Are YOU in a Clergy Discipleship Band Yet?

Trinity Conference Clergy, please fill out this short survey.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we follow the Holy Spirit in designing and developing the Trinity Conference together, being intentional about clergy faith development is vital. As you know, discipleship does not just happen in our congregations and it does not just happen for us either. Shepherding can be a lonely vocation, and we, as your fellow clergy, recognize how crucial it is for us to develop deep, humble, earnest, and accountable friendships. The Spirit of Christ leads. His followers to participate in disciplines that shape and form us, helping us to become more and more like Jesus. One such discipline is the Discipleship Band that dates back to the time of John Wesley.

According to Seedbed Publishing, “a Discipleship Band is a group of three to five people (of the same gender) that are held together by a common purpose of growing in depth as followers of Jesus. They read together, pray together, and meet together to become the love of God for one another and the world.” Band Meetings are small groups that meet regularly, in person, by phone, or online. Each person shares for 15-20 minutes about how they are doing, discusses struggles and successes, and how the Spirit is speaking to them through the Scriptures and in other ways. The meeting then closes with prayer for one another.

Your Trinity Conference Band Team was formed to encourage and assist every pastor to lead by example, by participating in a Clergy Discipleship Band. The Team is not trying to force anyone into a Band, but we do want to raise awareness, assist you in any way we can, and encourage all clergy in our conference to practice this vital and deeply-Wesleyan spiritual discipline. Each member on the Team has benefited from a Clergy Band and wants to share that opportunity with you!

As we brainstormed our experiences with Clergy Bands, we came up with the following descriptions:

A Band is a single-gendered, confidential, and safe place where you can be vulnerable, verbalize struggles, experience the power of confession and forgiveness, find healing, deal with hard personal issues, celebrate the work of Christ, and share your life outside the role of a pastor.

A Band is NOT a time for you to fix others or have yourself fixed, for a counseling session, for updates or bragging, for gossip, or of judgment or obligation.

You will be hearing and learning more about Clergy Bands at Conference. In the meantime, would you please help us out by filling out a short survey regarding clergy bands, so we can better understand your needs and desires and how we can help?

We appreciate your willingness to partner in the gospel with us, and are incredibly grateful and excited to be moving forward by God’s grace, together, as colleagues, brothers and sisters in Christ throughout Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

To God be the glory in all things!