Discipleship Pathway
A parish culture oriented toward evangelization and missionary discipleship is attentive to the different stages/milestones of one’s journey in their relationship with Jesus and the faith community – we call this the Discipleship Pathway.
For example, many people today are in a stage of exploring the meaning of life, others need a fresh encounter with Christ before they can grow in their faith. Still others are ready to go on mission to invite people onto the "discipleship pathway."
The pathway image is circular, which represents a continuous deepening of our own discipleship and mission throughout life.
- Explore – recognizes that people may not yet be open to a relationship with Christ and His Church, but they are spiritually open, searching for peace, meaning, purpose.
- Encounter – moments where people meet the living Christ in a life-changing way, coming to know Jesus is actively present in their lives and that God loves them unconditionally.
- Grow – nurturing the movement of the Holy Spirit to grow in relationship with Jesus in a community of faith.
- Go – Disciples are called to live out their faith in the world serving in a way that attracts others into relationship with Jesus … to share our faith, invite others to explore faith, become "co-responsible" in our own and others' faith journey, and support parish renewal as leaders in our parishes
- Core elements – A s parishes renew themselves to create the culture of evangelization and missionary discipleship needed to support everyone at each stage of the discipleship pathway, there are fundamental (core) elements that must be in place: prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit, leading as a team, sharing the vision, hospitality and accompaniment.
