All photos by Leslie Wofford The first week of June, 23 high school students came together for the Amp It Up worship band camp on the campus of Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. Campus minister Rev. Ben Hanne summed up the camp well. “Amp It Up is a weeklong camp that focuses on building up high schoolers in both their capacity as disciples of Jesus Christ and also as musicians and technical operators of worship bands,” Hanne said. “It brings students who have never played in a band before into a place where…
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It can be difficult to find theologically rich adult study resources, but a new program is filling that gap. The Wesley Theological Seminary Lay Academy offers 11 online courses covering a variety of topics including Methodist identity, early church history, Christian ethics, interfaith relations, and the intersection of faith and science. Laypeople can earn a certification in Wesleyan Studies by completing six of the courses online, or can choose to take courses individually for personal education and enrichment. All 11 courses in the Lay Academy feature half-hour video lectures filmed in Oxford, England,…
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Why does the Institute exist? Christians of all kinds struggle to know how to grow closer to God. To help light the way, the Institute for Discipleship creates and supports ministries that provide Christians with training and opportunities to become better disciples of Jesus. This tri-annual newsletter tells you what we're working on -- both online and on the ground at Southwestern College. If you'd like to support or become involved with any of our programs, we've included an easy way to help under each item. Thank you for being on our team.…
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With the 30th anniversary of DISCIPLE Bible Study and the 15th year of the Institute in 2016, we wanted to take time to explore how DISCIPLE helped shape the foundation of the Institute. ------------------------------------------------ by Steve Wilke, executive director of the Institute for Discipleship DISCIPLE's influence DISCIPLE Bible Study began in 1986 and was like a 5th child in the Wilke family – labor-intensive and sometimes quite demanding! But over time, it became clear that DISCIPLE was making a positive contribution to many around the world. DISCIPLE's essential elements of Bible study and small group discussion drew upon…
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