Is your congregation interested in learning more about what it means to be missional? Ohio Conference is partnering with Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) to offer the Missional Discipleship Initiative to Conference churches beginning this fall.

Marvin Lorenzana, the director for discipleship initiatives at MMN, coordinates the Missional Discipleship Initiative (MDI). “Our goal is to help leaders engage the missional church conversation while also experimenting with hands-on discipleship tools such as Missional Discipleship Groups (MDGs) for eight months,” he said. “The final goal is that you learn to contextualize what the Missional Discipleship Initiative has to offer to your reality in Ohio Conference. Also, the biweekly virtual huddle allows implementing leaders to engage the conversation while offering support and encouragement to one another.”

• MDI is focused on renewal in local congregations through small group discipleship.
• The main resource used in MDI is Lifeshapes by Mike Breen (3DM Publishing).
• MDI will be contextualized to meet the missional goals of Ohio Conference.
• The following topics will be highlighted in MDI groups: missional habits/practices, missional experimentation in the local congregation, and engaging third places.
• One or two MDI cohorts will launch on Oct. 1 in Ohio Conference (one in western Ohio and a potential one in the east).
• MDI cohorts will meet online every two weeks for an hour and 15 minutes for a total of eight months with a possible extension to one year.
• Enrollment is open until July 31. If your congregation would like to participate, contact Marvin Lorenzana at MarvinL@MennoniteMission.net or (540) 209-1450.

To learn more about MDI, see the MDI page.