I recently had a campfire meeting with the leaders of ViaCordis, the church we’re starting. ViaCordis is Latin for “way of the heart”. And we connect with our leaders regularly in what we call “campfires.” I wanted to help the leaders get a clear picture of the incarnational ministry we are doing.
Outreach | Make Disciples | Multiply Communities
I revisited the three areas we work in—outreach (both relationship and service), making disciples, multiplying communities of Jesus followers. I made separate columns for each so we could think about each one of these areas. In all of them, we need to make sure we’re focused on the flow, and engaged with people who have no relationship with Christ.
The disciple-making process begins with our relationships with those who don’t follow Jesus yet. It includes service, compassion, seeing who God is working in, and following up to help them take the next step. As they become fruitful disciples, we can help them move forward. For us, it helped to break the concepts down into smaller, more manageable parts. No matter where your starting point is, changing your mindset from programmatic to incarnation requires rethinking how you carry out your ministry.