I have really enjoyed having my feet in both the church and the academy in my roles here in Tulsa. I am the Director of Academic Growth and Formation at Asbury Theology Seminary, anchored at our Tulsa, OK Extension Site. I am also the Scholar in Residence at Asbury Church. Though they share a connection to the legacy of Francis Asbury, the father of American Methodism, they are separate institutions.
I believe theological education is ultimately for the local church. A seminary should be evaluated based on its graduate’s ability to lead well in the local church. Other outcomes may be appropriate and valuable, but I cannot imagine anything being more central to the legacy of a seminary than the effectiveness of its alumni within the church.
There are some things that don’t fit in courses I teach, or perhaps even in the seminary curriculum at all, that people preparing to lead in the local church need to wrestle with, think about, or just have someone tell them. There are also conversations that I want to have with people who are preparing to be pastors that I think will be helpful to them and I don’t know where they would fit in specific classes.
In my role for Asbury Church, I’m still interested in shaping pastors. So, I have been working on optional, not-for-credit, opportunities for Asbury Theological Seminary students and others that I’m calling “Underground Seminary.”
Underground Seminary is for people preparing to lead in the church who are hungry to learn and grow. They want to gain everything they can from their seminary experience. Some students want to do the least they can to get the most credit possible. And that’s fine. There are seasons where that is appropriate.
I’m most excited to work with people who know God has more for them and they are going after it. Underground Seminary is for these people.
Our next Underground Seminary meeting is focused on practical details of running a church that they don’t teach you in seminary. It is March 27th from 12-3pm at Asbury Church in Tulsa, OK.
Pastors often joke about the things they didn’t teach you in seminary. These are often very practical hands-on aspects of running the life of a church. And that is what this Underground Seminary will focus on: what they don’t teach you in seminary.
Rodney Adams, the Executive Director of Asbury Church, will lead this. And it will focus on strategy, culture, and operations in the day to day running of a church. I have had several conversations about this workshop with Rodney and I believe every church leader would benefit from what Rodney has to share.
In case you don’t already know Rodney, here is why you should want to learn from him:
Rodney is a former United States Marine Corps officer.
He worked for a season at a top global investment bank.
He has owned and operated his own business.
And, most importantly for this discussion, he is currently the Executive Director of Asbury Church.
Asbury is a large church that has 2,500 people in person in weekly worship. In his role, Rodney oversees:
80 full time staff and 60+ part time staff
$12.5 million annual budget
$12 million foundation
300,000 square foot facilities
Put simply: Rodney know how to run a large church with excellence.
At a personal level, I have never been around an organizational thinker and leader like Rodney. Working with him is fun because I get to see how ideas are actually brought to life. I have an easier time thinking of a thing that would be fun to do in theory. Rodney has great ideas. And he is the person who can take a dream and figure out the steps to make it reality. And, just as important, he can help you realize that an idea won’t work and save time, energy, and frustration.
The goal of Underground Seminary is to bring people hungry for excellence together for content that will equip and prepare them to lead in the church.
This one is going to be fun!
How to join us:
Lunch will be provided at the beginning of our time together. In order to ensure that there is food and space for everyone, you need to RSVP if you would like to attend. We will send the location for the meeting to you after you RSVP by emailing Laura.Wilkie@asburyseminary.edu. Deadline to RSVP is March 20th.
Kevin M. Watson is Director of Academic Growth and Formation at Asbury Theological Seminary’s Tulsa, OK Extension Site. He is also Scholar in Residence at Asbury Church. His most recent book, Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline describes the purpose of the Wesleyan tradition and the struggle to maintain its identity in the United States.
I’m trying to think more clearly about how to raise up the next generation of leaders for the church. It seems clear to me that things are shifting and changing, sometimes dramatically. Institutions are changing and sometimes failing. Key leaders are leaving the scene, sometimes because they have retired or died, and other times because a moral failing has been exposed.
I don’t have it figured out yet. But I want to start talking about it more.
My writing often comes from a burden to figure out what I think about something and then try to communicate it as clearly as I can. I think some of my best writing comes when there are two things working in me:
First, I notice that I am working over a problem in my mind and am working hard to get clear about what I think is at stake (something that seems important and complicated or confusing).
Second, I notice a sense of pressure to not talk about it. This is usually unspoken and intuitive on my part. This means I could be wrong, or I could be seeing things. The pressure to not talk about it can either be because it seems like everyone views something as settled, while I have questions or concerns. Or, silence could come from the sense that speaking out could be problematic in terms of upsetting people in power.
Here are two examples of writing that has come from this:
Neither of those posts are perfect. In rereading them today, I would say things differently in both. But they both helped me think more clearly about matters that were very important to me (and to the church I was part of) when I wrote them. I am proud of them because I believe the Lord used them to help people think more clearly and make hard decisions during very challenging circumstances.
If you aren’t familiar with my writing, these will give you a sense of it. I hope they show my commitment to telling the truth. Of course, I also make mistakes. One of things I think I have often done well is move a conversation forward and bring clarity where it has gotten bogged down or stuck.
So, I’ve been thinking about raising up the next generation of leaders for Jesus’s church. I’ve been thinking about this longer than I usually think about the kinds of things I write about here. And to my own frustration, I don’t feel like I’ve made as much progress as I usually would have by this point.
I want to articulate why I think this it is hard. It is important to work to understand the moment in which we find ourselves. And I want to begin by naming two models that have been used to raise up the next generation of leaders for the church. I want to suggest that people in my networks have almost completely missed the importance of the second model. But first, why is this so hard to think through?
The church in the United States is experiencing major challenges due to massive shifts in the culture, academy, and the church herself.
Aaron Renn does a great job talking about the changes in the dominant culture and how it impacts the church. Check out his book Life in the Negative World [Affiliate link]. I also follow his work at aaronrenn.com.
The academy is also undergoing massive change, which includes theological education (the seminaries where pastors are trained). This would be another post, so I won’t unpack this further right now.
And finally, the church herself is undergoing dramatic change. I think most of the changes in the church come from the influence of the first two. Many large non-denominational and congregational churches have also been impacted by the fall from grace of senior leaders of these churches. This has happened enough over the past few years, many feel uneasy in these kinds of churches, even if their own local church has not been directly impacted.
Here is an image I have used to describe what I think is happening:
Tectonic plates are shifting in the culture. When tectonic plates shift, there are earthquakes. There is rumbling. There is shaking. Often major edifices are damaged or even collapse when tectonic plates shift.
I think we are seeing this kind of major disruption and change in the church today.
There have been (at least) two major models for raising up leaders for the church.
I’m sure much more nuance could be added here, so feel free to fill this out in your own thinking or experience. The point here is to get some things in place in order to move forward.
My own experience was largely with the first model. I will call it the ecclesial bureaucracy model. I’ll use my experience to explain it:
I received a calling to ordained ministry through a short-term mission trip to Mexico when I was a junior in college. One short week changed my life in so many ways. By the end of the week, I had a deep sense that there was nothing more fulfilling I could do than give my life in service to the church, by the grace of God. I remember time and time again being stunned by how joyful it was to serve the Lord through the church.
I knew nothing. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. And I made a lot of mistakes along the way.
But there were also a lot of things that were clear and decisions I didn’t really have to make. I was a United Methodist and didn’t question whether I should pursue ordination in the UMC or not.
The blessing of this was that the path forward was clear. The obvious next step was to attend seminary after I graduated from college. I began having conversations with the senior pastor of the church I was attending, who was generous with his time and wisdom. I formally applied to become a “certified candidate” during my first year of seminary.
I did not have a long-term relationship with the same local church throughout my time in the ordination process. I moved quite a bit from my freshman year of high school through seminary.
