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Recovering Our Wesleyan Faith and Formation Tradition

Published Date: January 26, 2016

By: Dr. Stephen L. Martyn, Associate Professor of Spiritual Formation

While teaching and leading retreats within the United States and other nations around the globe over the past decade I continually asked the people called Methodist (those within the greater Wesleyan family) about the content of their preaching, teaching, and study, as well as the specifics around their disciple making.  I wanted to know if the major themes of Wesleyan theology (our faith) were being explicated and if the classical Wesleyan means of formation (discipleship processes) were being employed.

In several instances I was filled with joy to encounter laity and pastors who clearly articulated the foundational elements of classical Christianity such as prevenient grace, justifying grace, the new birth, sanctifying grace, and the new heaven and earth that is to come.  In other locations, I witnessed fruitful Wesleyan discipleship practices.  Rev. Ivan Tan in Singapore and Dr. Gene Maddox in Florida are shining examples of faithful pastors who are leading their flocks in “high-bar” discipleship.  Dr. Phil Meadows is shepherding nothing short of a missional movement in Great Britain and Ireland in which Wesleyan theology and formation are renewing some segments of a rapidly declining church.  Through restoring Wesley’s bands, Meadows is putting the long-lost DNA of essential discipleship and missional service back into the marrow of several denominational systems. There are other persons that could be named and most certainly there is much to be grateful for in the body of Christ today.

Nevertheless, my limited field research has shown a rather glaring absence of Wesleyan theology in its richness—as grounded in apostolic teaching—being preached, taught, studied, and lived in worldwide Methodism.  In like manner, I have encountered few local congregations with any type of intentional discipleship process.  The critique could be made that the very DNA of our core theology and discipleship has been bred out of the system.  Long decades of forgetfulness have crippled our fruitfulness.Elink

But by no means is all merely a barren desert.  I also see immense longing for foundational Christian theology that will provide depth of love and strength to serve and that will shine forth with clear and compelling guidance for a self-absorbed culture.  And just as important, I interact with many leaders who are desperate for the tools they need to put the theology they love into the hearts and lives of those they are called to serve.  The Holy Spirit is whispering… inviting…calling us to embrace the neglected treasures of our tradition.  We have been given all that is needful for life-transforming worship, and for discipleship that puts the very nature of Christ into our own lives, and missional engagement that really does change the darkness of our communities.

If your heart burns for a handle on classic Christian theology and how it grounds the church in the Word of God and fills her with the life of God, then I invite you to come spend a few days with us at Asbury Seminary.  And if you have deep desire to see the people in your local congregation transformed into the image of God that they most deeply are, then I also invite you to come aside for a few days with us on our Kentucky campus.  Recovering Our Wesleyan Faith and Formation Tradition will be an experience designed to put the treasures of Wesleyan theology and discipleship formation back into the life of God’s church.

In this April conference, Dr. Kenneth Collins will give us the “handles” we need to recover the basics of our Wesleyan theology.  Dr. Phillip Meadows will encourage us with amazing examples of Wesleyan Bands (very small groups of like-minded disciples).  I will share about the transformational power of Wesleyan Class Meetings (larger mixed groups of disciples).  Dr. Bryan Sims will give us guidance in restoring local congregations to the original purpose of God’s church.  And Dr. Jason Vickers will ground us in a Wesleyan vision of God’s holiness and the transformational power therein. 

We want to share rich resources with you and we want to put into your heart the foundations and the processes that facilitate both faithfulness and fruitfulness. 

Here is the link for further information and for registration:

http://asburyseminary.edu/wesleyan/

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One response to “Recovering Our Wesleyan Faith and Formation Tradition”

  1. Anicet Rwaka says:

    I think the roots of the early Methodist Church had been missing. We need a new restoration, I say spiritual restoration where the power of the Holy Spirit is in action. Believers should making sure that they have a fellowship with the Holy Spirit and worshiping God in Spirit and truth. We need a renewal and Spiritual nourishment for our to stand again like it was in the time of John Wesley.

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