In late 2016, Clayton Church expanded their Timothy Discipleship Group model which operated within the umbrella department of life-groups and discipleship life. Beginning in 2014 as a pilot group, the purpose was:

• to work out how the church could bring Jesus to people, who for various reasons, were unable or resistant to attending a typical Sunday church service, or even a regular (fortnightly/weekly) small group.
• To evangelise and disciple these un-reached individuals by bringing Jesus into their own networks of friends, families, and social groups.

In this way, the discipleship process had to be simple and reproducible, so that even young believers new to the faith could apply the model, relying primarily on the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. In short – this model of discipleship is a lifestyle NOT a program.

Material and support from beyond Clayton Church was provided by Power to Change (then Campus Crusade for Christ Australia) and their Church Movement training. A number of key characteristics and behaviours make the 2017 Timothy Discipleship Group different from a regular life group:

• Discovery Bible Studies (DBS), including “I Will” personal application statements
• Review and feedback of group training sessions
• Homework 4-column Studies
• DBS Bible Verse Sets

Discovery Bible Studies

Often, there is no better way to learn and be trained in how to run a bible study then to be immersed into the approach itself.

1. Pastoral Care:
   1. What are you thankful for this week?
   2. What needs do you have?
   3. How can we help meet the needs expressed?
2. Prayer
3. Bible Study
   1. Read the selected passage
   2. Retell the story in your own words [in small groups/pairs]
4. Key Questions:
   1. What does this passage teach us about God/Jesus?
   2. What does this passage teach us about human nature/people/ourselves?
   3. If this is true, how should we respond, modify our behaviour or attitudes? (What is our “I Will” statement)

Four-Column Studies

The format of a four-column study is intended to help us individually be reminded of the core themes and teachings of the bible. The selection of passages and themes below is based on the training program/journey that transpired over the period December 2016 – May/June 2017. Each column corresponds to a different purpose:

1. Rewrite the passage, word for word. In my case, I am typing up the entire passage from scratch.
2. Paraphrase or re-tell the passage in your own words
3. “I Will” / application / What is God showing me?
4. Special / specific question assigned for each week

You can view the list of Four-column studies here. In that listing, the special / specific question is determined by the theme. Whilst a due date was originally assigned for completing the assigned passage, the date published below reflects the date when I completed the task.