So to summarize: Once I felt a calling to ministry, I basically got on a moving walkway where the next step was fairly clear. And if I was approved for ordination by denominational authorities, I would also be appointed to pastor in a local church. If approved for ordination, I would, literally, be guaranteed an appointment (a pastoral position in a local church).
I think there are strengths and weaknesses of this model. And they could be done better or worse than it was done in the UMC when I went through the process. When I was teaching United Methodist polity, I used to tell students that the number one value of the UMC ordination process appeared to me to be persistence. If you kept going, you would almost certainly be ordained.
(This was most evident to me when someone in the conference I was ordained in clearly revealed that they did not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. They were not discontinued or removed from the process at that point. They were deferred and had to rewrite and repeat the interview process the next year. They were then approved and ordained. Is it more likely this person’s views on the bodily resurrection of Jesus changed, or that they found a more acceptable way to present (or cover up) their heretical views?)
The second model I’ll call the apprenticeship model. It was not my experience, so I can’t give as much detail. I think this approach is most common in non-denominational and congregational church polities. For this reason, I also suspect it is less uniform and more organic and relational.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. A person is raised up for leadership in the church by someone who is recognized as an excellent leader in the church. Preparation for ministry comes by being invited to get closer to the senior leader with behind-the-scenes access. Over time, they are given opportunities to lead with the senior leader’s oversight and feedback. And eventually, they are released to lead on their own, though likely with continued oversight or spiritual covering.
Sometimes a person in this system will replace the senior leader when they step down. Depending on the system, they might move to a different context taking on significant leadership responsibilities.
This model is highly relational. The person who is being raised up for leadership in the church spends significant time with the person who is discipling, mentoring, or apprenticing them. It is inefficient in the sense that it requires proximity and a lot of time together. It is also driven by the needs of the person being raised up and so is very contextual and responsive to where they are and how they need to grow. It is also inefficient because one person cannot have this kind of relationship with an unlimited number of people.
Another way to think of this model is to think of Robert Coleman’s Master Plan of Evangelism and other relational discipleship making tools. These are usually focused on discipleship as the goal for all who come to faith in Jesus Christ. It is not surprising that those who are raised up to lead in these kinds of contexts continue to be raised up to lead in this way.
I suspect that very often a sense of calling to lead in the church comes within the context of these discipling relationships.
During the season when I first began to feel a tug to rethink some of my assumptions about how to best raise up leaders for the church, I started getting to know a non-denominational church near where I lived. The folks in this church were very gracious to me and the senior pastor met with me. I wanted to ask him two questions in particular:
How did you get to be in your position? I remember the answer, though it was more fleshed out than just this, because I had heard it from others in the same church family: I lived in Buddy’s basement.
In other words, the founding pastor invited him to come closer, literally into his home, for a season. And he poured into him and raised him up.
The second question was: Is there anything that I do that can help you and those you are raising up? We developed a degree at Asbury Theological Seminary that came directly out of my conversations with this pastor and the pastor of another large non-denominational church at another place I taught. (Send me an email [scroll down] if you want to know more about it.)
I think both models would be improved by the other.
Non-denominational and congregational churches that don’t require any formal education outside of themselves make themselves vulnerable.
Large denominations that have heavily bureaucratic ordination processes have greater risk in my view.
My working hypothesis is that the most effective pastors in the United States at present came up through more of the apprenticeship model than the ecclesial bureaucracy model. My experience is that almost all of them end up pursuing a seminary education, but it usually comes after they have been leading in meaningful ways in the local church.
So, Now What?
For most established leaders reading this, the action step is most likely to look for people to bring in closer to walk with you and build them up. One of the problems with bureaucratic approaches to ordination is that they are so depersonalized. People don’t grow in self-awareness because the kind of one-on-one conversations that happen in an apprenticeship don’t happen nearly as often.
Here is what I am seeing: I believe the church, particularly healthy large congregations with stable leadership and deep roots, is only going to be more important going forward for the work of raising up leaders for the church. All churches are important in this work. The local church is the ordinary context for hearing a calling to ministry. I think larger churches just have the capacity and the resources to invest in the next generation for their own sake.
I think large churches will develop coaching trees like Nick Saban did at Alabama. People will serve for a season in these churches and experience accelerated growth in a host of ways in these contexts. Some, who can joyfully stay long-term in an associate type of role, will stay for decades. But most will serve for a season, be built up, equipped, and sent out to lead with excellence.
And I have a feeling this will be less dependent on denominational affiliation than it has ever been in the history of Christianity in the United States.
This vision excites me because Asbury Church (where I am) is the kind of church that can do an excellent job of apprenticing people to be excellent leaders.
Asbury is a conservative evangelical church from the Wesleyan theological heritage that averages about 2,500 in person in weekly worship at one campus. At Asbury, intentional and strategic attention is given to the culture of the church. Asbury not only has a great culture, but the senior leaders can tell you why they are doing what they are doing and how to work to set, shift, or move culture. This is so important! And there is a clear emphasis on discipleship. As with our work to build and maintain a great culture, the church can articulate a coherent vision for how we make disciples.
And one of the most unique things about Asbury Church, within the context of this post, is that Asbury has a passion for education. Asbury hosts the Asbury Theological Seminary Tulsa Extension Site on its campus. So, a person preparing to become a pastor could come to Asbury Church and be in seminary here at the same time.
Asbury Church’s commitment to education is also evident in its decision to launch Asbury Classical School this year.
One of the saddest things to me about my time in theological education has been seeing the negative impact a seminary tends to have on local churches in the immediate geographical area of the seminary. At a previous institution, someone commented on the “dead zone” that surrounded the seminary.
What a gift that I get to teach at a seminary whose mission and values I agree with at a church I am proud to be part of and that I am confident will bless my students.
If you, or someone you know, is wrestling with a calling to ministry, I would love to connect with you. Maybe you should move to Tulsa and see for yourself. I am learning more and more that proximity and time within a relational atmosphere are crucial to raising up the next generation of leaders for the church.
I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Kevin M. Watson is Director of Academic Growth and Formation at Asbury Theological Seminary’s Tulsa, OK Extension Site. He is also Scholar in Residence at Asbury Church. His most recent book, Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline describes the purpose of the Wesleyan tradition and the struggle to maintain its identity in the United States.
It took me fourteen years to really understand this.
Check out these unsolicited comments I received after the most recent class I taught at Asbury Theological Seminary’s Tulsa, OK Extension Site. (The class was Wesleyan Discipleship and it was awesome! I asked and received permission from each student to share their encouraging words here.) Notice the emphasis on the atmosphere and what the culture of the class meant to the student.
Here is the first one:
I found my time at Asbury Seminary to be incredibly valuable and not just for the content of the class (which was excellent). There was, for lack of a better word, an anointing on the campus and on the course which caused me to be more focused, settled, and hungry for more of God. I sensed it impacting my life when I was there, and it (or at least a piece of it) has followed me home. I am working hard to cultivate it and give it space. Thank you for allowing me to audit your course.
It still amazes me that students are so hungry that they would travel from out of state, many taking time off of work, to audit this course.
Here is the second one:
I just wanted to say thank you for teaching the class on Wesleyan Discipleship! When you sent out the email prior to our time in Tulsa saying you hoped it would be like a retreat, I was skeptical. But I was happily surprised that it was like a retreat. I came back feeling refreshed and regenerated! Thank you for teaching this class and showing how much you care about the subject and about your students and their well-being. I am grateful and honored that I was able to take a class from you!
Here is the third one:
I just wanted to thank you for the way you ran the hybrid this weekend. I know you said you wanted it to feel more like a retreat and I think you accomplished just that. I don’t know if you got the response you were looking for, but I can tell you some things were revealed to me during your prayer Saturday morning that have brought some clarity to some problems I was having with my ministry. I don’t think the Holy Spirit would have given me that had I not been in the atmosphere you created. I am glad I was in the second group because I could not have shared that Friday. I will be a better pastor to my congregation moving forward for having been there. I don’t know that you could have taught the way you did on any of the other campuses. There are good things going on there in Tulsa. Y’all have quite the team and a very supportive host church as well.
