Maybe you get a real feel for both a church and the folks heading up discipleship  by the sacrifices they make to cut out some time to talk about making disciples.  Such was the case with Shawn Winters, Discipleship Pastor at Wooddale Church, whose son Caden, had been through a harrowing experience as a result of a recent fall.  Sandy and I were so appreciative of his time and the opportunity to visit with him and learn about Wooddale’s discipling process—especially as it relates to making missional disciples.  It doesn’t take long to see why Shawn is heading up discipleship at Wooddale.  Without reservation, Shawn is a “good guy.”

    In case you’re not familiar with Wooddale, it is a 5,000 member church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota whose senior pastor is Leith Anderson.  Wooddale, like the other churches we have visited, is denominationally affiliated.  In Wooddale’s case it is both a member of the Baptist General Conference and the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC).  Leith Anderson currently serves as the acting president of the National Association of Evangelicals, so it will come as no surprise that Wooddale can be accurately described as evangelical.

    To the question of what meaning Shawn gives the term “missional,” Shawn indicated it was not a major part of the vocabulary he uses in discussing making disciples.  He pointed out that Wooddale was intentional about implementing its mission statement of “honoring God by making more disciples.”  And I couldn’t help but like Shawn’s answer as to what such authentic disciples might look like. To answer that question Shawn, paraphrased Micah 6:8 to say such disciples would, “Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly.”  From there Shawn went on to mention the other aspects one normally associates with discipleship worship, evangelism, ministry, and, community.

    What is the process for creating such disciples?  For Wooddale it has become “big groups” and “small groups.”  Big Groups can be between 60 to 200 and small groups are exactly what you might expect—a size of about 12.  It is through the small groups that Wooddale carries out ministry to the community.  Wooddale provides a large list of places where the church has ministry connections to each small group, and the small groups engage in ministry, e. g., packing meals for the “Starving Children” program, or other outreach opportunities in the metropolitan area. Wooddale also has eight short term mission teams which make yearly trips to Guatemala, (where one of their ministries is to offer small loans to help people start businesses) and Indonesia, where through medical service, drama, and sports, team members have a chance to have spiritual conversations with those they meet.  As Shawn stated, “Small groups are not counseling sessions.”  Yet, the trick is, according to Shawn, to coach, train, and stay connected with small group leaders to ensure disciples in the small groups are growing and actively engaged in missional practices.

    What is most important about Shawn’s leadership style in leading his church’s discipleship program?  Shawn used the word that seems to be a core value of the Christian community today—authenticity.  In our brief conversation with him, his enthusiasm, winsome spirit, and love of people were also obvious.

    In my meeting with Shawn, a question came up again in my mind.  Can the mega church balance “attractional” with “missional”?  I keep asking myself, “Given the mega church model is based so much on being attractional, what would it mean to focus discipleship on being missional?”  Can a church form its disciples to give themselves away in the world and maintain all that must be maintained in a church Wooddale’s size?  Don’t get me wrong.  Wooddale is a prime example of how to do “mega” right in so many ways.  Just processing out loud to see if I can hook some of you into responding and giving your thoughts.

Well, gotta go.  We arrived in Spokane tonight; Seattle due up tomorrow.  Made it through Dick Cheney’s Montana with out any serious shooting incidents. No political point being made here.  Just going for the cheap joke.