . . The words that I speak to

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you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:53-63). It is often the case that

new members come to a Bible study or evangelistic meeting and are

convicted and compelled by the inspiring biblical preaching and teaching.

However, when the meetings are over and after they are baptized, they

gradually lose their inspiration. What happened? They had been

genuinely changed by the Word being taught to them in the meetings, but

they never learned how to regularly feed themselves. New members must

be taught that unless they consistently read the Word, they will not be

able to maintain a spiritual life. The Bible is not like other books. It is not

merely informational, but transformational. It is through the living and

powerful Word of God that we are converted, or born again, and the

same Word is needed for power to live a victorious Christian life (see

Hebrews 4:12; 1 Peter 1:23; Matthew 4:4). For this reason Ellen White

warns, “Satan well knows that all whom he can lead to neglect prayer and

the searching of the Scriptures will be overcome by his attacks.”

Because of the creative power in God’s Word, we should make its

study foundational to any discipleship plan for new members. This plan

should include ve dierent levels of Bible study: (1) encourage the

spiritual habit of personal daily Bible reading, (2) give Bible studies to

share the full Adventist message for the rst time, (3) give baptismal

preparation studies to ensure readiness for baptism, (4) give discipleship

studies after baptism to integrate new members into the life and mission

of the church, and (5) review our message with more in-depth Bible

studies that prepare new members to give Bible studies to others. By sat-

urating the discipleship process in the Word of God, divine power will be

imparted to the new disciples. For the ve levels of Bible study listed

above, the General Conference Sabbath School and Personal Ministries

Department has developed resources to aid churches in their discipleship

training. To encourage daily Bible reading, the Discipleship Handbook

contains a daily Bible and Spirit of Prophecy reading plan. The resource

Fundamentals of Faith is specically designed for use in baptismal

preparation studies. The main portion of the Discipleship Handbook,

which will be discussed later in this article in greater detail, can be used

for discipleship studies after baptism. And the Bible Study Handbook can

be used to prepare and train members to give Bible studies to others.

Just before ascending to heaven, Jesus told His disciples, “But you

shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you

shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and

to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). When we share the gospel of Christ with

others, we join God in His work and experience His power. While the

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power of prayer and Bible study is familiar to most Christians, the power

of God experienced through witnessing is far less common. Even so,

nothing solidies new disciples in their faith like sharing God’s Word with

others. When we engage in this vital work, the power of the Holy Spirit

strengthens our convictions, increases our faith, grows our knowledge,

and expands our love for souls.

In the great mission of making disciples, we must always remember

that our job is not merely to connect with people, but to connect people to

Christ: “If we can awaken an interest in men’s minds that will cause

them to x their eyes on Christ, we may step aside, and ask them only to

continue to x their eyes upon the Lamb of God.”

Jesus is the Master, and

we are all His disciples. All power resides in Christ and His Word. In

order for us to make disciples and retain them in the church, a disciple-

ship plan must focus on developing in new members the foundational

“power” habits of prayer, Bible study, and witnessing.

NEW MEMBER DISCIPLESHIP

AND THE DISCIPLESHIP HANDBOOK

When we understand that the discipleship process follows the

growth cycle, that the primary instruments of discipleship are people,

that the goal of discipleship is Christlikeness, and that the power of disci-

pleship comes from God, we are ready to establish a new member

discipleship plan that will improve both member involvement and

retention rates. The General Conference Sabbath School and Personal

Ministries Department has developed the Discipleship Handbook, which

may be used as the foundation of a new member discipleship plan in any

local church. The remainder of this article will use the Discipleship

Handbook to show how a local church can apply the principles of disci-

pleship in a practical way to disciple new members.

But rst, why would we want to use a book for new member disciple-

ship if true discipleship is based on relationships more than books,

classes, or programs? While it is true that books don’t make disciples,

they do equip disciple-makers! Ellen White had these wise words to say

regarding the thinking of many church members: “Many would be

willing to work if they were taught how to begin.”

There are a few

important things to remember about the practical application of making

disciples: (1) discipleship happens at the local church, (2) church members,

and not pastors, are the primary disciple-makers, and (3) even most expe-

rienced members are not familiar with how to mentor new members. In

light of these realities, and Ellen White’s counsel that church members

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need taught “how to begin,” it becomes vitally important that tools and

resources be provided to equip church members with a simple process

and clear direction for the discipleship of new members. This is the

purpose of the Discipleship Handbook.