And one more:
I wanted to personally write an email thanking you for all your hard work! It has been a pleasure getting to know you these semesters! … I also admire your sheer honesty and vulnerability with the class! It truly set the mood for everyone else! This last week was such a powerful week and I truly left feeling so filled and inspired to one day put into practice these discipleship techniques! I’ve started implementing them in a youth discipleship group I run and I even reached out to a few friends to start a band meeting style group! Thank you so much! You have truly blessed my seminary experience in many ways!
I deeply appreciate the kindness of each of these students who shared these comments. The unsolicited feedback I received from this course was unprecedented. (I received more than twice as many comments as I’ve shared here.)
I think there was so much of it because I am slow. And the Lord wanted to be sure he got my attention.
Do you see it?!
Let me give some brief context, in case some of the details of the students’ comments are confusing.
At Asbury Theological Seminary’s Extension Sites, we offer online classes and hybrid classes. Hybrids are my favorite. And they are a hybrid of online and in-person classes. The in-person portion of the class is a three-day intensive that happens once per class. In Tulsa, they are from Thursday evening through Saturday late afternoon. We spend 20 hours in two and a half days together.
It is intense.
And it is awesome!
If I had not figured out what really mattered to me, I think the hybrids would probably have gotten no unsolicited encouragement from my students.
One of the great things about teaching is that once you are the instructor of record for a class, you are in charge. You may not have authority anywhere else within the institution, but you do have authority in the classroom.
Until recently, I put most of my focus on what I would guess you would assume to be most important: the content of the actual course.
In other words, I got to choose the required readings. I was responsible for determining the means of evaluating students. And I was the one who would do the actual evaluation and assign grades.
It was up to me to decide what to teach and how to assess whether students had learned what I wanted them to learn.
Most of my energy went into preparing detailed lectures that accurately transferred the most important information.
But when I taught a class that felt like magic, where there was an internal sense of “Yes! This is what I hoped teaching would be like,” and where students seemed to “get it” – it wasn’t because I felt like I’d perfectly delivered the content.
It was something else. Something that was harder for me to articulate.
Looking back, the first time I got a glimpse of this was the Fall 2016 semester when I was teaching at Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
I learned that if I wanted to be able to lead my students, they needed to know that I cared about them.
I remember a specific class in the Fall of 2016 when something was definitely in the air in the room one particular day. And I consciously decided to allow that to take over the agenda for the day. Something shifted that day. The class went to a deeper level than merely handing on information about a particular subject.
This was a key step for me. I was intuitively starting to figure something out. But I still had a lot to learn.
Since moving to teach at Asbury Theological Seminary’s Tulsa Extension Site, I started noticing that what I was hoping to see happen in my classes was happening with a higher percentage of students than I’d ever experienced.
Here is what I finally figured out that I can now name:
Atmosphere is more important than content.
I am now more concerned with the atmosphere in the classroom than I am with the content that will be shared in the classroom.
By atmosphere, I am not really talking about sights, sounds, and smells. Though, these matter.
This is what I mean: culture is more important than content.
My greatest desire for every class I teach, regardless of the subject of the class, is for students to encounter the Lord and continue growing in their faith as they prepare for leadership Jesus’s church.
I want them to grow in understanding. And you can see that some of the comments speak to that. But I am convinced that more growth in understanding happens when you set the right culture.
So, now I work really hard to think through how to create the right atmosphere, the right culture within the class.
This is hard work.
Every class is different.
There is a culture established within Asbury Theological Seminary. And, as two of the comments noted, I think the Lord has given a special anointing to our Tulsa Extension Site that sets a particular kind of culture.
But I must be attentive to the atmosphere for each class and work to set the culture.
How I Work to Create a Great Atmosphere for My Classes
Here are a handful of things I intentionally do to create the right atmosphere for my classes.
First, I accept that it is my responsibility to take responsibility for doing this work. It does not happen spontaneously or by magic.
And so, in each class at Asbury, before the students come to Tulsa, I send an email to set our expectations for the three days we have together. You may have noticed the word “retreat” in several of the student comments above. That is because in this email, I tell students I want the weekend to be a retreat. Some students are skeptical that 20 hours in a classroom in 2.5 days could be anything like a retreat.
The email I send names the values I have for our time together that are discussed in what follows. This sets the expectations for the class and intentionally names what I value most.
Second, I am certain that all of this is dependent on the Lord. If the Lord withdraws his presence, nothing good can happen. (This is really first. But it made sense to me for this article to include it here.)
I am not being sentimental here or using pious language to impress you. I literally mean that I am consciously aware that Kevin cannot create what students need.
One way I express dependence on the Lord and a desperation for him to move is by fasting and inviting my students to fast with me for the 24 hours prior to our in-person intensive. This is not required, it is an invitation. I think fasting is one of the most important and underused basic spiritual practices. And I think corporate fasting is particularly spiritually potent.
One thing I love about the unity God has given us here is that my colleague in Tulsa, Penny Hammond (Tulsa’s Senior Enrollment Advisor), joins us in fasting in preparation for the course.
Third, the class starts by breaking our fast together with a meal that Asbury Theological Seminary provides. This facilities informal conversation and begins creating the kind of community we’re hoping to see.
Fourth, after dinner, we go to worship at Asbury Church (not related to Asbury Theological Seminary).
My calling is to raise up the next generation of leaders for the church. And so, I unapologetically see worshipping the Lord corporately as part of my work as a teacher. We do that in my classes by attending the Thursday evening worship service at Asbury Church.
In my mind, this is not an extra-curricular optional part of theological education. Worship should be thought of as a central piece of the formation and education of the next generation of leaders. And if you know next gen leaders, you know that they already know this!
I particularly love doing this in my context because Asbury Church (Tulsa, OK) is a fantastic church! I cannot imagine having a better partner for the work we are doing in Tulsa. (I love that one of my students noticed this and named it.) Worshipping on Thursday night also means that my students get to experience the preaching of Rev. Andrew Forrest, who is one of the best preachers of our day. At my Wesleyan Discipleship intensive, Andrew preached on the reality of death. It was a perfect way to begin the class. Begin with the end in view: You are going to die. Are you ready? What a great way to begin thinking more intentionally about discipleship!
Asbury Church and Asbury Seminary together gave every student a gift bag with Asbury Church and Asbury Seminary swag. At another hybrid, the church blessed students with gift cards to fast food restaurants near the church so some of the cost of attending a hybrid could be offset. I really appreciate that the church is committed to providing exceptional hospitality for our students in Tulsa.
I believe it is essential for the church and academy to be connected. Seminaries should literally exist to serve the local church. I could not envision a better partnership than Asbury Church’s support of Asbury Seminary’s Tulsa Extension Site.
Fifth, we walk back to the classroom after worship and I begin by sharing more vulnerably and honestly about my own story and my family than I do in public setting, particularly online. I show pictures of my family and talk about what I love about my children. I share about my sense of calling to Tulsa, OK and the at times bumpy road to get here.
I do this because it is who I am. I desire authenticity and vulnerability from others. I value candor and being candid with students is a sign of my respect.
I also do this because small group dynamics show that the level at which the leader shares is the level at which the rest of the group will share. If I want the atmosphere in my class to be a place where students can grieve, ask for prayer around something vulnerable, and seek the Lord together as we are prepared for the next step in our callings, I must be willing to go first.
