Exploring a missional pedagogy for transforming discipleship : implications for missional discipleship within the DRC

Abstract

Within the international discourse on missional theology a recovery of a transforming discipleship has taken place to bring about a synchronicity between mission and discipleship. In the Dutch Reformed Church’s (DRC) missional turn, there was a shift in church polity and discipleship was added to the description of the roles and responsibilities of ministers and elders in the Church Order. In this article, this transforming discipleship will be researched in terms of a missional discipleship wherein a pedagogy for the cultivation of a transforming discipleship is proposed. Different elements of a missional pedagogy will be described as habitus, habitat, habituation, and habits. The research concludes with a proposal regarding the formation of missional habits by means of a missional rhythm of life and eight rhythms are proposed. This missional rhythm of life provides a discipleship imagination for embodiment. A missional rhythm of life may be a useful model for the DRC’s engagement of a transforming discipleship.