HOW TO USE THE DISCIPLESHIP HANDBOOK

It is important to make the distinction that the Discipleship Handbook

is not merely a book about discipleship. Rather, it is a local church disci-

pleship tool that can be used in the discipleship process of every newly

baptized church member. When considering the ve phases of the disci-

ple-making process (prepare, plant, cultivate, harvest, preserve), the

Discipleship Handbook ts in the nal phase—the nurture and training

of new members for preserving the harvest. The book contains 26

chapters, which correlate to 26 weekly meetings (six months) between

mentors and new members.

To begin, local church leaders should read through Appendix A, “The

Discipleship Plan,” to understand how to implement a simple discipleship

plan for new members. They should then give a copy of the book to as

many members as possible, asking them to read and familiarize them-

selves with the book in preparation for using it to mentor newly baptized

church members. Because every member is to engage in the work of

making disciples, every member should be preparing for a time in the

future when they will serve as a local church discipleship mentor for

someone newly baptized. Alternatively, only a small group of experienced

members already willing to serve as mentors could be asked to read the

book to familiarize themselves with the new member discipleship process.

The process for using the Discipleship Handbook is straightforward

and simple. When new members are baptized, each one is paired with a

more experienced member called a mentor. Both new members and

mentors are given a Discipleship Handbook if they don’t already have

one. Beginning immediately after baptism, mentors and new members

meet weekly to review one chapter of the Discipleship Handbook together.

This may be done individually or in a small group. It may be ideal to meet

before prayer meeting or after church, thus merely adding an hour to a

day when the mentor and new member already plan to be in the same

place. In Appendix A, “The Discipleship Plan,” one-page meeting outlines

are provided to guide the mentor in what to do during the weekly

meetings. These outlines include discussion questions for the chapter

being read that week. More important than this, however, are the activity

ideas given to mentors to integrate the new members into the life and

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mission of the church. Activities such as introducing new members to

members they haven’t yet met, arranging for Sabbath lunch and fellow-

ship with other members, inviting new members to experience family

sundown worship, taking new members on outreach activities, and

many other recommended activities are suggested in the weekly outlines.

These activities, or similar substitutes, are essential for training new

members and for integrating them into the life of the church.

In the second weekly meeting, which focuses on the topic of the Bible

in the devotional life, the new member is encouraged to begin using the

Bible and Spirit of Prophecy reading plan found in Appendix B of the

Discipleship Handbook. This reading plan consists of daily readings of 15

to 20 minutes per day. As the new members are guided to a Bible passage

to read during their daily devotional time, they are also asked to read a

correlated passage in the writings of Ellen White. Each week, when

mentors and new members meet, they are encouraged in the weekly

outlines to begin their meeting by sharing one insight gained from their

devotional time that week. By doing this, support and accountability are

provided to help nurture the daily devotional habit in the new member.

Of course, in order for the new member to follow the reading plan, the

mentor will need to provide the necessary Ellen White books, or point

them to free access versions on apps or websites.

It is important that the local church personal ministries leader, or

someone appointed as a discipleship ministry leader, provide active

oversight of the new member discipleship process. Biweekly or monthly

mentor meetings are one way to do this. Alternatively, the discipleship

ministry leader may make personal contact every few weeks with each

mentor. The reason this support and accountability is so important is that

it is often the case that new member discipleship breaks down because

the mentors are not fully committed. They may allow diculties in

schedules or distractions in their lives to prevent them from gaining any

momentum with weekly meetings. If the meetings between mentors and

new members don’t happen weekly, it greatly reduces the quality of the

disciple-making.

Over the course of the six-month process, mentors and new members

will study many important topics. The 26 chapters in the Discipleship

Handbook cover discipleship, the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy, personal

prayer, character development, family worship, Adventist mission and

identity, personal witnessing, church attendance, church ordinances,

church organization, Adventist history, Adventist ministries, lifestyle,

Sabbath observance, reverence, stewardship, health, modesty, entertainment,

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DISCIPLING, NURTURING, AND RECLAIMING

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marriage and family, the evangelism cycle, preparing the soil of the heart,

planting the seed of truth, cultivating spiritual interests, and harvesting

and preserving decisions for Christ with ongoing discipleship.

FOUNDATION PRINCIPLES

AND THE DISCIPLESHIP HANDBOOK

We began this article with certain foundation principles of disciple-

ship, the rst being that disciple-making is a process that follows the

growth cycle. This is reected in the Discipleship Handbook in various

ways: (1) the last ve chapters provide instruction in the evangelism

cycle and all ve phases of disciple-making, (2) the weekly outlines

encourage the mentor to engage in several hands-on soul-winning activ-

ities with the new member, and (3) at the conclusion of the book, the new

member is encouraged to use the book in the future to mentor someone

even newer to the faith.

