Out of 21-years of development, we offer a core discipleship course in 2-Parts: The EH Spirituality Course to deeply change your relationship with God, and The EH Relationships Course to deeply change your relationships with others.
Over the last 21 years, The Emotionally Healthy Discipleship is a strategy for discipleship that is proven to change lives not just on the surface, but deeply. People in your church begin working out conflicts and grow in unity. You’re able to identify and develop your future leaders. And ultimately, your church makes a greater impact in the world for Christ.
Download the first chapter and watch the accompanying video (on demand) of the Emotionally Healthy Relationships Workbook.
Why does the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Course need to be done as a centralized Course and not a Small Group curriculum?
The answer in one word is quality. For years the material in The EH Discipleship Course was used in small groups. We found, however, that people only did part of the Courses (e.g. 4 weeks instead of 8 weeks), skipped the more difficult parts (e.g. developing a first-hand relationship with Jesus with silence/stillness and Scripture twice a day through the Course), and were being led by people with little, if any, experience in the material. While this approach introduced people to some new ideas about Jesus and discipleship, it was not transformational. Moving it to a Course has proven to bear enormous long-term fruit around the world. Remember, small groups are critically important to church life, but their purposes are connection, pastoral care, and light discipleship (depending on the leader). The EH Discipleship Course is meant to equip people in a discipleship that deeply changes lives. That requires time, commitment, and trained leaders.
I just bought the EH Discipleship Leaders Kit. What are my next steps?
a. Review the content in the Kit
b. Begin reading the book – Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
c. Watch this free video found on YouTube that gives a 9-minute overview: What is Emotionally Healthy Discipleship?
d. Attend a Live Training on leading the Course in your church and experience a Course session with Pete.
I notice The Emotionally Healthy Discipleship sessions are 2 hours long. How can I best do it in 90 minutes?
There are several ways to do this:
Be sure to get access to FREE EXCLUSIVE resources and sample session schedules the Leader’s Resource Vault. A two-hour, or even a two-hour and fifteen-minute block of time builds a relaxed break into the evening. This is a great community builder, especially for the Table Groups. Our experience is that once people start the Courses they want to meet for more time, not less.
What do I do with Table leaders who have not been through the Course? Should I do a pilot group with them first?
If you can meet with them and do the entire Course, that is great. In many cases, however, that will not be possible. What is more feasible in most settings is to have each of your SG Table Leaders go through the materials on their own before the Course and then meet with them before the Course actually begins. At that point, you do a Table Leader Training in a one-hour block of time. (This is resource is available in the Coaching Network). I think it is important to frame your work with Table Leaders as leadership development in their lives, as you are giving them more focused time and training throughout the Course.
Give yourself a lot of grace the first time you do each part of the Course. It took me 2 to 3 times, with each Course, before I really felt like the Table Group quality was high (along with my leadership as the Point Leader).
Remember, this is your first time as the Point Leader and it is very different than teaching a class or leading a small group. Moreover, the content is probably very new and challenging to your church and the people attending.
