John Wesley's Class Meeting: A Model for Making Disciples

by D Michael Henderson

Overview

John Wesley was an eighteenth-century Anglican priest and Oxford tutor. He and George Whitefield were the primary leaders of the Evangelical Awakening which had a profound effect on the spiritual, social, and political life of both England and colonial America. Wesley gathered converts into a network of small groups for personal accountability, behavioral change, leadership training, and the transformation of their communities. Central to his system was the "class meeting," which proved to be one of the most effective tools for making disciples ever developed. This study examines the historical development, the theological foundation, and the social outcomes of John Wesley's class meeting.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780990345923
Publisher:	Rafiki Books
Publication date:	02/09/2016
Pages:	190
Sales rank:	422,215
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

As Publisher of Rafiki Books and Executive director of Heart of Africa, Dr. D. Michael Henderson serves as our lead author and curator of original titles. Heart of Africa is a specialized mission which helps African Christian leaders design effective programs in outreach, training, publishing, community development, discipleship, and church planting, and which assists Americans who want to make an effective investment in African Christian ministries. Has been a pastor and college/seminary professor for more than forty years, specializing in personal discipleship and small groups. He was most recently the teaching pastor at Northland, A Church Distributed, in Longwood, Florida. Currently, Mike and his wife Martha live in Wilmore, Kentucky, where he directs the work of Heart of Africa.

Table of Contents

	Preface	5
	Introduction	11
1.	The Wesleyan Revolution	17
2.	The Formation of Wesley's Method	33
	A Remarkable Beginning	34
	Ordination and Ordered Life	40
	The Holy Club	42
	The Mission to America	44
	The de Renty Model	47
	The Moravians	51
	The Aldersgate Experience	55
	The Herrnhut Model	58
	The Fetter Lane Society	63
	Field Preaching	70
	The Foundery Society	72
3.	Wesley's System of Interlocking Groups	83
	The Society: The Cognitive Mode	83
	Class Meeting: The Behavioral Mode	93
	Band: The Affective Mode	112
	Select Society: The Training Mode	121
	Penitent Bands: The Rehabilitative Mode	125
4.	Why Was Wesley's System So Effective?	127
	The Foundation Principles	128
	Group Strategies	139
	Leadership Principles	145
	Supplementary Instructional Aids	155
Appendix A	Chronology of Major Events Related to the Development of Wesley's Group Models Up to July, 1741	161
Appendix B	Orders of a Religious Society Meeting in Fetter Lane	162
Appendix C	John Wesley's "Preface to the 1739 Hymnbook"	165
Appendix D	Twelve Rules of a Helper	168
	Bibliography	170
	Notes	177