The second principle was that the instruments of discipleship are

people. This is reected in the discipleship plan outlined in the

Discipleship Handbook by the pairing of each new member with a more

experienced mentor. This vital relationship is built by incorporating

weekly meetings as well as activities they experience together outside

the meetings. In addition to the relationship between the new member

and the mentor, there is also an intentional eort to connect the new

member to both the worldwide church (e.g., history, organization, ordi-

nances, etc.) and the local congregation (e.g., meeting attendance, social

life, mission, etc.).

The third principle was that the goal of discipleship is Christlikeness.

This principle can be seen in the Discipleship Handbook in various ways.

The very rst chapter, “To Be Like Jesus,” establishes this as the goal of

discipleship. The fth chapter, “By Beholding,” focuses on becoming like

Jesus by beholding Him in prayer and the reading of His Word. Various

aspects of practical, Christlike living are also reected in the Christian

lifestyle chapters.

Fourth and last is the principle that the power of discipleship is

from God. This principle is applied from the outset of the Discipleship

Handbook, with an introduction in the rst chapter to the eight spiritual

“power” habits of consistent prayer, Bible study, family worship, Sabbath

School attendance, church attendance, prayer meeting or small group

attendance, personal witnessing, and involvement in church ministries.

Several chapters are dedicated to giving practical guidance and strong

encouragement to developing these spiritual habits. The Bible and Spirit

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of Prophecy reading plan is also introduced to equip new members

with a simple plan that can help them discover the power of a consistent

devotional life.

CONCLUSION

Whether you utilize the Discipleship Handbook or something similar,

waste no time in employing an intentional and systematic plan to disciple

every new member in your church or territory. With the four discipleship

principles outlined in this chapter as your foundation, aim to develop

every member into a loving, self-denying, soul winner—like Jesus. By

doing this, you will not be limited to the plan of addition, but will experi-

ence the abundant joy of the plan of multiplication. “One soul, won to the

truth, will be instrumental in winning others, and there will be an

ever-increasing result of blessing and salvation.”

ENDNOTES

1 Bible texts in this chapter are from the New King James Version.

2 Ellen G. White, Evangelism (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1946), p. 355.

3 Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn.,

1900, 1941), p. 354.

4 Ellen G. White, Christian Service (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1925),

p. 69

5 E. G. White, Evangelism, p. 356

6 E. G. White, Christian Service, p. 59.

7 Ellen G. White, Prayer (Nampa, Idaho: Pacic Press Pub. Assn., 2002), p. 84.

8 Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacic Press Pub. Assn.,

1911), p. 519.

9 The resources mentioned are currently available with the exception of the Bible Study

Handbook, which is currently planned to be published by the end of 2021.

10 Ellen G. White, Maranatha (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1976), p. 99.

11 E. G. White, Christian Service, p. 59.

JAMES HOWARD

Jim Howard is associate director of the General Conference Sabbath

School and Personal Ministries Department. His 17 years in pastoral and

administrative ministry were preceded by a 12-year career in corporate

accounting. He is married to Sonya, his wife of 24 years, and has two

daughters—Kayla, 22, and Lindsey, 19. Throughout Howard’s ministry of

preaching, teaching, training, and developing resources for soul winning

and discipleship, his burden has been to lead every member to a closer

walk with Jesus through communion with God, fellowship with the church,

and active involvement in both personal and public outreach.

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CHRISTIANITY HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING acontinuingdecline in Bible

study and prayer. According to the Pew Research Center, only one third

of Christians in the United States read the Bible at least once a week. Like

many Christian churches, our own church is being aected. If transfor-

mation isto happen in the church, the study of the Bible must be front

and center, for without it there is no spiritual growth. Ellen G. White

writes, “None but those who have fortied the mind with the truths of the

Bible will stand through the last great conict.” As Seventh-day Adventists

we are blessed to have a religious-education institution for members of

all ages—Sabbath School!Sabbath School was designed with the purpose

of helping its members grow in spiritual understanding as they get into

the Word of God daily.Sabbath School has a tremendous qualitative and

quantitative inuenceon making disciples and growing and developing

the church. What changes must happen in local church Sabbath

Schools to harness their potential to improve and enlarge the church?

What is the secret of getting church members excited about coming to

church early and staying in the church? These are questions many people

are asking.