Because this last class was about Wesleyan Discipleship, I made this explicit and talked about doing it myself and how the same dynamic would be in play when they broke out into the small group exercises we had as a class. And even though I know it is true intellectually, it still stunned me to see in the two groups I observed how the entire group mirrored the vulnerability and honesty of the first person who shared.
Sixth, I then give the students an opportunity to break the ice and ask them to share a bit about themselves.This is fast paced due to the size of our classes. But it gives them a chance to begin to bring their stories into the classroom itself.
Seventh, I work really hard to use students’ names throughout the intensive. This is not a natural strength of mine. I have to work really hard. And in large classes, I sometimes have to humble myself and admit I have forgotten a name, apologize, and ask for help. I’ve noticed that when I do this, the students seem to work more at learning each other’s names as well. This is huge for me, because the goal is not for me to have a relationship with each student only. The goal is for a real community to be established within the class. I want the students to feel connected to each other!
Eighth, I intentionally center Scripture and prayer at the beginning of each part of the class. There is a huge difference between doing this to check a box and doing this in hopes of welcoming the Lord and being led by the Holy Spirit. I will often explicitly give time to listen in silence to the Lord. Sometimes I feel led to offer a particular prompt for how we should listen. If we are resting in silence, I tell the students how long it will be and that I will keep track of the time. This can be such a blessing, because it allows them to relax into the stillness and trust me to keep time.
Ninth, I have a plan for the entire hybrid when it starts. I really do. But I commit to hold it loosely. This may be a place where experience matters. It is not hard for me to lecture for 20 hours on a topic like Wesleyan Discipleship. So, I am not anxious about having enough to say. And I also have greater confidence in my ability to triage what is most important for them to hear from me in person versus what they can glean from assignments. I have a plan, but I mostly use it to check in at breaks to see how the pace is going and to decide if I need to cut things I was planning to do in order to give more time to something that has come up.
My primary concern throughout the intensive is to be present to the Lord and to my students and adjust according to what is happening.
Tenth, finally, and most importantly, I intentionally give time for the Lord to move. And this has never stopped feeling hard for me. It is vulnerable. At the end of in-person semester long classes, I used to always ask: How have you seen God at work in your life throughout this semester?
And every single time, I was afraid it would just be awkward silence. Crickets. No one would say anything. But that never happened! Not even close. There were always students who shared in deeply vulnerable ways of the Lord’s work in their lives that blessed the class.
I have come to see holding space for the Lord to lead and for students to respond as the most important thing I do. It is certainly not all I do. But if I don’t do it, it will not happen. It one of the things that only the person who has authority can do.
I primarily do this by working to listen for God’s guidance. And often, I simply test the room based on a sense I have of the Lord’s leading.
This is more art than science. When I lean into this space, it is often the moment students remember about the class. It is what marks them. And it often brings the content of the course to life.
Two cautions: First, openness to the presence of the Lord with you in class is not in lieu of actually preparing to teach (the same is true for preaching). Second, don’t force anything. Don’t try to make something happen in your flesh. Consciously and explicitly give the Holy Spirit permission to move. And then wait on him and be obedient to his leading.
Ok, this is not an exhaustive list. But this is already too long!
The atmosphere you create is more important than the content you deliver. Great content with inattentiveness to the atmosphere will almost certainly be forgotten.
What kind of atmosphere are you creating in the places you have authority to lead? If you haven’t been giving attention to this, I would encourage you to spend some time reflecting on what it is like to come to the spaces and places where you are leading. How do you think people feel? Perhaps ask a person or two that you believe will tell you the truth.
Atmosphere is where the magic happens.
Kevin M. Watson is Director of Academic Growth and Formation at Asbury Theological Seminary’s Tulsa, OK Extension Site. He is also Scholar in Residence at Asbury Church. His most recent book, Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline describes the purpose of the Wesleyan tradition and the struggle to maintain its identity in the United States.
Affiliate links, which support the author’s work, used in this post.
For several years now, I have tried to read 100 books a year. I have not hit the target more than I have.
A quick random aside: How are your New Year’s Resolutions going? Did you make any? I realized this year with a simple clarity that I unapologetically love New Year’s Resolutions! It does not bother me at all if they are not your thing. My clarity came from a thought I randomly had in mid-Fall last year:
New Year’s Resolutions work for you if you are still thinking about them in October.
This totally happened for me last year. In October, I realized I was way behind the pace (so far, I could not realistically catch up). But it motivated me to start reading again. I’m just better when I’m reading.
Last year I ended up reading 88 books. This year, I am off to a good start and ahead of the pace. But there is a long way to go. We’ll see how it goes!
I not only enjoy reading, I enjoy a good book recommendation. I hope you do too! I read a lot of books I really enjoyed last year. Maybe the highlight for me was finishing reading the Chronicles of Narnia series out lout to my kids. (You should absolutely read them in the original publication order and not the chronological order imposed on them by later publishers.) My kids are all avid readers and do not need me to read out loud to them. But I wanted them to hear one of my favorite stories in their father’s voice. And there are just so many characters in those books that are so fun to read out loud. (Puddleglum!)
I decided I wanted to write a top five post to celebrate and share my favorite books from the year. I had a hard time getting my list pared down to a manageable size. For whatever reason, I noticed a handful of books I really liked that were also new releases last year. So, I decided to limit this to a top five of new release from the past year. Hope you like it!
I am listing my top five new releases of 2024 in reverse order for one reason: It seemed more fun to me.
Of the five books I list here, this is the most demanding read. (Not coincidentally, it is the only one published by a University Press.) I do not mean this as an insult. I am only naming it to set expectations. You should read this book. But it will require a lot of you. And that’s ok, because, as I tell my kids: You are capable of great struggle!
James Davison Hunter, who previously wrote another very influential book – To Change the World – argues in Democracy and Solidarity that the roots of solidarity in the United States are breaking down and dissolving. There must be some degree of unity within any political organization for it to work. Hunter offers a detailed and sophisticated description of how this has worked in the history of the United States. He then makes the case that we are at a breaking point in terms of the solidarity required to persist as a stable political order. This is not a hysterical reactionary clickbait piece. It is a thoughtful, measured, and carefully argued book that people across the spectrum will find things with which they agree and disagree.
When I recently saw a clip of politicians refusing to shake hands during a ceremony related to the peaceful transfer of power, it bothered me in a way it would not have had I not read this book. Democracy and Solidarity is a sobering but deeply relevant book.
I was already familiar with Renn’s Three Worlds of Evangelicalism framework and find it to be a helpful way of thinking about where we’ve been and how the church ought to respond in the present. I think Renn’s book is the first book I pre-ordered because I intentionally wanted to help the author have the best possible chance of a successful book launch that increased the book’s visibility. I am thankful for Aaron Renn because he has started many important conversations that people in more obvious positions should have started but were unable or unwilling to do so because of a lack of imagination, willingness to do the work to think deeply about hard things, or simple cowardice. I am thankful his ideas are gaining influence and being taken seriously.
Part I, where he explains and makes the case that we are in Negative World, is the best part of the book. I have come to think of the rest of the book as helpful suggestions or first drafts of what it looks like to live faithful as a follower of Jesus Christ (both personally and corporately) in Negative World. My guess is it will be practitioners who figure out how to most effectively do much of this work (and I’m pretty sure Renn himself would agree with this from his other work I’ve followed). In other words, Renn serves as a very helpful prod to recognize that the times have changed, and we need Negative World strategies to win in Negative World.
If I’m following correctly, I think Rod Dreher believes in aliens (see chapter 6). Ok, now that I have your attention, here is what really fascinated me and encouraged me about this book. Dreher lets the reader in to his very personal story with the supernatural. He has experiences which are not explainable in purely rational terms or through the laws of nature and what we know about how the world works.
