Discipleship Approach for Local Church Leaders in the Kigali City – East Central Rwanda Field

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the perception and practice of spiritual disciplines among local church leaders in the East Central Rwanda Field of the Seventh-day Adventist Church based in the City of Kigali. A total of 160 leaders, including elders and local department directors, from 38 churches in the area were randomly selected to participate in the study. Data was collected through a self-constructed questionnaire. The data underwent exploratory analysis and was assessed for reliability and validity using Cronbach’s alpha. The findings indicated that a lack of spiritual training was the primary factor contributing to disengagement. Church elders and local department directors expressed their willingness to serve but admitted their inefficiency due to lack of proper training. Consequently, it was recommended that local church leaders should receive training in spiritual practices to help enhance their discipleship as they care for the believers. Numerous research studies have been conducted, but none of them have specifically focused on the impact of discipleship on the leaders of the local church. Although the success of the church is closely linked to leadership at the local level, this study has emphasized the importance of discipleship at the local level in training lay leaders, an area that has not received much attention.

Keywords

• discipleship
• local church leaders
• spiritual disciplines
• spiritual journaling.