Discipleship: taking the next step

College students team up to live out their faith

by Deborah White

When members of the Discipleship Team at Southwestern College  talk about life after graduation, they focus on how they will live out their faith as well as where they will work.

Through Discipleship Southwestern, the United Methodist-related college in Winfield, Kan., offers scholarships for students to become part of an intense four-year experience that includes Bible study, covenant groups, prayer, service, outreach and personal health activities.

Adam Thompson (left) and the Rev. Steve Rankin

“We have the same authority to award financial aid as the football coaches,” said the Rev. Steve Rankin, campus minister and director of Discipleship Southwestern.

“Our aim at Southwestern is to develop disciples of Christ who know what they believe, and why, and have a sense of calling to serve God in the world post-graduation,” Rankin said during a presentation at a higher education conference in 2004.

The Rev. David Miller, college minister at Union College  in Barbourville, Ky., was so inspired by Rankin’s presentation that he started a similar program. Five students received scholarships this fall to become members of the first Discipleship Team at Union.

“All Christians are called to live lives of service, to be in ministry in some way,” Miller said.

Discipleship teams and courses emphasizing personal ministry are among the ways United Methodist-related colleges help students discern how they will live out their faith in their careers, churches and personal lives.

“We’re trying to help our students practice some of the Christian disciplines in a community setting where there is support and accountability,” Rankin said.

Discipleship Southwestern started in the fall of 1997 with five students and has grown steadily with about 25 new students each year. It is for students who are ready to step beyond typical campus ministry activities, such as chapel. “It’s pretty high demand, pretty high challenge,” Rankin said.

Its four parts include:

Heart – Daily spiritual disciplines, weekly chapel, weekly covenant groups and worship in a local church.

Head – Courses such as church history, leadership, Bible study and theology.

Hands – Service, outreach projects, mission trips.

Health – Self-designed exercise and nutrition program.

“Overall it was a good experience,” said Josh Case, Andover, Kan., a recent graduate and member of the Discipleship Team. “Probably the most helpful thing for me was the covenant groups. It gave time for intimacy and talk about different areas of our lives.”

Kayla Drake

Kayla Drake, Garden City, Kan., a sophomore on the Discipleship Team, likes best the “chance to see that other people on campus are also on a spiritual walk. ... The program has helped me live out my faith by helping me realize I need to share it more.”

At Union College, members of the Discipleship Team developed a statement of what God is calling them to do over the next four years. Later, each will update a personal calling statement to include what God is calling them to do with their lives.

“I want to help them think about their vocation, mission and sense of calling. It sends the message that life is more important than our earning power,” Miller said.

At McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, “there seems to be a real hunger by the students to engage faith and integrate that into their higher education,” said the Rev. Tim Kennedy, university chaplain.

Some students decide to enter ordained ministry after taking the college-sponsored seminary tour. Others decide they are called to teach or work for justice or heal the sick, Kennedy said.

An attitude of servant leadership starts with professors, coaches and staff members who model their faith. Community service is an integral part of campus programs and social groups. “It really pervades the campus,” said John Russell, university president.

Last year Kennedy began two courses to help students integrate classroom learning with their own sense of vocation and calling.

In August, McMurry’s faculty voted to develop three courses that emphasize cultivating leadership, excellence and virtue, Russell said.

“We fail as an academic institution if a young person leaves with a diploma but doesn’t have an attitude of wanting to minister,” Russell said. “I can graduate the best chemist in the world, but if he or she doesn’t have an attitude of service, I have failed them.”

—Deborah White, associate editor of Interpreter and Interpreter OnLine.