The answer to these questions might be a dierent kind of Sabbath

School—a Sabbath School focused on worshipping God through prayer,

Bible study, genuine fellowship, and uncompromising focus on mission.

This is not a dead or boring Sabbath School. This is what I call “Sabbath

School Alive”!

Sabbath School has been called the “heart of the church” for good

reasons. If rightly conducted, Sabbath School can bring life to the church,

The Amazing Inﬂuence of

Sabbath School for Discipleship

and Growth

RAMON J. CANALS, D.Min.

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74 |

just as the heart brings lifesaving blood to the body. In other words,

Sabbath School has an amazing inuence for church growth and

retention of members. Calling Sabbath School the heart of the church

might sound like a cliché, yet it is an undeniable truth.

Not only is Sabbath School the heart of the church, but its importance

in the life of the believer cannot be underestimated. I like to dene

Sabbath School as an opportunity for developing relationships: relation-

ship with God, relationships with one another, and relationships with

the community. Thus, Sabbath School is about restoring relationships on

the Sabbath day—a day designed by God for worship and fellowship. It is

about worshipping God and making disciples—learning and growing in

the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10).

As in the days of the Colossian church, we face the danger of being

deceived by the elemental spiritual forces of the world rather than

growing by abiding in Christ. We face the danger of forgetting who we

are and why are we here. We should never forget that we are people of

the Bible and that we are called to prepare the world for the second

coming of Jesus.

I was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church at the age of 20

after a dramatic encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Although I grew

up serving as an altar boy in the Catholic Church, I had never read the

Bible. After my baptism as a Seventh-day Adventist I was given an assign-

ment that I credit with helping me develop a love for the Bible and for

Sabbath School. I was asked to teach the youth Sabbath School lesson.

Although I had never studied the Bible before, let alone taught it to

others, I took this responsibility seriously. I began to study the Bible study

guides and the Bible intensely, getting up very early every morning to

study. One of the reasons I spent so much time studying the Bible was that

I knew so little about it and I wanted to be sure I knew my lesson well

when before the class on Sabbath. The eort of getting up early in the

morning and dedicating hours to prayer and the daily study of the Bible

were instrumental in cementing my faith and deepening my love for my

Savior, Jesus. Reading the Bible daily helped me acquire a deeper under-

standing of God’s will as it is outlined in the Bible, and a desire to share

this knowledge with other people. I grew spiritually as I spent time with

God and His Word.

The result will be the same for anyone who decides to spend time

with God and the study of His Word. As we grow spiritually, we become

aware of our fallen condition and are more willing to become partners

with God in saving souls for the kingdom of heaven. As we continue to

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| 75

grow in the knowledge of the will of God, we will learn to please Him in

everything we do. It is this knowledge and a love for Jesus that keeps

people in the church. We can devise plans and strategies to keep people

in the church. We can try to close the back door and the windows and

pehaps the chimney to prevent people from leaving the church. But

unless we help them develop a close relationship with Jesus thorough the

study of the Bible and prayer, all eorts will fail.

Church growth has been a subject of much study in recent years.

Everyone in church leadership is concerned about the empty pews. As a

pastor, I hated the empty pews. And I asked myself the question “How can

I reverse this trend? How can I ll the empty pews?” Several years ago I

was serving as a pastor in a church that had been declining for years. As

I started praying and thinking about what to do, I realized that the

answer to my questions was right in front of my eyes: the Sabbath School

class. Yes, the Sabbath School class! I realized that all the resources I

needed to bring revival to the church were right there staring at me.

The Sabbath School class is the perfect structure for church growth

because of its size. Any expert in church growth will tell you that to grow

a healthy church, you need to develop small groups. Why small groups?

Here are 10 reasons:

1. Jesus’ Example: To grow His church, Jesus chose a small group

of disciples. Small group ministry was Jesus’ way of making

disciples. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed

you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever

you ask in my name the Father will give you” (John 15:16).

2. Ellen White’s Counsel: Ellen White encourages small groups

focused on mission. The Sabbath School class is a functioning

small group. “The formation of small companies as a basis of

Christian eort is a plan that has been presented before me by

One who cannot err.”

3. Spiritual Growth: The Sabbath School class is ideal for spiritual

growth. Small groups provide a special environment for experi-

encing God as we worship Him through the study of the Bible,

prayer, and fellowship. “For where two or three gather in my

name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20).

4. Encouragement: To encourage one another in a small setting is

better than in a large group. Small groups help facilitate biblical

applications to your personal situation. “See to it, brothers and

sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns

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away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as

long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by

sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:12, 13).

