Covenant Discipleship: Christian Formation through Mutual Accountability

David Lowes Watson advances the practice of mutual accountability in Christian discipleship by expanding and updating the original handbook for covenant discipleship groups. Accountable Discipleship was the manual for covenant discipleship groups for more than six years, with over 20,000 copies printed in three editions. This new version should prove valuable in leading existing groups to a deeper level of discipleship, and newcomers to a fresh discovery of the best of the Methodist tradition. Of special interest is Watson's recovery - from John Wesley's General Rules for the early Methodist societies - of a fourfold "General Rule" of discipleship: "To witness to Jesus Christ in the world, and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit."

David Lowes Watson is Director of the Office of Pastoral Formation for the Nashville Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church.

A native of England, he was educated at Oxford University, (M.A.), Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri (M.Div.), and Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (Ph.D.). He has pastored inner city and rural congregations in Illinois and North Carolina, and has served as Executive Secretary for Covenant Discipleship and Christian Formation at the General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. He has taught at Southern Methodist University as the McCreless Professor of Evangelism at Perkins School of Theology, and at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. as Professor of Theology and Congregational Life and Mission.

He has written extensively in the fields of Methodist history and theology, evangelism, and congregational life and mission. His books include The Early Methodist Class Meeting, and God Does Not Foreclose. He has also written curriculum resources for The United Methodist Church, including the New Testament studies in Troublesome Bible Passages. He was the founding editor of the Covenant Discipleship Quarterly and the Journal of the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education, of which he is a past President. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Bicentennial Edition of The Works of John Wesley and is presently a member of the Board of Directors of Eden Theological Seminary.