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Rooted
in Jesus
Rooted in
Jesus is a group course in Christian discipleship written for use in
Africa by a team of clergy and teachers from Leicester, working in
partnership with the diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It is the
only material of its kind written especially for the use of ordinary African
Christians, rather than translated from material developed for the West -
where people face different problems and challenges in their Christian
lives.
Rooted in
Jesus is edited by Alison Morgan and Stanley Hotay and published by
ReSource.
It is is normally introduced in
a diocese at the invitation of the bishop, by a team travelling under the
auspices of
SOMA UK. Because Rooted in Jesus
is as much a method as a course, this has proved the best way of
establishing it in new areas. Originally piloted in 2002 in Tanzania, it is
now in use in 7 African countries and has been translated into 14 languages.
We estimate there are over 30,000 people meeting in some 3,000 Rooted in
Jesus groups in these countries.
Groups are led by pastors, evangelists and
newly commissioned lay leaders, both men and women. Many of these groups
have seen people becoming Christians, experiencing answered prayer, and
deepening their commitment to one another and to the church.
Rooted in Jesus is used for:
 | Small discipleship groups |
 | Confirmation classes |
 | Training of catechists, evangelists and
lay readers |
 | Sunday school groups |
 | Evangelism and church planting |
 | Follow-up for evangelistic crusades and
Jesus film showings |
Immediate aims:
 | To equip leaders
and potential leaders with teaching, inspiration and a living encounter
with the Holy Spirit |
 | To provide them
with Rooted in Jesus as a tool with which they can teach others |
 | To help build a local programme of
support in each diocese for the new group leaders |
 | To keep in touch so that we can offer
future support where needed |
Long term aims:
 | Changed lives,
changed churches, changed communities |
 | Ordinary lay
Christians equipped for ministry as disciples of Jesus |
 | Key people raised and trained for future
leadership within the Church |
 | Political and social stability in a
developing but suffering continent, through the growth of informed and
committed Christian discipleship |
Rooted in Jesus is a practical and
interactive course. The emphasis is on the active participation of each
member of the group through the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, so
that together they may be built up into the body of Christ and equipped for
ministry to others. The material is absorbed and practised orally, and it is
not necessary for group members to be able to read or write. Each lesson is
summarised by a memory verse, and members receive certificates when the
group completes each of the four books of the course.
For more
details on the course contents please click
here
For feedback on the course and our conferences click
here
For up to date
reports on each diocese click
here
For personal testimonies click
here
For a
diocesan information pack please click
here (English)
Des
informations sur le cours se trouvent
ici
(français)
To
purchase a sample
pack click
here.
For an
article giving an overview of the use and development of the course click
here
For a
Times article on why Africa needs Christian discipleship click
here
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