5. Fellowship: The best way to nd fellowship is in a small group.

Small groups provide growth in Christian lifestyle through

shared experiences, victories, and challenges, in a familiar

setting. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to

fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).

6. Responsibility: Sabbath School helps members become respon-

sible for their own spiritual growth. Instead of depending on the

pastor to nurture and care for them, through the small Sabbath

School class they learn to care for themselves and for one another.

The small-group setting can help members overcome sin through

the encouragement of sharing struggles and victories. “Submit to

one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21).

7. Discipleship: A small Sabbath School class can facilitate disci-

pleship more eectively than the large church (see Matthew

28:18-20). Small groups help fulll the Great Commission to

make disciples by oering a place to worship, pray, study the

Bible, and grow.

8. Meaning and Fulllment: There is nothing more powerful to

help people stay in the church than a sense of belonging and

meaning. The small Sabbath School class can develop projects to

impact their community. Small groups oer the opportunity to

serve God by helping others. “Day after day, in the temple courts

and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and pro-

claiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah” (Acts 5:42).

9. Tender Loving Care: The small Sabbath School class is eective

in caring for and loving one another. Small groups are an

intimate place where love and care are given and received. “Be

kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just

as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

10. Success: The small Sabbath School class focused on Bible study,

prayer, and soul winning is resulting in church growth

wherever it is implemented (see Acts 2:41-47). Wherever this

methodology is carefully followed, it yields fruit! It is successful

in making disciples!

How can Sabbath School be an inuence to help you grow your

church and make disciples? Here are three ways.

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I. SABBATH SCHOOL HELPS YOUR CHURCH

GROW SPIRITUALLY

Spiritual growth can happen only as we feed ourselves from the

Word of God. Ellen G. White comments, “The beauty and riches of the

word have a transforming inuence on mind and character.”

If church

members depend on the 30-minute sermon from the pulpit once a week,

they will become weak, dependent church members. On the contrary, if

they study for themselves daily and connect with God individually,

they will be strong, independent disciples growing in grace and serving

their communities.

Sabbath School is a tremendous inuence on growth in the Christian

faith and on maturing in Christ. Ellen G. White writes, “The inuence

growing out of Sabbath school work should improve and enlarge

the church.”

Inuence to Improve the Church

Sabbath School is the very basis of our Christian growth; it is the daily,

weekly, continuous focus on God’s Word that leads an individual, and the

church collective, to grow in spiritual strength. The emphasis on Sabbath

School, and Sabbath School attendance, is vital if the individual and the

church are to ourish in spiritual growth and biblical understanding.

The inuence of Sabbath School in the growth of the church cannot be

underestimated. Sabbath School, if rightly conducted, can be an agency for

growth in the church by helping its members know God and develop a

close relationship with Jesus. There is nothing more eective for spiritual

development than the study of the Bible. Satan is aware of the power of the

Bible for spiritual transformation and for keeping people connected to

Jesus and active in the church. Ellen G. White asserts, “Satan well knows

that all whom he can lead to neglect prayer and searching of the Scriptures,

will be overcome by his attacks. Therefore he invents every possible device

to engross the mind.”

This is why we must do everything possible to help

people love and study the Bible. People cannot love Jesus, who is our life, if

they don’t know the Bible, because it is in the Bible that Jesus is revealed.

II. SABBATH SCHOOL HELPS YOUR CHURCH

GROW NUMERICALLY

Inuence to Enlarge the Church

To enlarge the church means simply to make it bigger—to help it grow.

Sabbath School can enlarge the church by teaching members how to give

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Bible studies, how to share their faith, how to work in their communities,

and how to make disciples. The importance of Sabbath School as an

instrument for church growth was clearly set forth by Ellen G. White

when she said, “The object of Sabbath school work should be the ingath-

ering of souls.”

Notice that she saw Sabbath School as an institution that

could help enlarge the church through numerical growth.

Mandate to Make Disciples

The Great Commission of Jesus is a mandate to make disciples.

Therefore, making disciples should be a priority for any pastor or

church leader who wishes to follow in the footsteps of the Master. The

Sabbath School class has the perfect structure for discipleship and

disciple-making.

The Gospel of Matthew introduces the beginning of Jesus’ public

ministry with His preaching the arrival of the Kingdom of God (Matthew

4:17). “Follow me, and I will send you out to sh for people” (verse 19). “Go

rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: The

kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 10:6, 7). After Jesus’ resur-

rection He gave His disciples His nal all-encompassing command to

make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:19). With this command

Jesus created a self-perpetuating, living organism that will never run out

of human resources. Sabbath School, if done correctly, can be a powerful

instrument in making disciples.

