wfn.org | Re: United Methodist Daily News note 2900

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (2947 notes).

Note 2947 by UMNS on May 2, 1996 at 14:35 Eastern (3553 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

  UMNS stories may be accessed on the Internet World Wide Web at:
                   http://www.umc.org/umns.html

CONTACT: Linda Green                              233(10-71){2947}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470               May 1, 1996

British press to launch 
Disciple Bible Study program

                 by United Methodist News Service

     The success of the Disciple Bible Study in the United States
to satisfy a spiritual hunger prompted Britain's Methodist
Publishing House to design the study for ecumenical congregations
in the United Kingdom.
     On May 4, Foundry Press, the ecumenical imprint of the
Methodist Publishing House in Peterborough, England, will launch
the first full implementation of Disciple -- a 34-week course that
studies 70 percent of the Bible in a year.
     The study will be presented to an ecumenical gathering of
church leaders, both lay and ordained, at Westminster Church Hall.
     During the summer, course leaders will prepare to lead groups
at residential weekends. The program will begin in August and
continue through the year as the 34 weeks are interspersed with
holiday periods. The students will set aside 30-40 minutes each
day for Bible reading and one evening a week for a two-and-a-half
hour group meeting. 
     Several circuits in Westminster have participated in pilot
Disciple programs since 1992. 
     The Rev. Peter Graves, a British Methodist, was on a three
month sabbatical in North Carolina when he discovered that many of
the churches he visited were growing. He discovered that the
Disciple Bible Study had contributed both to the spiritual and
numeric increases among the congregations.
     He returned to Westminster and, along with four other
pastors, conducted a pilot effort to determine if the Disciple
program would be as successful in Great Britain. 
     Within Graves' circuit, more than 80 people registered for
the study and at its conclusion, more than 70 completed the
course.
     According to a release from the London press office quoting
Graves, "Most (Bible study participants) said their own faith had
grown considerably and this led to new life entering most of the
churches."
     Another positive outcome of the Disciple pilot program was
that it led to the recruitment of new local preachers for training
after a 15 year decline in their number. Local preachers are not
ordained though they conduct six out of 10 services in British
Methodist churches. Growing out of the study, eight local pastors
are in a training program.
     While the Disciple Study in the United States is distributed
by the United Methodist Publishing House, the British Publishing
House has the rights to distribute the program in the United
Kingdom and Africa, said Wini Grizzle, educational and sales
director for the United Methodist Publishing House. 
     She said that portions of resource materials and study
material were adapted and updated using British scholars.  The
video will form part of the weekly study meetings. 
     "We can rejoice in the fact that Disciple has a global
thrust," Grizzle said. "God working through the study has shown us
that congregations and lives are being transformed throughout the
world. The thrust in England is just another indication of
people's hunger for the study of scripture and for finding
direction in their lives." 
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