The Mission of our Church says, “Reaching the lost for Christ, grooming them to Christ-like maturity through the power of the Holy Spirit, and inspiring a great fellowship for worship and ministry to the glory of God.” In pursuit of the statement, “grooming them to Christ-like maturity through the power of the Holy Spirit”, the Discipleship Programme was established.
Formal Discipleship Programme in Ikoyi Baptist Church commenced in 1995 with the Master life course. Following approval by CIC to broaden the scope of Discipleship Programme of the Church, Follow the Master, Serve the Master and Experiencing God courses were added in March 2008. Mind of Christ Discipleship course was introduced in 2013. The IBC Discipleship Programme currently offers four of the five discipleship courses twice (February and September) in a year. Master Life course, the most extensive step of the discipleship course ladder is offered only once in a year. In the past five years, we have consistently enrolled Christians from other churches within Ikoyi and environs in the discipleship courses. Ikoyi Baptist Church ultimately intends that over time, every member goes through all the five discipleship courses.
Structure:
The first Job Description (JD) for Discipleship Programme was compiled in August 2012. The JD was revised in October 2014. The latest revision was completed in February 2016. The Discipleship Programme Job Description as at February 2016 listed all the courses, the programme structure and job description for workers in the Discipleship Programme.
Annual Discipleship Programme Calendar:
The annual Discipleship Calendar of Events starts with the Facilitators’ Workshop, a precursor to the February diet of four courses which are of 13-weeks duration (Follow the Master, Serve the Master, Experiencing God and Mind of Christ) and one diet of Master Life course. Also, the February diet is preceded by the Commissioning Ceremony, which takes place during the second Sunday of the month. The February diet commences the Monday following the Commissioning Ceremony.
“In God’s Presence” prayer course holds during summer, between June and July.
Pre-September diet Facilitators’ Workshop holds during the first week of September, followed by the Commissioning Service during the second Sunday of September. Similar to February, the September diet of the four (13-weeks) courses commences the Monday after the September Commissioning Service.
2017 Discipleship Activities:
Activities started 4th February, with the pre-diet Facilitators’ Workshop. This was followed by the Commissioning Service held on Sunday 12th February, for the participants that completed the Follow the Master, Serve the Master, Experiencing God and Mind of Christ courses during the September 2016 diet and Master Life course in 2016. The February 2017 diet started on Monday 13th February with all the five discipleship courses. The closing session for the four 13-weeks courses was held on Monday, 15th May. Contact sessions for the Master Life course continued till September.
We could not hold the ‘In God’s Presence’ prayer course this year due to several other activities including the Jubilee Anniversary celebrations.
The September diet of the four 13-weeks courses started with the pre-diet Facilitators’ Workshop and the Commissioning Service held on Saturday 2nd September and Sunday 3rd September, respectively. The September 2017 diet, which started on Monday 4th September, is expected to come to a close on Monday 11th December.
