The Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands launched a Season of Intentional Discipleship on Sunday, November 12 with a strong call for members to deliberately pattern Jesus in all areas of their life; and, in turn, become disciple-makers.
“We can no longer sit and compare ourselves to other churches. We must take the Jesus-shaped life seriously,” Diocesan Bishop, Howard Gregory, told the large congregation at the launch Service at the Church Teachers’ College in Mandeville.
“We will be training members at the Regional, Deanery and Church level to help them understand that, as baptized members, they have a role in promoting the gospel of Jesus Christ which we believe and preach. The growth of our Church is dependent on our engagement of Intentional Discipleship,” he asserted.
The Service followed two two-day seminars for clergy and laity, in the Kingston and Montego Bay Regions, presented by the Anglican Communion’s Director of Mission, the Rev. Canon John Kafwanka, and the Rev. Canon Mark Oxbrow, International Coordinator of a Mission Agency called Faith2Share Network. They are also co-authors of a book titled “Intentional Discipleship and Disciple-Making: An Anglican Guide for Christian Life and Formation.”
Canon Oxbrow, who also preached at the Service, explained that Intentional Discipleship involved a conscious decision to find where Jesus has trod. “We must follow him everywhere…in our family, in the business world, in the care for the environment, among the abused. It’s for our entire life,” he said.
This initiative by the Diocese follows a resolution at the last meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Lusaka, Zambia in 2016. The resolution urged members of the Anglican Communion worldwide to “produce resources to equip and enable the whole church to be effective in making new disciples of Jesus Christ.”
See Article Gallery Below: Images from the Launch in Mandeville