I have walked a similar journey in the sense that I have had immediate and supernatural encounters with the Lord that defy academic explanation. That felt like a problem because, well, I am an academic. (I care more about being an effective pastor than being an effective academic, but I am trained as one and am a seminary professor.) In his previous book The Benedict Option, Dreher put his finger on the need for communities of belonging, deep formation, and strengthening in an increasingly anti-Christian context. In a way I did not expect when I began reading this book, I think Dreher may have named the reality that we are all charismatics now. By this, I do not mean that everyone is literally a charismatic in terms of some precise definition. What I mean is that the church, across the entire Body of Christ, is rediscovering the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. There is an openness to the work of the Holy Spirit in a way that I did not experience when I was in seminary. Dreher wrote in a way that seemed to me to come from a place of vulnerable sharing. I sensed it felt risky to him to share the parts of his story he shared. And something about this book made me think we have crossed a line where testimony to the “weird” stuff won’t seem weird or abnormal much longer. And that is a good thing! Again, I am thankful for Dreher’s courage in writing and releasing this book to the world.
Abigail Shrier has written two major books, and they are both amazing. Her first book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,courageously shone a light on the impact of transgender ideology on young women and the excesses of the hasty embrace of the movement by many in the cultural mainstream. In 2024, she wrote Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up. Shrier helped me think through two things that were concerns in the back of my mind but that I could not articulate.
First, therapy does not seem to wrestle with iatrogenic injury. An iatrogenic injury is an injury that is caused by the intervention of a care giver. This is uncontroversial in medicine. The possibility of iatrogenic injury needs to be discussed more with therapy. Second, and related to the first, Shrier discusses the lack of an end goal in some approaches to therapy. Sometimes people come to a place where they feel they cannot cope in life in general without their counselor or therapists’ constant engagement and guidance of their lives. This seems unhealthy and the opposite of what you would expect at the outset when choosing to engage the services of a counselor or therapist.
I am tempted to qualify this in many ways because I know this is a tender area for many. I will just say here that if my summary does not sit with you, feel free to skip this book. Or, it might be that it would be especially worthwhile for you to read and consider Shrier’s analysis.
At some level, I think everyone knows that the rise of smartphones and social media has not been good for us. In The Anxious Generation, Haidt pulls the fire alarm and demonstrates just how detrimental the “phone-based childhood” is for kids. For parents who have already given their children smartphones and access to social media, there will be much temptation to defensiveness or feeling like the die has been cast and nothing can be done. I think this is a hopeful book, because it is always better to live in reality than deny it. We have reached a turning point where we collectively now know that smartphones and social media have a net negative impact on children and adolescents and it is not even close.
This book is the best new book I read last year because it is a piercing diagnosis of the problem. And it also offers hopeful and helpful practical suggestions for a way forward.
Bonus: Or, a Humble Brag
Ok, let’s be real. If you’ve follow me at all you know that none of these books are really my favorite new release in 2024. I had a new book come out in 2024. And it is my favorite. Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline: A History of the Wesleyan Tradition in the United Statesis both a history of where the Wesleyan/Methodist tradition has been as it continues to fracture and divide. I also hope the book is a sign pointing to a hopeful and faithful future for those who carry the mantle of the Wesleyan theological heritage. If you haven’t read it yet, the price is the lowest right now on Amazon that I’ve seen. I hope you will check it out!
Links in this post are affiliate links and help support my work.
For the first time in my career as a seminary professor, I have had to be concerned about whether the classroom would fit all the students who were signing up to take my class. For the first time, I have had to tell people who wanted to take vacation time off work and pay their own way to travel to Tulsa just to sit in on the class as auditors (which means they get no academic credit!) that I could not let them in the class.
Oh, and this class is just an elective.
What is happening?!
A few years ago, I taught a class that was unlike any other I had taught. I have had a handful of great experiences as a seminary professor. But this class was different.
If you had asked me when I was teaching Methodist History at Candler School of Theology, for example, to describe the best class I’d taught, I would have talked about feeling like the students really “got it.” They left the class with a mastery of the key concepts and ideas I wanted them to receive. They were engaged and genuinely interested in the material. And having a better understanding of the meaning of Methodism, they had a deeper commitment to working, by the grace of God, to renew the Wesleyan theological tradition.
And yet, I often felt like something was missing. Or maybe better, it felt like something hadn’t quite come into alignment in terms of what I was trying to do overall.
In the Fall of 2022, I had the opportunity to teach a course that, at the time, I would have said was the best class I had ever taught. But it also occurred during the most painful and confusing time of my life.
On the one hand, I had certainty during the class that exactly what I was wanting to see happen was happening in my students during the class. As a teacher, you don’t always know what is happening with your students. But sometimes you do. Sometimes it is not awesome. And you know it. And sometimes you know that your students are experiencing exactly what you are hoping they experience. And that is so awesome you can’t really appreciate it until it happens, or at least I didn’t know it could be that good until it was.
On the other hand, I found out in the last half of the semester that I had not been selected for a position I had applied for and, as a result, I was being terminated at the end of the semester.
The class was a great experience for me. I loved those students so much. I was thankful I got to finish this class and the other one I was teaching. It was also one of the most gut-wrenching things I’ve ever done.
I walked through it the best I could. I’m sure I made mistakes. I am so thankful for the healing that has happened and continues to happen.
One thing that was really challenging was the sense that I had finally figured something out. It felt like magic in the classroom. And I was gutted that I was not going to get to continue doing the things I had learned that worked.
But God.
The Lord, in his kindness to me, opened a door to teach at Asbury Theological Seminary, the school I’d been yearning for more connection with for years, in the city (Tulsa, OK) I had been feeling drawn to for years.
Last Spring, I was given the opportunity to teach this same class again for Asbury at our main campus in Wilmore, KY. Seven students enrolled in a class that was brand new and not even in the ATS catalogue yet. I was so thankful to get to teach again.
My second time through the class showed me that the previous class was not a fluke.
The things I learned were repeatable, which is a key principle of disciple-making work.
But looking back I also think there was some spiritual interference. For example, just before the intensive part of the class (where we all gathered for 20 hours of class in 2.5 days), I lost my voice! I mean I really lost my voice, for the first time in my life. It was bizarre. The Lord gave me just enough strength to communicate each day of the intensive and it improved just enough for me to manage to preach in chapel after my class ended before I headed back to Tulsa.
Tomorrow evening, I will start teaching my Wesleyan Discipleship class for the third time.
And this time 34 students are coming to Tulsa.
34 students!
As far as I know, this is the largest class we’ve ever had in Tulsa. And it is an elective.
And I have this deep confidence in my spirit that collectively this class is going to experience the blessing of the Lord’s presence with us.
At every intensive I’ve taught in Tulsa, the Spirit has been present in a powerful way. It has felt to me like Asbury Theological Seminary’s Tulsa Extension Site is a laboratory of the Holy Spirit. We dive deep into the content and information of the course, while also actively seeking to experience the things we are learning about.
A course on Wesleyan Discipleship is tailor made for just that. We will learn about band meetings and class meetings, laying the historical and theological foundation for these core practices. And we will not only learn about the class meeting, we will experience it in a laboratory where we can do the real thing, talk about it, and discuss how we can practice it more effectively.
By the grace of God, we will learn about the stages of growth in faith and how to help people move from being spiritual infants all the way to spiritual parents.
And the Father will be given permission to do whatever He wants to do during our time together.
The past year and a half has been so good. So fun.
Today, I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. I cannot wait to see what God does tomorrow and this weekend!
Please pray for me to teach well and for all of us to be open and receptive to receive what the Spirit has for us!
Thank you, Jesus.
Interested in studying with me in Tulsa? Check out Asbury Theological Seminary here: https://asburyseminary.edu
This is a short post to share two podcasts appearances from this week.
