Watson - The class meeting: reclaiming a forgotten (and essential) small group experience

Advance Accolades for The Class Meeting

Dr Kevin Watson has given every church and pastor a gift! The gift is the reclaiming of the Wesley Class Meeting as the primary disciple growing tool. Any church willing to use this book as a guide will experience what I experienced at Christ Church United Methodist in Ft Lauderdale, Fl. I was there when Wesley Fellowship Groups began and I had the honor to watch an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. If this is a hunger in your heart, then this book by Dr. Watson will be a must read for you.

Richard J. Wills, Jr.
Bishop UMC, retired

Kevin Watson has given a wonderful gift for our church. He has resurrected an historic Wesleyan practicethe class meetingand has given it fresh meaning, showing its relevance for the church today. Kevin shows us how the class meeting may be a perfect means for church renewal, a gift of God, through the Wesleyan movement, for such a time as this.

Will Willimon
Bishop UMC, retired
Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry
Duke Divinity School

Dr. Kevin Watsons emphasis upon renewing the Methodist movement takes a pragmatic approach. The intent of this book is to be practiced, not merely read.

Tom Harrison
Senior Pastor
Asbury United Methodist Church
Tulsa, Oklahoma

This powerful practice must be reclaimed, but not just for adults, for all ages. Do your youth pastor a favor and give him/her a copy of this deeply-rooted and thoroughly-practical book!

Jeremy W. Steele
Next Generation Minister
Christ United Methodist Church
Mobile, Alabama

Kevin Watsons new book is a clarion call to recover the Methodist class meeting as a vital means of grace with an eye on the renewal of the church in the twenty-first century. Rightly balancing the historical and the practical, Watson invites readers to embrace not only the generous value of the class meeting in the past but also to participate in what promise it holds for the present and beyond in raising up disciples of Jesus Christ.

Kenneth J. Collins
Professor of Historical Theology and Wesley Studies
Asbury Theological Seminary

Kevin Watson has written a fresh new guide to the theory and practice of the Wesley Class meeting, an essential element of truly Wesleyan spirituality. As an experienced participant and initiator of class meetings in academic and congregational settings, Watson is a faithful guide. I highly recommend this book to clergy and congregations who are looking for ways to develop deeper discipleship and reconnect with our own, rich Wesleyan heritage.

Elaine A. Heath, Ph.D.
Southern Methodist University
Co-Founder, the Missional Wisdom Foundation
Director, the Academy for Missional Wisdom

As the United Methodist Church struggles to redefine itself and its mission for the next generation of disciples, Kevin Watson has managed to reconnect us to a timeless practice that has the potential of revitalizing our denominationthe Class Meeting! With so much emphasis on declining membership and loss of relevancy, we are invited to rediscover what made Methodism and the Wesleyan movement so vibrant for over a century.

Could it be that weve been looking in all the wrong places for the right answers? Watson reminds us that the class meeting is not an end in itself, but it has the ability to bring together and transform core groups of people who are willing to invest in each others lives and who are desperate to grow in their relationship with Jesus.

What I treasure most about this book is the way Watson traces the history of the class meeting, shares the basics of what should/should not take place within the group, and defines for us the role and qualities of the class leader. In other words, this is not a history book that simply tells us what happened then. Instead, it is a modern day road map that points us in the direction of what can happen now!

If you are one of those Christians seeking to experience the height, depth, length, width and breath of Gods purpose and meaning for your life, you need to know you can discover it in a place weve yet to lookthe class meeting!

Robert E. Hayes Jr.
Bishop UMC

Like other key aspects of Christian living, the Wesleyan class meeting is often talked about today but seldom really practiced. For Wesley the class meeting included, but was much more than, small-group fellowship.

Kevin Watson understands this, and he writes out of both research and personal experience. The strength of authentic Wesleyanism is that it denies the sharp distinction between head knowledge and heart experience. Rather, it unites them. We find that strength here in this practical book.

To be effective today, the class meeting must be recontextualized (that is, made workable) without losing its essential dynamic as gospel-based accountable community. I commend this book as a useful tool that, if put into practice, can achieve that goal.

Howard A. Snyder, Ph.D.
Author, The Radical Wesley and Patterns for Church Renewal

We want to know and be known. We need to hear each others stories. Watsons compelling case for reinventing the Methodist class meeting recognizes that holy living must be rooted in confession, accountable community, testimony, and gentle shepherding.

Stan Ingersol, Ph.D.
Denominational Archivist, Church of the Nazarene

THE CLASS MEETING

Reclaiming a Forgotten (and Essential) Small Group Experience

KEVIN M. WATSON

Copyright 2014 by Kevin M. Watson

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the
Common English Bible, CEB Copyright 2010, 2011 by Common
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Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised
Standard Version of the Bible. 1989 by the Division of Christian
Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked TNIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
TODAYS NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 2001, 2005
by Biblica. Used by permission of Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.

Printed in the United States of America

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-62824-058-0
Mobi ISBN: 978-1-62824-059-7
ePub ISBN: 978-1-62824-060-3
uPDF ISBN: 978-1-62824-061-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013951099

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Cover design by Nikabrik Design
Page design by PerfecType, Nashville

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To Bethany, James, and Eden

T his is a book that has been on my mind for a long time. For years I have felt that a recovery of the class meeting in the contemporary church would be used by the Holy Spirit as a renewing means of grace. When I began writing and speaking about the early Methodist class meeting, particularly in local church contexts, I was surprised at how quick many people were to accept my argument that the class meeting was a key piece of early Methodist vitality and that it has something to offer us today. I was even more surprised at how quickly people turned to very practical questions: How would you reinstitute class meetings today? How often should they meet? How long should each meeting be? What is the role of the leader?