Paths of Spiritual Growth
In our Wesleyan tradition we practice six holy habits that produce spiritual growth. We encourage everyone to regularly receive these six ‘means of grace’ through which God enlivens, strengthens and confirms faith. These six paths will guide us whether we are in a large gathering of worship or in a small group.
1. The Scriptures – We preach and teach from the Bible because it is one of God’s chief means of grace (1 Corinthians 1:21 ). We are learning how to cultivate the lectio divina (divine reading) practice of listening to the Holy Spirit by studying and applying the Bible through a personal and frequent (we recommend daily) time alone with God.
2. Christian community – We want to help each person find a place to belong and become an accountable, contributing participant in fulfilling God’s mission. This vision of spiritual growth through Christian community is an alternative way-of-life to our culture’s trend of fragmentation, isolation, consumerism, and cocooning. John Wesley described this as “Christian conferencing.” When a person becomes part of a small group community they are allowing God’s grace to work in their life through the instruction and encouragement of others.
3. Prayer – We encourage each person to both develop a personal practice of prayer and participate in the safe, confidential environment of a small care-group where they can receive prayer from friends for growth needs and concerns.
4. The Lord’s Supper – We offer the holy sacraments as a time to renew our love for Christ, examine our obedience, receive forgiveness, restore broken relationships, and rekindle our compassion for others.
5. Works of Mercy – We encourage acts of compassion toward our neighbors. Because we are called to a ministry of priesthood (1 Peter 2:5 & 9) and because we are called to love others as part of God’s plan of redemption (Luke 10:30-37), we try to find practical and creative ways to help our neighbors and work to build friendships rather than win arguments.
6. Fasting – We observe regular degrees and forms of fasting as a means of renewing our intention and energy for holy living. The purpose of fasting is to safeguard our soul from being absorbed by the culture. It gives us the ability to say, “That’s enough,” so we can live simply with uncluttered lives and rekindle our focus on God.