The prompt for both invitations was the release of my new book Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline: A History of the Wesleyan Tradition in the United States. #affiliate I did quite a few interviews in the weeks the book was released in late June. The first print run sold out in a few weeks. The timing of these conversations is great because Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline is back in stock!
If you enjoy these kinds of conversations, I think you’ll enjoy both episodes as they went in significantly different directions.
I was interviewed by Dr. Brian Russell on his podcast Deep Dive Spirituality. This was my second time on Dr. Russell’s podcast. I really enjoyed the conversation with him about my new book. My favorite part of the conversation, however, was when he asked me what I am most hopeful about the future. He set it up with a great image. Audio only is available here.
I was also interviewed by Rev. Jeffrey Rickman on his podcast Plain Spoken. We also talked about the book and spent time talking about implications of the book’s argument for theological education and developments in the Global Methodist Church. Check out my conversation with Rev. Rickman here: https://plainspokenpod.substack.com/p/american-methodist-history-and-its
Thanks to Brian and Jeffrey for having me on their podcasts! I hope you’ll check them both out.
I have been tracking the education requirements for ordination in the Global Methodist Church (GMC) since the denomination’s beginning. In conversations in the church and in the academy, I see some consequences of decisions the GMC has made that I’m not sure are recognized for a variety of stakeholders.
This post is specifically about the requirements for theological education in the GMC. This is not a major emphasis of mine here. I am writing this post because I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit of late and wonder if I may be seeing some things that would be helpful to name. The overall intent of this post is to flush out what I think are some unexamined assumptions in hopes that it might help both the GMC as an institution and individuals pursuing ordination in the GMC. To be clear: I am operating on the assumption that the GMC is operating in good faith and doing the very best they can!
Brief Background
Let me offer a summary of my understanding of ordination itself and the educational requirements for ordination in the GMC to provide context.
First, one can be ordained a deacon in the GMC after completing 10 required courses. All 10 courses are required (i.e., there are no electives).
Second, all elders have been ordained a deacon. If one is called to be ordained an elder, one must first complete all requirements to be ordained a deacon (and be ordained as a deacon). One then must complete 10 additional required courses. 8 of these 10 courses are required for all elders. 2 additional courses much be taken from a choice of, I think, 12 elective options.
All elders have been ordained deacons. Not all deacons will become elders. (This is following historical precedent, but that is another post.)
So, 10 required courses for ordination as a deacon.
10 additional courses for ordination as an elder.
20 courses total to be ordained an elder.
These courses do not have to be taken from one institution, and they do not have to be of the same level academically. Prospective ordinands can take courses in an “alternative educational pathway” (the GMC’s language) which is like what Course of Study was/is in the United Methodist Church, or they can take accredited Master’s level courses from a list of approved schools.
Ok, that is the basic context/background. Here are some implications I see that are significantly different than the way the process worked in the UMC.
First, in my opinion, the GMC has created a disincentive for people to complete accredited Master’s degrees.
There are pros and cons to this.
The most obvious pro is that this approach lowers the financial bar substantially for people who feel a calling to ministry to meet the requirements for ordination. The GMC approach also makes it significantly more convenient to check the boxes in terms of ordination requirements. In one video I heard from a GMC Board of Ordained Ministry, it was discussed that students can take courses at multiple different institutions according to preference/convenience. Finally, this approach comes out of a desire to have a process that serves the entire global church, where there is not consistent access to Master’s level theological education.
There are a few cons as well. The academic quality of the various options will vary quite a bit. If someone takes a non-accredited Course of Study type class for one class and an accredited Master’s level course for another class, they are getting a significantly different educational experience across the classes. Another con is that the GMC approach (particularly compared to that of the UMC) will hurt seminaries. Seminaries are expensive and the current models are not built on guessing which a la carte classes students not enrolled as degree seeking students might want to take any given semester. I can understand why the GMC would not find this a compelling concern for a variety of reasons. But in my view, the GMC approach is asking academic institutions to work in a way that is not viable. Again, I think the first is a more significant con than the second. I do think there is room to think about academic requirements for ordination as a partnership between the GMC and the parts of the theological academy they choose to work with.
Second, related to the above, the GMC has created an incentive to meet educational requirements through “alternative educational pathways.”
The category of “alternative educational pathways” is hard for me to completely pin down. I think it is supposed to be what Course of Study was in the UMC.
However, there is a major difference in how Course of Study functioned in the UMC than how the “alternative educational pathway” functions in the GMC. In the UMC, the Course of Study was a way to meet some standard of education for people who were serving as local pastors, which was a distinct (and confused) category of non-ordained pastoral leadership. I agree with the GMC’s move to simply delete this theologically problematic position in the church. Local pastors were second-class citizens in the UMC. And yet, within that context (the problems and limitations on being a local pastor) there are ways in which a more expedient and much cheaper approach to education makes some sense. (For what it is worth, I taught in multiple Course of Study Schools during my time as a United Methodist seminary professor, and I loved the students I had in these classes!)
I feel like it is often missed that in the GMC because there are no local pastors, the “alternative educational pathways” are an equally valid pathway to ordination as a more traditional seminary education.
There is also confusion within the GMC about what the standard for these pathways is exactly. I have been told the “alternative educational pathways” were 1/3 the work of a master’s level course. I have heard from others that it should be 2/3. And I have recently heard a Board of Ordained Ministry presentation on Zoom that seemed to suggest they were supposed to be Master’s level quality. In my mind there is a lack of clear thinking about how all of this fits together. An accredited seminary, for example, should not be expected to offer a non-accredited class at a steep discount that is essentially the same course. If they are expected to do that and try to do so, they will be competing against themselves. It would be like Rolex selling the “really good deal” on a “Rolex” you can find on the sidewalk in New York.
The “alternative educational pathway” will be easier and cheaper. And as a result, the GMC has created an incentive structure for prospective ordinands to meet educational requirements through this easier path, particularly because there is not the downside that there was with the UMC in terms of ordination.
Pros: Each course is cheaper than master’s level course work. These courses range from $200-$500 per course. They are less work and so easier to complete practically.
Cons: The GMC is, unintentionally I assume, incentivizing expediency and pragmatism on the road to ordination. I would advocate for doing the exact opposite. If someone wants to serve as an ordained deacon or elder in the church, they should be called to more and greater challenge. In fairness, my sense is that most who advocate for the easier path do so because of the need they see for getting folks serving in empty pulpits now. The need is great! I totally get that. I just think there are other ways that can be addressed while still calling people who want to be ordained to more. The most obvious con is that students who take the alternative educational pathway will get an inferior education to those who pursue Master’s level education. (If that is not assumed, I need help understanding what the distinction is.)
Note: I realize that there are a variety of challenges and nuance needed here. There are socio-economic challenges that are valid and real. And there are realities in the global church that are different than those in the U.S. I would maintain, however, that we ought to work to address these challenges in ways that raise the bar everywhere rather than lowering the bar in places that may have greater access to resources.
Third, the GMC may not be setting people up to succeed after ordination when they enter the job market.
If I am understanding GMC polity correctly, there is no guaranteed appointment in the GMC (as there was in the UMC). This is a big difference! In the UMC, you could meet ordination requirements however you wanted and once you got ordained the playing field was level. Everyone was guaranteed an appointment. I.e., you would get a job.
This is not the case in the GMC. A new GMC ordinand will either already have a job or be looking for one. And they will be competing with other GMC ordinands for the same jobs. GMC polity does not guarantee an ordained pastor employment.
My assumption, then, is that credentialing will be more important in the GMC for employment than it was in the UMC. Imagine 3 people apply for a position as the sole pastor of a GMC church that averages 100 people in person in worship on Sunday morning. All other things being equal, here are the ways they met their educational requirements for ordination:
Candidate 1: Completed a GMC approved “alternate educational pathway” that was 1/3 to 2/3 as rigorous as Master’s level accredited coursework.
