Discipleship & Formation
Welcome. On this page we hope you will find useful information, resources and suggestions to support discipleship and formation, both personally and in your parish. As the first disciples who were formed by Christ, we too need to be formed throughout our Christian lives to go out into the world to spread the Good News. All Christians are called to a lifelong journey of formation. Whatever state of life - whether bishop, priest, deacon, consecrated religious or the lay faithful - all the baptised require formation to respond to the universal call to holiness. Formation, being an ongoing process, is guided by the Holy Spirit who enables each person to discover their baptismal identity, empowering them to live it out as disciples!
“I want an intelligent and well-instructed laity... I wish you to enlarge your knowledge, to cultivate your reason, to get an insight into the revelation of truth, to learn to view things as they are, to understand how faith and reason stand to each other, what are the bases and principles of Catholicism.”
- St. John Henry Newman, Doctor of the Church
All the faithful have a mission to communicate the Truth and beauty of God’s love to the world, given at the Great Commission (Matt 28:19), in which Christ asks the Church to go, make disciples, Baptise and teach. Therefore, the faithful need to be led into the fulness of kerygma, which includes catechesis, in order to be effective in this task.
What is a Disciple?
A disciple is the name given to a follower of Jesus Christ (Matt 4:19-20) who lives a life of obedience to him, and discipleship speaks to the ways in which we might live that out. Good formation should help us to be a faithful disciple, helping us to learn from Christ the 'Good Teacher' (see Luke 18:18). A disciple is also sent out to make other disciples.
Formation
The following areas - spiritual, intellectual, pastoral and human - are often identified in order to help us to have a rounded and full formation. To become like Christ in every aspect of our lives is the goal of formation, and which is always rooted in the proclamation of the Good News, or Kerygma. (see document).
Journey of Evangelisation
An overview.
Do you want to learn more about your faith in order to better share it? The Office for Mission can help, and there are many resources out there which can help too.
One such apostolate is the Light of Truth, which offers formation in many areas of Church teaching, and especially in catechist formation through an accessible online/in person course designed for today's culture.
Click image to find out more.
"Through Light of Truth, we aim to offer a formation which will provide a rich experience of the fraternal life of our community and of the fellowship of the Church. Partnering with expert lay formators, we want to offer the best content and the best experience possible to help everyone grow in faith, hope and charity."
- An Apostolate of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, Hampshire, UK.
Paul Northam is the Diocesan Advisor for Evangelisation & Discipleship. He works to assist the Church in the task of announcing the Good News of Jesus Christ and supporting disciples in mission, and in the family, in parishes across the Archdiocese of Birmingham.
Paul can help parishes to develop vision and to create effective strategies for evangelisation, marriage and family life, supporting the formation of God’s Holy people, “mobilising all in the diocese to become true missionary disciples.” (Diocesan Mission Statement)
Advice is available to help you:
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Develop and communicate a vision for discipleship,
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Identify the charisms/gifts that exist in your parish,
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Reach out to those who are lapsed, unchurched or weary of living the Catholic Faith,
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Develop evangelisation groups and teams,
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Transform parish ministries into missionary tools,
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Find resources for evangelisation,
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Pray for evangelisation.
T: 0121 321 5148
E: office.mission@rcaob.org.uk