Taking all of that into consideration, I have decided that our church is working on discipleship in two ways. The first is teaching those within the church to be disciples and the second is sending those church members out into the community to be disciples to others.

Within our church there are many groups that help members of the church. Some of these groups are the United Methodist Women, the United Methodist Men and the Youth group. The United Methodist Women is a group that welcomes all women in the church. They help with many things around the church, including care of the kitchen. The United Methodist Women held a Bible Study in September that focused on Corinthians. They brought a group of the church together and taught them ways to be disciples. The United Methodist Women show women how to fellowship within the church and teach them how to be disciples. The United Methodist Men also help teach within the church and send out disciples. The United Methodist Men is a group in the church that welcomes all men that attend the church. They have monthly meetings and discuss important events that the men help with. The Men hold the annual church-wide picnic, where everyone in the church is invited to be in fellowship together. The final group that helps train disciples within our church is the youth group. The youth group is made up of youth ranging from grades 6 through 12. We have weekly meetings and discuss things that influence the day-to-day lives of Christian teenagers. We reach out to the youth in the church and teach each other how to be better Christians in the modern world. We try to plan events that will help us to grow in the Christian fellowship. We want to be Disciples of Christ in our schools and neighborhoods, and we learn to do that in church.

There is one more thing within the church that helps to train disciples. That is our Wednesday Night Bible Studies. We have several different classes on Wednesday nights. We have two children’s classes so that the elementary school children can learn about being disciples. Then we have a middle high Bible Study. This class was started because several middle schoolers approached the preacher about wanting to learn about the Bible. So the church started a class for them. The class started with only two students and now is up to about thirteen on a regular basis. They have been meeting since January and they are still in Genesis. They have taken apart everything that Bible has in it and learned as much as they can about it. Then more recently the church started a high school Bible study. In that class, the high schoolers study various parts of the Bible, including the parables and prophecies of Jesus. The high schoolers have also asked the question, "How do you pray?" We were told to pray from our hearts. To thank God for what we have, to praise Him, and then ask Him for the things we need. That is how we are supposed to pray. That is one way the high schoolers have been prepared to be disciples in the world. The final class on Wednesday night is the adult Bible Study class. The thing that this class has studied is Spiritual Gifts. They learned how to use the gifts that they have been given to praise God and to use them to be Disciples of Christ.

Now on to the second way that our church works on discipleship. After we have taught the members of the church to be disciples, we send them out into the community. We allow them to use what they have learned within the church to help outside of the church. Three items that our church provides that help the needy in our community are the Food Pantry, the Emergency Fund, and the Thrift Shop. Each of these three ministries helps to make someone’s life a little brighter. The Food Pantry gives food to people in the community who cannot afford food. The Emergency Fund gives money to those in the community who need it. The Thrift Shop donates various items to help those who are in need. Members of the congregation give of their time to volunteer in the Thrift Shop. The congregation gives money to the Emergency Fund. The congregation gives food to the Food Pantry. The people within the church help to keep these ministries running.

Another ministry of the church is the Card Ministry. This is group of people, of all ages, who meets every Wednesday evening at the Pizza Palace across the street from the church to send cards to those who are lifted up in concern on Sunday mornings. They send hope to many who would not get it otherwise. They are disciples to those who they do not know.

Our church also has a Prayer Ministry. This is a group of people who meets on Tuesday nights here at the church to pray for those on our prayer list, which is compiled from those people who are lifted up on Sunday mornings. This group of people shows their discipleship through prayer.

During the Christmas season, our church sets up an Angel Tree. On this Angel Tree are the names of several children who would not have a Christmas if their names were not taken. We get the names from the Mental Health Department of Fayetteville. Each person who helps with the Angel Tree, whether it is through a group, a family, or an individual, is touched because they can show a child how God works. Even though the child that is helped may never know that they were an angel, they see that they had a great Christmas. And knowing that you can help someone else have a great holiday makes a person feel good. They are being good disciples by helping those who are needy. There are also members in the church who help the needy families year round. They have the angels at Christmastime, but they also help during the other eleven months of the year. They just have to be called and they jump at the opportunity to help others.

This past June, our church started onto a new way of discipleship. I was sent as our church’s first "ambassador" to the Appalachian Service Project, more fondly known as ASP. This is a service project in the Appalachia Mountains at which we repaired the homes of families that cannot afford the repairs. From building porches to reinstalling floors, the groups that attend ASP get an experience that can never be forgotten. Personally, I will never forget when I first walked into the trailer where I worked for a week and thought that there was no way we would be able to rebuild that floor in five days. I thought it was impossible. But I was wrong. We set to work and within those five days, we had not only rebuilt the floor, we had also built them steps leading up to their door, we redid the plumbing in their bathroom, we fixed some electrical problems and we laid linoleum on the bathroom and hallway floor. We did a lot of work, but in the end, it all paid off. We were disciples because we showed that family how God’s people work in the world.

Another new ministry the church is starting quite soon is the Families First Program. In this program our church will adopt a Work First family and help them to move from welfare to work. There are eight church members on the team to do this. They will show discipleship through their helping of another person.

And a final ministry that shows the discipleship of our church members reaching out to the community is the "One-by-One" Ministry. This ministry is a tutoring program that teaches people of all ages, from second grade through adult, how to read and how to read better. The program started as a dream of Amy Eberhardt about four years ago. As I have heard her say many times: "It started with a dream and a prayer". And now this program has grown from a dream and a prayer, into the church’s Lay Ministry of the Year. The program started with only six students and six teachers, and has now grown to a full capacity of 27 students and 34 teachers. Mrs. Amy has been recognized as one of the Governor’s Volunteers of the Year because of the effort and dedication she has put into the program. The program has received a grant from the Cumberland Community Foundation and is recognized by J.W. Coon Elementary School as a partner in education. The students have shown great improvements when they are helped by the wonderful teachers of One-by-One. The program has many disciples. The teachers, who themselves range from sixth grade to adult, have answered a calling from God to help those who need help learning to read. The three adult directors of the One-By-One program each fulfill their discipleship work by helping to lead the program as far as it can go. The students are disciples because they allow themselves to be helped and can therefore help others. This "dream and prayer" program has grown into an extremely successful discipleship program. It is no longer just a prayer and a dream; it is now a reality and something to praise God for.

So I leave you with this. Our church is fulfilling both definitions of discipleship. Our church is full of those who are spreading the doctrines of God. And it is full of those who accept the obligation and privilege that they have through the Methodist religion to be disciples. I am very proud to say that I attend a church that has so many opportunities for any Christian person to be a disciple. We belong to a church where we can become disciples for Christ.

Meghann Dominie