Candidate 2: Completed educational requirements through a grab bag of courses, some unaccredited and some a la carte classes at various seminaries in Master’s level courses.
Candidate 3: Completed an accredited Master’s degree that satisfies all GMC educational requirements.
Who do you think will get the job?
I would guess that all other things being equal Candidate 3 gets hired every time. Of course, there is a ton of simplification there. But I have not seen much reflection on the real-world realities of trying to get a job after you get ordained and how the decisions you make in the ordination process may help or hinder your job search.
And there are a variety of other ways the educational pathway one chooses can potentially help or hinder the likelihood of them being hired. For example, does taking the easier route now to get through the ordination process more quickly make it less likely you would be selected to be the lead pastor of a large church down the road?
Final Thoughts
A part of me feels like the GMC is of two minds about education in preparation for ministry. And I can understand much of this. UMC seminaries did not serve orthodox Wesleyans very well. There is a reason many laity referred to seminary as “cemetery” when I was going through the ordination process. There was a real concern that I would lose my faith or be deformed in such a way that I could no longer effectively serve in Christian ministry. And I actually believe that concern was understated rather than overstated.
I think it would be an improvement to restrict “alternative education pathways” to cases of necessity. Many I’ve talked to suggest this is informally the case. It has not seemed clear to me in the GMC’s official statements.
I believe the M.Div. will continue to be the gold standard for theological education in preparation for full time vocational ministry. Of course, I could be wrong about that.
I think the burden is going to be more on the ordinand him or herself to make choices that are in their own long-term interest. And considering that, I think people preparing for ordination, particularly in the United States, will be best prepared to lead in the church and actually get a job if they complete a Master’s level theological education.
In addition to the M.Div., I have worked to create a 60 credit degree at Asbury Theological Seminary that exactly meets all requirements for ordination in the GMC. This is a concrete expression of our commitment to a partnership with the GMC. If someone can get an M.Div., I would recommend that they do. If they cannot, I would encourage them to check out our Master of Arts in Christian Ministries (MACM) degree, which is exactly the GMC ordination requirements. The degree can be completed through online and hybrid classes, or residentially in Wilmore, KY. So, you can do it from anywhere. (Though, of course, I want you to come to Tulsa!) When you complete the degree, you will be fully eligible for ordination and you will have a Master’s degree that you will have for the rest of your life.
If you want to know more, please reach out to me here (scroll to the bottom of the page).
These are some of the things I’ve been thinking about over the past few years re. GMC educational requirements. I hope it can serve the GMC!
I am teaching a course on Wesleyan Discipleship in Tulsa as a January-Term course at Asbury Theological Seminary this coming January (2025). You should join me!
What is the course about?
Here is my description of the course:
Wesleyan Discipleship explores the history, theology, and practice of discipleship through a Wesleyan lens. Particular attention is given to the role of communal formation in eighteenth-century Methodism. John Wesley’s theology of discipleship is explored, along with a variety of aspects of Christian formation in community in early Methodism. Particular attention is given to the way Wesley’s theology of social holiness was expressed in early Methodist small groups, especially the class meeting and the band meeting. Students will apply the historical and theological understanding of Wesleyan discipleship to contemporary ministry contexts.
Why I am FIRED UP about this class:
This class will have an intensive on site here in Tulsa from the evening of January 16th through January 18th, 2025. I LOVE the time together with students at intensives! This class beautifully lends itself to teaching in this format.
Hybrid classes have 20 hours of in-person instruction over 2.5 days. (The rest of the course requirements are met through online engagement and completion of online modules.) It is intense! But I have also found, perhaps surprisingly, that it is also an opportunity for a spiritual retreat for students.
The in-person experience gives us the opportunity to worship together. We will start the class by attending worship at the Thursday evening service at Asbury Church, where Rev. Andrew Forrest will be preaching. Andrew is an exceptionally gifted preacher of the Scriptures and a brilliant communicator. I love being able to start class off by tangibly connecting the church and academy by walking across the parking lot to go to worship.
We will also have an Asbury Theological Seminary – Tulsa chapel service for the class and students in the area on Friday January 17.
I will get to spend hours talking about my scholarly passion – the importance of community and connection for the Christian life. I love getting to teach students and engage their questions around these topics!
And most important, we will spend time talking about and practicing ways to reintroduce these tried and tested methods that gave Methodism its name.
At the end of the course, students will have the kind of knowledge gain you would expect from a typical seminary course. But they will also have experience participating in class meetings, experiencing small group dynamics, and reflecting on various challenges and opportunities of leading small groups like class and band meetings.
I think of this course as like a laboratory. We will learn a lot about the concepts, but we will also engage them in a hands-on way. In a laboratory you can not only experience a class meeting, but you can also talk about your experience of a class meeting. In my view, this is essential for becoming an expert practitioner. You need not only a theoretical framework and some practical experience, but you also need a place to talk about your experience so you can acknowledge, address, and overcome obstacles and challenges.
I am more confident than I have ever been that groups like the Wesleyan class meeting and band meeting will be at the center of Christian discipleship in these new and strange times we are entering.
These intensives are aptly named. They are not easy. J-term is not a short cut. In fact, it is a three-week academic sprint. My goal is to maximize the 20 hours we get to spend together to suck the marrow out of the class and be as fully equipped to make disciples of Jesus Christ in the contemporary church as possible.
I want students who come hungry and ready to learn and grow. And that is what we are seeing here in Tulsa. It is SO FUN!
How is the course being taught?
I am teaching this course as a hybrid course at Asbury Theological Seminary at our Tulsa, OK Extension Site (housed at Asbury Church).
What is a January-Term, or J-Term, course?
A J-Term course is a full three credit course that is offered entirely within the month of January. This coming J-Term will start on January 2, 2025 and conclude on January 24, 2025.
What is a hybrid course?
A hybrid course is a course that has parts that are online and parts that are in person. This specific course will have four online modules based on four main sets of reading, students will write a reflection paper that summarizes the content of the reading, critically engages it, and applies it to their own ministry context.
The in-person part is January 16-18, 2025 at Asbury Church’s Development Center in Tulsa, OK. The in-person meeting will be from 6:00pm-9:00pm January 16, 8:30am-5:30pm January 17, and 8:30-5:30pm January 18. The in-person meeting is required for completion of the course. It is also the highlight of the entire course!
Does this course meet the Wesleyan Discipleship and Spiritual Formation requirement for ordination in the Global Methodist Church?
The Convening General Conference of the Global Methodist Church, which met a few weeks back, updated the educational requirements for ordination. And one of the changes that was made was the addition of a course called “Wesleyan Discipleship and Spiritual Formation.” I don’t mean to brag, but I believe this course hits the bullseye for what the GMC is looking for here! So, yes, if you are seeking ordination in the GMC, this course meets the Wesleyan Discipleship and Spiritual Formation course requirement. You can take this course and meet all GMC ordination requirements with either an Asbury Theological Seminary M.Div. or our 60 credit (exactly 20 courses) Master’s in Christian Ministry (MACM).
Should I take this course if I am not in the Global Methodist Church?
Yes!
If you want to help your church more effectively make discipleship of Jesus Christ, this course is for you.
I am passionate about Wesleyan Discipleship, not because I am most passionate about John Wesley, but because I believe the Wesleyan theological tradition has a proven track record of excellence in intentional and effective disciple making. We do well to learn from experts who have gone before us. This course is not specifically for students from any one denominational tradition. I mentioned the GMC above only because there is obvious relevance for the GMC because they just made this exact course a required course to be ordained an elder in the GMC. (Your church or denomination should too. This topic really is that essential for succeeding in the 21st century church.)
