Jay Glenn Sunberg
Introduction
The Sofia Discipleship Project rose out of the painful realization that attempts to encourage discipleship among Nazarene church leaders in Sofia, Bulgaria, had largely failed. The project was conceived to address the discipleship needs of the Sofia leadership team amid the challenges of contemporary society and ministry, following in particular David Lowes Watson’s adaptation of Wesley’s “works of mercy” and “works of piety” in a covenant discipleship format. Instead of physically meeting together each week, the project explored the effectiveness of being connected through social media.
The Realities of Contemporary Life
The realities of contemporary life are numbing. Rapid technological change makes yesterday’s cutting edge gadgets outdated and obsolete today. New technologies arrive promising to simplify our lives, connect us with others, and make life more convenient, yet, too often the results are just the opposite: further isolation from others and additional complications in everyday life. For those living in cities, substantial energy is also required to keep up with the demanding pace of life. Moving from point to point requires choosing between public transportation, often involving numerous inconvenient connections on overcrowded buses, trolleys, or trams, or traveling in one’s own vehicle, enduring traffic congestion and inadequate parking. Thus, it is no surprise that many city dwellers are reluctant to make commitments of time and energy beyond the basic requirements of life and work. It is a major accomplishment to convince the contemporary urbanite that an additional event in the week is worth the time and energy it will demand.
Another complication in contemporary life is its increasing mobility. People tend to relocate away from the place of their birth. The pursuit of education and jobs compels many to abandon familiar surroundings. In doing so, they lose the network of family and friends on which they have depended for support, a loss that is not easily re-established in a new and unfamiliar location. As a result, displaced people often remain disconnected or establish a patchwork of weaker relationships.
In this ever-changing environment, will traditional methods of Christian discipleship be appropriate and adequate, or do the realities and challenges of urban living call for new approaches to discipleship? Are contemporary urban Christians willing to invest the time required for discipleship, or are the realities and challenges of contemporary life incompatible with living a consistent, disciplined life of discipleship? Certainly every generation of believers is presented with its own obstacles and challenges to discipleship. It is never easy or convenient, nor is it meant to be. We cannot expect that the demands of life in any era, for any generation, will easily lend themselves to a life committed to the discipline of discipleship. It is the charge of every generation, therefore, to develop new strategies for discipleship. The Sophia Discipleship Project is an attempt to do just that: to recover valuable spiritual disciplines of the past and implement them in the light of the realities of the present. It seeks to restore a proper balance between discipleship practices that develop love for God with those that develop love for neighbor.
The project also rejects the notion that discipleship is an individual endeavor and replaces it with the conviction that discipleship is best achieved in community. To do so in the current mobile society with its weaker connections, the Sophia Discipleship Project utilizes new social media that have the potential to connect people in a way that addresses the contemporary, urban challenges of time and distance. This discipleship project is specifically an adaptation of the accountability found in John Wesley’s class meeting in the form of covenant discipleship through the medium of a social network.
The Context
The context for the Sofia Discipleship Project is the Sofia First Church of the Nazarene, Sofia, Bulgaria. According to a congregational analysis published in Nancy T. Ammerman et al., Studying Congregations: A New Handbook (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), the average participant in the Nazarene Church in Sofia is a woman (86 percent) over the age of 75 (50 percent), retired (72 percent) and widowed (42 percent). She earns less than 150 Leva ($100.00) a month (42 percent). The typical attendee comes to church every Sunday (79 percent) by multiple lines of public transportation (84 percent), traveling more than 45 minutes (60 percent) one way. She began coming to the Nazarene Church for a variety of reasons and continues to come to the church because she feels the presence of God and because she likes the pastor. She has been attending the church for approximately eight years.
Most attendees have completed membership classes (71 percent), are members of the church, and were not members of another denomination previously (71 percent). The average attendee indicates that she is happy with the church (73 percent) and feels that her opinions are heard and valued (100 percent). She would like to invite someone else to her church in Sofia (93 percent) and would describe the church to a friend as one with good people, good preaching, and love among members. The average attendee would like to see the church have better facilities with more people attending, especially young people. What she values most in the church is the people, the love among them, and the preaching of the Word. The Sofia Discipleship Project sought to answer five key questions.
Question 1: Can the 18th century Wesley class meeting be effectively adapted to meet the discipleship and spiritual formation needs of the Sofia First Nazarene Church leadership team? Obviously it cannot be assumed that a discipleship approach developed to meet the needs of 18th century England will automatically transfer to the 21st century Bulgarian context. What aspects of the class meeting can transfer to present realities, and what aspects need to be adapted?
Question 2: Will a combination of compassion and holiness result in more effective discipleship formation in the life of participants? James 1:27 teaches that pure religion (also read discipleship) is the combination of holiness and compassion, where the two exist in the same space. Too often these essential aspects of discipleship have been separated, with one taking prominence over the other. Can these essential aspects be brought back into balance, and will the balance of the two results in noticeable improvements in “pure religion” (or discipleship)?
