Making Disciples: Faith Formation in the Wesleyan Tradition

How is it that we come to know ourselves as Christians? What were the elements of John Wesley’s work that contributed to spiritual formation for a Christian life, and how did these elements interrelate? Focusing on matters of formation and transformation in faith, Sondra Matthaei answers such questions in light of early Methodist practices of formation. Through research and dialogue with Wesleyan scholarship and constructive proposals related to the life of the church, this insightful study encourages faithful and imaginative approaches to spiritual formation in churches today.

The focus of this book is on matters of formation and transformation in faith. The book answers the question "How do we come to know ourselves as Christian?" and analyzes this question in light of early Methodist practices of formation and an ecology of education within the Methodist movement. The reader will come to understand John Wesley's idea of character formation and moral transformation. The reader will understand how Christian and vocation are shaped through spiritual formation and will understand the role of structures and relationships (family, school, church, etc.) in spiritual formation.

How is it that we come to know ourselves as Christian? What were the elements, and their interrelationships, of John Wesley's work that contributed to spiritual formation for a Christian life? Focusing on matters of formation and transformation in faith, Sondra Matthaei answers such questions in light of early Methodist practices of formation. Through research and dialogue with Wesleyan scholarship and constructive proposals related to the life of the church, this insightful study encourages faithful and imaginative approaches to spiritual formation in churches today.

Sondra Higgins Matthaei is Professor of Christian Religious Education at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. She is the author of Making Disciples: Faith Formation in the Wesleyan Tradition, also published by Abingdon Press.