Can I take this course if I am not an Asbury Theological Seminary student?
Yes! The easiest way to do this would be to apply now to become an Asbury Theological Seminary student. We have a variety of degree programs, and I would be thrilled to talk to you about any of them! There is time to apply now and start this January.
If you are interested in applying to Asbury Theological Seminary or for this course in particular, reach out to me here (scroll down to the bottom of the page) and I will get back to you soon. Be sure to include your email so I know how to reach you.
Not ready to apply to one of our Master’s degree programs? You may be able to apply to take the course as a non-degree seeking student. You also may be able to audit the course. Both require an application and auditing requires permission from the instructor. For either of these, reach out to me at the link immediately above.
I am open to considering some auditors. Auditors do not receive any academic credit for the course and do not turn in any assignments. They are given permission to sit in on the in-person part of the class and participate in class discussions and activities. However, I will only open the class up to auditors if there are open seats after the registration period closes. (I would assume auditing the course would not satisfy denominational ordination requirements, but you should check with your own denominational leaders.)
What is the official title of the course?
The course is cross listed as a Spiritual Formation course and a Theology course. So you can sign up for either TH650 Wesleyan Discipleship or SF650 Wesleyan Discipleship.
What are the assigned readings in the course?
Students will read a few short essays from John Wesley. And they will read these three books (affiliate links):
1. I love living in Tulsa as much as I thought I would.
I grew up spending a few weeks with my grandparents every summer. When I graduated from college, my parents moved to Tulsa. So, my entire life, I have had close family that lived in Tulsa. But I had never lived here. And it hadn’t even occurred to me that I could live here. A few years ago, I started sensing a draw to Tulsa. I had never felt a sense of calling to a place. I am so thankful for God’s goodness in bringing us here!
2. I love teaching at Asbury Theological Seminary as much as I thought I would.
My first time on Asbury Theological Seminary’s campus was 2017. That seems impossible to me. I had been curious about Asbury for a long time but had not actually been on campus until I was invited to preach in chapel just before the 2017 meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society, which was held at ATS that year. (You can watch that sermon here, if you want to take a trip down memory lane!) I remember walking around campus and sensing the Spirit’s presence in an almost overwhelming way.
In my first year, I taught Church History One, Basic Christian Doctrine, and a new course on the history and practice of Wesleyan Discipleship. And the students in every class have been fantastic! It has been such a gift to me to be at a place where my convictions are deeply in sync with the institution where I serve, with my colleagues, and with my students. I am blessed!
3. Hybrid classes are fun!
Every class I have taught to date has been in the hybrid format. This means that the classes have online modules where students complete assigned readings and other assignments. Once during the semester, there is a three-day intensive where everyone gathers together in the same place. (Asbury Theological Seminary offers hybrid classes in Wilmore, KY as well as at each of our Extension Sites: Tulsa, OK; Orlando, FL; Colorado Spring, CO; Memphis, TN; and Tampa, FL.)
As I was praying about my first hybrid last Fall, I felt like the Lord kept giving me the word “retreat.” As in, the hybrid is supposed to be a retreat for students. And to be honest, I thought to myself: there is no way students are going to buy that 20 hours of time in class over three days is going to feel like a retreat!
As the Lord usually does when I argue, I just kept hearing the word “retreat.” Finally, I embraced it and sent an email that felt very naïve to my students. I encouraged them to come expecting the time to be a retreat. I invited them to make a plan to put aside all other distractions and be present to the Lord and each other.
And that first hybrid just might be my favorite teaching experience I’ve ever had. We spent time together in prayer, even praying for one another. We worshipped together. Oh, I also lectured some. Several students confessed that my email about the retreat seemed crazy to them, but that to their surprise the hybrid did indeed feel like a retreat.
Only God!
I am learning to relax into the time we have together in the intensives and shift from trying to cram 20 hours of lecturing into the class to being present to the Holy Spirit and his agenda for our time together. I still have a lot to learn. But the journey has been so fun.
I can’t wait to see what God does in my classes this year!
4. Asbury Church is more of a blessing than I could have asked or imagined.
I cannot express what a gift it has been to me personally and to my entire family to be at Asbury Church. Rev. Andrew Forrest is an exceptional preacher. I don’t know how he does it week after week. And he is as good or better of a leader than he is a preacher. Serving on the Asbury pastoral team under his leadership has been a gift.
A highlight for me at Asbury Church was our Summer of Prayer series for six weeks right in the middle of the summer. We invited the church to press in to prayer in a deeper way. We preached through the book of James. We had a night of Prayer and Worship on a Wednesday during the series. The Holy Spirit was present in a powerful way that I believe broke something new open in the church. I got to preach the last sermon of the series and preached on James 5:13-16 and invited people to respond by coming forward to receive prayer for healing. The interest in healing and testimonies to healing seems to be building from the Summer of Prayer. (You can check that sermon out here, if interested.)
More Lord!
The sermon I preached felt like releasing something that has been in me for a long time. It was really important to me to know that I was operating under the authority of the leadership of the church. And throughout the series I experienced spiritual covering and blessing to be who I am in Christ in a way I have never experienced. I still can’t really describe what a blessing it has been. I am so thankful!
5. Asbury Theological Seminary is trusted by an even broader section of the church than I realized.
I knew that Asbury Theological Seminary was viewed as the premier seminary across the Wesleyan evangelical family throughout the world. I did not realize the degree of interest there is in building relationships with Asbury in many nondenominational and independent churches that have typically done most of their preparation for ministry in house.
I hosted a gathering of pastors from a variety of nondenominational churches here in Tulsa to talk about the work they are doing to raise up the next generation of leaders for the church. I was humbled that they would make time to come to Tulsa and consider a partnership with Asbury. Everything about the time together was fun! Great conversation. Exceptional leaders in parts of the Body of Christ I’m eager to get to know better. Openness to the Holy Spirit. Deeply committed to basic Christian orthodoxy. And aware of what time it is. Check out this description of the gathering.
The thing I most enjoyed about this meeting was spending time with leaders in the broader church who sharpen me and help me be better at what I do. My calling is to raise up the next generation of leaders for the church. It is all about the church. And so, the more I can be around excellent pastors the better!
Asbury Theological Seminary is known throughout the church. And as people are sensing that some places may be shifting away from their historic commitments, there is growing openness and interest in partnering with Asbury. I am so curious to see what God does!
The first year in Tulsa has been better than I could have hoped. But do you know my favorite thing about where I am at right now? I am even more excited by several things I am working on now than what I have experienced in the past. I have a deep confidence that the best is yet to come.
The Rev. Andrew Forrest, the senior pastor at Asbury Church in Tulsa, OK, interviewed me about my new book this past weekend in all of our services. It was so fun!
Andrew is not only a gifted communicator, he also has the ability to help other people refine and clarify their own ideas. It was really fun to see his mind work in terms of distilling what was most important from the book for people at Asbury Church.
Here is a screenshot of the interview. Click the link below to view it.
Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline: A History of the Wesleyan Tradition in the United States has already sold out of the first print run! (It continues to be available as an e-book and an audio book.) I am thrilled by the interest the book has received and look forward to seeing it continue to build.
As I’ve talked with people about the book, I’ve only become more convinced of its importance for such a time as this. As we move into new futures, it is essential that we be able to recognize real Methodism from cheap imitations. In order to do so, we have to know where we have come from and be regrounded in our identity. I believe John Wesley was right to lay out the following as the litmus test for Methodist vitality:
“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out.” – John Wesley “Thoughts upon Methodism” (1786)
My book describes the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which Methodists first set out and traces adherence to them across the history of the Wesleyan family in the United States.
Methodists were at the center of the First Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening. I am convinced that one way or another, the DNA of real Methodism will be at the center of the Third Great Awakening.
Kevin M. Watson 