Question 3: Will the change in approach in discipleship and spiritual formation from individual effort to a group project increase the effectiveness of discipleship for each of the participants? Possibly the most all-encompassing encroachment of western culture upon religious experience is individualism. Taking the Reformation’s claim of universal priesthood of believers to an extreme, many western Christians believe their discipleship is an individual’s personal responsibility. Yet isolated individuals have an uncanny ability to overlook their shortcomings. Without the accountability of others, believers can even justify the remaining presence of outright sin in their lives. The result is stunted or no spiritual growth year after year. It is time, then, to recover an understanding that Christians really are responsible for each other.
Question 4: Will reliance upon social media assist in maintaining the necessary connectedness of the group? Because of the realities of contemporary life, people are disconnected and are slow to make commitments of time, posing significant challenges to discipleship formation in contemporary society. Can the utilization of social media effectively address these challenges?
Question 5: Can the Wesley class meeting be appropriately adapted within an Orthodox cultural context? Wesley was heavily influenced by the 4th century Desert Fathers and incorporated a significant amount of their thought into his own theological understanding. What of Wesley’s class meeting is appropriate in an Orthodox context, and what needs to be adapted to better connect in an Orthodox environment? Research Methods The Sofia Discipleship Project employed research methods as outlined by William R. Myers in Research in Ministry: A Primer for the Doctor of Ministry Program (Chicago: Exploration Press, 1993, 25), including the establishment of a baseline of data through questionnaires, interviews, weekly activity logs, and the writing of spiritual autobiographies. At the end of the ten-week project the interviews, questionnaires, and weekly activity logs were repeated and compared with initial baseline data.
Four Influences Shaping the Sofia Discipleship Project
Four streams of thought influenced the formation of the Sofia Discipleship Project. First, Eastern Orthodox theology and spirituality form the cultural and theological background of most of those invited to participate in the project. Second, John Wesley and his class meeting provide an historical example of what can be accomplished through intentional, communal attention to discipleship and spiritual formation. Third, recent approaches to discipleship, with close attention to David Lowes Watson’s work in the area of covenant discipleship, helped to adapt Wesley’s centuries-old methods for the current day. (See the following titles by Watson published in Nashville, TN, by Discipleship Resources: Accountable Discipleship [1984]; The Early Methodist Class Meeting [1985]; Covenant Discipleship [1991]; Forming Christian Disciples [1991]; and Class Leaders: Recovering a Tradition [1991]. Fourth, social networking was the media format chosen for the project to keep participants connected for the purpose of encouragement and accountability.
While it is true that none of the participants of the Sofia Discipleship Project ever considered themselves devout adherents to Eastern Orthodoxy, the influence of Orthodox values and worldview on Bulgarian culture and people should not be underestimated. Most Bulgarians readily agree with the frequently heard phrase, “To be Bulgarian is to be Orthodox.” For a country situated on a small peninsula between expansion-hungry empires to the West and to the East, the greater significance of this phrase is its implied, converse meanings: “To be Bulgarian is NOT to be Muslim,” or “To be Bulgarian is NOT to be Catholic or Protestant.” Remaining Orthodox has been a matter of national pride and cultural identity against external pressures on Bulgarians to convert to Islam or western Christianity. The unbroken identification of the Bulgarian people with Orthodoxy for over 1200 years underscores its significant influence on the Bulgarian people.
At the same time, Orthodox and Wesleyan theologies bear marked affinities. Methodist scholar Albert C. Outler articulated the close connection between Wesley and the Eastern Church in the area of perfection:“If Wesley’s writings on perfection are to be read with understanding, his affirmative notion of ‘holiness’in the world must be taken seriously—active holiness in this life—and it becomes intelligible only in the light of its indirect sources in early and Eastern Spirituality” (Albert C. Outler, ed., John Wesley [New York: Oxford University Press, 1964], 252). Wesley agreed with the Eastern Church that overcoming the effect of sin is attainable in this life. (Outler also notes that Wesley avoided the term “sinless perfection.” Perfection for Wesley was not just juridical but moral, the perfection of love.)
