Discipleship Is Leadership: Stages of Generational Development - Softcover

Griffith, Rich

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1614841861 ISBN 13: 9781614841869

Publisher: D6 Family, 2024

Synopsis

Designed for parents, youth and children’s ministry leaders, mentors, and anyone seeking to make a profound difference in young lives, this book unravels the intricate connection between leadership and discipleship. Based on Erik Erikson's psychosocial development stages, this book offers both theoretical guidance and practical tools for effective discipleship of children and youth. This book aims to simplify discipleship and instill confidence in parents, grandparents, youth workers, teachers, and anyone who cares deeply about leading and disciplining children and youth. This book encourages the reader to explore diverse leadership models and incorporate them into discipleship practices. Includes real-life stories and practical experiences that are complemented by biblical examples, which paint a comprehensive picture of the overlapping spheres of the psychosocial and leadership models. This book uniquely demonstrates how varied leadership models can inform and enhance your discipleship approaches.

About this title

About the Author

A dad to three sons, Rich Griffith, D.Min., is professor of youth ministry at Toccoa Falls College. Rich also serves as a part-time pastor, serves on the board of the Association of Youth Ministry Educators, and is featured on several podcasts. He is also a contributor to academic journals and magazines.. Dr. Griffith has worked with teens and families for over 30 years. His life-long work in youth and family ministry, single-dad, and his academic pursuits, have given him a passion to help young people and those who disciple them.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

My ultimate goal is to “simplify” discipleship so that we as parents, grandparents, youth workers, teachers, and anyone else who cares about our children and youth can confidently engage in discipleship as leadership. Of all the things I have done with my life, being a parent and a leader in my family has been the most important. Don’t misunderstand me; I still make mistakes and certainly wish I could have done things differently when my kids were growing up. However, with learning comes maturity and vice versa. People who stop learning stop growing and maturing. We become our own echo chamber. Honestly, I wish I knew then what I know now. Here is the good news, however; no matter how much you “blew it,” there are hundreds of thousands of parents who probably feel the same way. In reality, our children will respect us even more if we model a willingness to apologize for our mistakes, try to make them right, learn from them, and then improve. We are all works in progress! Maturing and growing in the grace and likeness of Jesus Christ is part of our sanctification process. Every day we strive to look more like Jesus! The process of sanctification takes humility, discipleship, and leadership. It is my hope that we will continue to pray for each other and journey with each other as we look to disciple and lead our children! Amen! One final note: every individual in leadership has a certain style of leadership they tend to rely on. I am not stating that, as parents, we need to master every leadership style. What I am advocating for is to make ourselves more aware of the various leadership models available to us and then to practice them. Further, Christian nurture and discipleship are the very reasons we need to build a community of support around our families and our children. I strongly advocate for mentoring our children, and the younger mentoring can start, the better for our children. As an adult, I still need mentoring. If I am weak in a particular model of leadership that my child needs, I can hopefully rely on someone in my support group to provide the type of mentoring my child needs during certain phases of his life. Take heart. Growing in leadership skills is like the life-long process of sanctification. We fail only if we stop trying.

Edition details

• Publisher: D6 Family
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1614841861
• ISBN 13: 9781614841869
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 131