Diocese of Portsmouth
The Church of England

In this section

Discipleship

Discipleship

We want to help churchgoers to become disciples, committed to their faith and eager to help others to understand it. Our diocesan staff offer advice and facilitation that can help you to think more deeply about your own personal faith, guide your parish into effective Christian stewardship, explore the variety of Christian spirituality, and work more effectively with children and young people. We can offer you resources to help with your parish’s mission, its discipleship and its worship. Some of our team members are paid staff, some are parish clergy with specific specialisms. All of them are happy to help.

In order to create a diocese that is growing churches and making disciples, we are committed to:

  1. Engaging in prayer as a priority in every aspect of life
  2. Resourcing quality, accessible worship that facilitates encounter with God
  3. Supporting vibrant, living, sustainable churches
  4. Creating communities that are engaging with young people (11-25) and young families for a life of discipleship
  5. Promoting the expansion of pioneering and Fresh Expressions

Discipleship and our diocesan strategy

Part of our overall diocesan strategy includes a deepening of our discipleship and our sense of calling towards being part of God's mission. In terms of how our diocesan strategy is framed, our REJUVENATING strategy aims to place children and young people at the heart of our planning, and also seeks to REVIVE, REVITALISE and RENEW our network of parishes, chaplaincies and church schools. Creating thriving churches with an emphasis on children and young people is a watermark that runs through these parts of our strategy.

We believe that deepening discipleship happens most effectively within Cairns - small groups to eat, pray and study together with those who we trust and are accountable to. Our diocese is creating a network of Cairns to support clergy in their personal discipleship, to encourage them in mission and to allow them to be accountable in their discipleship. To find out more about Cairns, click here.

Theological Education Courses and Evangelism Resources

We have a number of courses available to assist a parish in sharing the Gospel.

View course list

A young child

Growing Faith

Our bishop Bishop Jonathan, has already highlighted that he will prioritise our work with children, young people and young adults. As part of that, he has indicated that our diocese will be involved in a national project that brings together schools churches and households. It is called ‘Growing Faith’, and you can read more about our involvement with it here.