Although the sanctified believer’s performance will continue at times to miss the mark (due to human frailty) and fall short of God’s perfect will, Wesley’s understanding of sin holds that perfect love can overcome it. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer empowers the believer to willfully resist breaking and disobeying the known laws of God and to live a life of love that pleases God. Similarly, Orthodox theologian Dmitry Staniloae identifies perfection as the goal of Orthodox spirituality which “aims at the perfection of the faithful in Christ. This perfection [cannot] be obtained in Christ, except by participation in His divine-human life. Therefore, the goal of Orthodox spirituality is the perfection of the believer by his union with Christ.” In order for union with Christ to be possible, the passions must be defeated and replaced by virtues. As in Wesleyan spirituality so also in Orthodox spirituality, the problem of sin can be overcome in this life. For Orthodoxy, however, sin is not seen and defined in legal, juridical terms, but rather seen as a sickness of the soul. Father Valentin, the head priest of Sofia’s Cathedral of the Dormition of the Theotokos of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Old Calendar Synod states, “Sin is a sickness of the soul. Like a physical ailment, the soul requires treatment to overcome its infirmities. Sometimes healing is accomplished quickly through taking medicine, but at other times more drastic and prolonged procedures like surgery and rehabilitation are required to return health to the soul” (Personal interview with Father Valentin, 14 April 2008). The healing of the affliction of sin for Orthodox and Wesleyans is to be undertaken in this life. \
In addition to the influences of Sofia’s Orthodox theological context, the compatibility of Wesleyan theology to that context, and practical benefits of Wesley’s class meetings for spiritual formation, modern social media proved their value in adapting Wesley’s class meeting to a contemporary urban setting. Shane Hipps probes deeply into the realm of media usage and how it affects the message, the messenger, and the recipient. Offering thoughtful insight, he advances a cautious but balanced view of the benefits and pitfalls of social media. In Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009, 7) Hipps advocates the application of “insights about media and technology to some of the basic issues of faith and life.” Flickering Pixels notes that Christianity fundamentally is a matter of communication:
God wants to communicate with us, and his media are many: angels, burning bushes, stone tablets, scrolls, donkeys, prophets, mighty voices, still whispers, and shapes traced in the dirt. Any serious study of God is a study of communication, and any effort to understand God is shaped by our understanding—or misunderstanding—of the media and technology we use to communicate (Flickering Pixels, 13).
Hipps argues further that the various media through which we acquire information are not neutral. Instead they have power to shape us, regardless of content, and we cannot evaluate them based solely on their content. Technology both gives and takes away, and each new medium introduced into our lives must be evaluated with that caution in mind. When viewing the value and effect of social media, we often have a problem with depth perception; we are able to see, but we have great difficulty perceiving. The task before us requires an entirely different approach to analyzing media, recognizing them not simply as conduits or pipelines (i.e., neutral purveyors of information), but rather as dynamic forces with power to shape us, regardless of content (Shane Hipps, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel, and Church [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005], 24 and 27).
The Project’s Volunteers
Participant 1 (P1) is a Bulgarian male in his late 20s. He and his wife, Participant 2, currently live in another country. P1 studied computer science in high school and is very proficient with computers. After a period of disappointment and disillusionment with the church and college, P1 completed a BA in religion and currently holds a district minister’s license. He works as a photo editor for an online company and has a demanding but flexible work schedule. He has expressed a call to ministry and has served in the local Sofia church in various ways. P1 noted that the biggest need in his life is consistency in his discipleship practices, recognizing that he often was able to begin well, but consistently failed to persevere for an extended period of time.
Participant 2 (P2), a female in her late 20s married to P1, also holds a BA in religion. She currently works as a nurse. While she has not expressed a definite call to ministry, she does have a strong desire to serve in the local church. P2 confessed that her spiritual life at the beginning of the project was not as good as she would have liked it to be. She considers herself to be a lukewarm Christian in many ways and unworthy to be loved by God because she has let Him down so often. She expressed a desire to be closer to God again. Participant 3 (P3), a female in her late 30s, has a master’s degree in chemistry. She holds a district minister’s license and is currently completing a Christian ministry certificate. Sensinga call to ministry, she first served in the Sofia Nazarene Church and later was sent out to start a new church. She is single and has served alone in a remote place among people who are significantly different from her own culture, educational background, and spiritual development. She was interested to discover whether participation in the discipleship project could provide her with needed support in her isolated location.
Participant 4 (P4), an ordained elder (pastor), is a single woman in her late 30s who has completed an M.Div. degree. She has served in the local Sofia Nazarene church. Other project participants described her as energetic and passionate about her beliefs, a selfstarter who accomplishes much in the church. Participant 5 (P5) is a woman in her early 40s, married to P6. She has a BA in English as well as a master’s degree in missional leadership. She has served in the local Sofia Nazarene church and is in the process of completing the educational requirements for ordination. Other project participants described her as a warm and caring person who loves to be surrounded by people.
Participant 6 (P6) is a male in his early 40s who has completed an M. Div. degree and is an ordained elder. He has been involved in the Sofia Nazarene Church whose ministry now requires extensive travel. Other project participants described him as a wise pastor who leads with love and care. He is considered to be a good listener and generous helper who makes sure that everyone around him feels cared for and loved.
Editor’s note: The concluding portion of this article will be published in the next issue of the East-West Church and Ministry Report 22 (Winter 2014). Edited excerpts published with permission from Jay Glenn Sunberg, “The Sofia Discipleship Project: A Contemporary Adaptation of the Wesley Class Meeting to Meet the Discipleship Formation Needs of the Leadership Team of the Sofia First Nazarene Church,” D. Min. dissertation, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Missouri, 2012.
Jay Glenn Sunberg, based in Budapest, Hungary, is Central Europe field strategy coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene.