Together We Equip: Integrating Discipleship and Ministry Leadership for Holistic Spiritual Formation

by Jody Dean, Hal Stewart

In Together We Equip, you will discover the biblical foundation for equipping others. Equipping others in ministry is a process you bring with you as the leader! Its both personal and public. Its you as an individual and your church. This book will challenge you to take responsibility to grow spiritually, engage the culture, and share the gospel. Further, you will discover the impact of discipleship in the local church by examining mentoring small groups and preaching as relevant means to equip others. In the later chapters of the book, seasoned church ministry leaders with years of experience in making disciples through equipping ministry of the local church share many practical ways to equip others and lead church childrens ministry youth ministry collegiate ministry mens and womens ministry adult and senior adult ministries. Many ministry leaders do not know how to make disciples. They know, accept, and believe the Great Commission (Matt. 28: 1920). Yet they struggle with practical approaches and methods to carry out a viable equipping ministry. The book will help you elevate the importance of personal growth, making disciples, and assist you to align your age-graded and gender-based ministry leadership development.

Genres: Discipleship

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 23, 2018

Reviews

[Peyton Mansfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book breaks down discipleship, with a different author presenting each chapter — first, covering principles, then covering the special needs of age/gender groups. However, some authors are better than others.

Overall, the authors don't cohere very well in theme or methodology. Some rely on statistics and polling, many speak from experience in church work, and only a couple utilize Scripture in their explanations and advice. To me, the lack of Scripture in many chapters robs this book of its authority to speak to spiritual formation and multiplication. Some chapters felt more like human resource management and generic leadership tips.

Furthermore, in the age-group half of the book, there was very little practical advice. The chapters on children and adults were especially vague, musing about "foundations" and "leadership," with no definition of what that looks like. The afterword stated that it didn't want to leave step-by-step how-tos, because there is no single process for every church, but I was left unsure what the purpose of the book really was. It felt like a how-to book with the how-to parts cut out.

There were good nuggets in some chapters (like on senior adults, men, and women), but this book is mostly too surface level to be useful for ministry — especially with how little emphasis was put on Scripture.

[Evan Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good. As the Afterword notes, there were intentionally no step-by-step how to’s. Unfortunately this becomes another “here is what is wrong with the church” books. I’ve read plenty of these types of books. They make the task seem insurmountable and the local minister feel discouraged and like his efforts make no difference. If this was the first book you’ve ever read on discipleship or have been doing age-graded ministry in an unhealthy way, then certainly this book was eye-opening. Otherwise, it was pretty par-for-the-course with other discipleship resources of the day.

[Alonzo Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a gives well though biblical examples of discipleship training and strategy. Capable instructions to handle,just a touch of Congress in some areas.

[Chris Townson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discipleship and ministry leadership matters for holistic spiritual formation. The idea of ongoing development of the ministry leaders’s personal and public equipping of one’s self and his or her church is key. Without continued process development, desired results are often never realized.

In Together We Equip, editors Drs. Jody Dean and Hal Stewart supply the reader with a biblicaly-based, concise, and practical guide to equipping in ministry. Several respected and experienced ministry leaders contribute to the text in the areas of children’s ministry, youth ministry, collegiate ministry, men’s and women’s ministry, and adult and senior adult ministries.

Together We Equip challenges one to “grow spiritually, engage the culture, and share the gospel.” The reader will “discover the impact of discipleship in the local church” as he or she examines the process of mentoring small groups and preaching as appropriate means to equip others. For the engaged student, committed ministry practitioner, or interested lay leader, Together We Equip presents a guide for leaders to consider as they develop processes that integrate discipleship and ministry leadership with a goal of comprehensive spiritual formation of the equipper and the equipped.