III. SABBATH SCHOOL KEEPS YOUR CHURCH

UNITED THEOLOGICALLY

Sabbath School is the instrument designed by God to keep the church

together theologically, because Sabbath School is the vehicle through

which the universal message of the three angels of Revelation 14 is pro-

claimed to its members. The global perspective of the SDA Church is

acquired through the Sabbath School. If Sabbath School disappeared, the

church would lose its integrity as a world church. Thus, Sabbath School is

the golden thread that keeps the Seventh-day Adventist Church united

theologically and sociologically.

A study conducted by the General Conference Department of

Archives, Statistics, and Research found two important factors regarding

Sabbath School. The rst factor was that Sabbath School is a powerful,

positive inuence in church life around the world. The study found that

the adult Sabbath School lessons are well liked and regarded as spiritu-

ally benecial by church members everywhere. So too is the overall

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| 79

experience of Sabbath School. The researcher, David Trim, concluded

that “it is a strength on which the church should build.”

Another important takeaway from the study, Trimm reported, was

that less than half of all Seventh-day Adventists worldwide have experi-

enced any denominational education, and many pastors have had limited

Adventist education. Although the percentage of church members who

have attended Adventist educational institutions partly reects rapid

church growth rather than lack of commitment to denominational

education, this means there is a growing need for education for the

children of the many recent converts. There is also a need for pastors to

receive a thorough and distinctively Adventist training and to have

opportunities for continuing education.

CONCLUSION

As I travel and speak with church leaders around the world, one thing

has become clear. They feel that people are not attending Sabbath School

and church in some places because those places have lost their focus on

mission. And because of the weak spiritual condition of the members.

Sabbath School was created to strengthen the spiritual lives of the

members as they study the Bible and seek to share their faith with other

people. It is one of the divinely appointed methods for instilling the

gospel in every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. The key to church

growth and Sabbath School revival is every member involved in the

mission of saving souls by practicing what they have learned in Sabbath

School. “The Lord desires that those who are engaged in the Sabbath

school work should be missionaries, able to go forth to the towns and

villages that surround the church, and give the light of life to those who

sit in darkness.”

The writings of Ellen G. White arm that those who engage in

Sabbath School work should be men and women of faith, humility, conse-

cration, and spiritual knowledge. They will then be able to go forth into

the world to share God’s amazing love for His children. The Great

Commission of Jesus was not for church growth. The Great Commission

was to make disciples. However, if we make disciples instead of members,

the church will grow exponentially. It’s worth noting that Jesus’ mandate

necessitates that the church train laypeople for evangelism. Encouraging

Sabbath School classes to be actively involved in their community is one

way people of any language or ethnic background can be motivated,

trained, and equipped to fulll Christ’s mandate. Then, as the disciples

grow spiritually, the church will grow numerically.

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RAMON J. CANALS, D.Min.

Ramon J. Canals is the director of the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries

Department of the General Conference. Previously he was vice president of

the North Paciﬁc Union Conference and also served as evangelist, evange-

lism coordinator, and ministerial and Hispanic ministries director. He

graduated from Central American Adventist University in Costa Rica (B.A.).

He also holds a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.)

from Andrews University. Canals’ mission is to encourage, energize,

empower, and equip the saints for the mission of saving souls. Canals enjoys

racquetball, reading, music, and memorizing entire chapters and books of

the Bible. He is married to Aurora, an assistant treasurer at the Chesapeake

Conference who holds a Bachelor of Business Administration. They have two

adult children, Jessica and Gabriel, and three beautiful grandchildren.

ENDNOTES

1 https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/14/5-facts-on-how-americans-view-the-

bible-and-other-religious-texts/.

2 Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacic Press Pub. Assn.,

1911), p. 593.

3 Bible texts in this article are from the New International Version.

4 Ellen G. White, Evangelism (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1946),

p. 115.

5 Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn.,

1900, 1941), p. 132.

6 Ellen G. White, Counsels on Sabbath School Work (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald

Pub. Assn., 1938), p. 9. (Italics supplied.)

7 E. G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 519.

8 E. G. White, Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 61.

9 David Trim, Strategic Issues From Global Research (Silver Spring, Md.: General Conference

of Seventh-day Adventists, 2011-2013).

10 Ellen G. White, in Sabbath School Worker, Sept. 1, 1892, p. 74.