This week a group of volunteers in Warrington had their first look at Faith-filled Life – the first stream of the Stepwise programme – which they are now ready to begin.
Stepwise is a little different from previous discipleship programmes; designed for the way we live and learn now, participants begin with individual activities online as they prepare for later group discussion. And, after meeting with their local group for shared activities, they can pursue in greater depth the topics that particularly interest them through further online study, including video and audio materials.
Joan Colwell, one of the pioneer group at St John’s in Warrington, who wasn’t sure what to expect, commented: ‘As soon as I realised all I needed was some login info, I accessed the material via my iPhone – it was brilliant! The images and text were clear, and I was soon zooming through the menus on offer. For me it could be a real bonus having this instant accessibility as I can “do” my studying wherever I am.’
Stepwise is intergenerational and, as Mrs Colwell soon discovered, its flexible material enables all ages to participate. She said: ‘I was particularly impressed with the Bible video and feel this would be a great way to engage my grandchildren and great grandchildren with the Gospel while at the same time showing off my techie skills!’
As with other discipleship programmes, Stepwise involves plenty of lively discussion and sharing, but boosts these with multimedia material as well as with handouts and books, so aims to cater for the tastes and learning styles of everyone.
Mrs Colwell concludes: ‘… some would say perhaps that for times of quiet, meaningful reflection we should be switching off our technology – but I feel that if God has given me the ability to study this way, it doesn’t really matter if his word is read from a traditional Bible or a smart phone. It’s spreading his message which is important.’
Interested in joining in with Stepwise? You can register here now: and the Stepwise team will put you in touch with a local group.
