Walking with Others

In Walking with Others Stage 3: A Leadership of Companionship,  we see the Christian life is a relational way of life that is caught as well as taught interpersonally, life-upon-life. Beyond simply telling people how to live, we can provide a mentoring attention and presence in our contexts that actually helps others discover more deeply who God is, who they are, and what God wants them to be up to in their community and in the world. (Seven sessions)

A prerequisite for Walking with Others is The Journey and A Way of Life. This is just the Stage 3 manual of the Walking with Others process and does not include Living into Community for the full Walking with Others experience.

3-2-1: Following Jesus in Threes, by Soo-Inn-Tan, is part of Walking with Others Stage 1 process.

How can we practice the discipline of spiritual friendship in today’s busy world? Popular author and preacher Soo-Inn Tan presents a highly doable model for spiritual friendship in this groundbreaking book. 3-2-1: Following Jesus in Threes seeks to explain both the whys and hows of 3-2-1 triads. This small book contains all you need to understand and practice a 3-2-1 approach to spiritual friendship.

The Land Between: Finding God in Difficult Transitions, by Jeff Manion, is part of the Walking with Others Stage 2 process.

The Land Between provides fresh biblical insight for people traveling through undesired and difficult transitions such as foreclosure, unemployment, uncertainty, and failure. Such times provide our greatest opportunity for spiritual growth. God desires to meet us in our chaos and emotional upheaval, and he intends for us to encounter his goodness and provision, his hope and guidance.

Living into Community: Cultivating Practices That Sustain Us by Christine D. Pohl, is part of the Walking with Others Stage 3 process.

Every church, every organization, has experienced them: betrayal, deception, grumbling, envy, exclusion. They make life together difficult and prevent congregations from developing the skills, virtues, and practices they need to nurture sturdy, life-giving communities.

In Living into Community Christine Pohl explores four specific Christian practices -- gratitude, promise-keeping, truth-telling, and hospitality -- that can counteract those destructive forces and help churches and individuals build and sustain vibrant communities. Drawing on a wealth of personal and professional experience and interacting with the biblical, historical, and moral traditions, Pohl thoughtfully discusses each practice, including its possible complications and deformations, and points to how these essential practices can be better cultivated within communities and families.

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society, by Eugene Peterson, is part of the Walking with Others Stage 1 process.

As a society, we are no less obsessed with the immediate than when Eugene Peterson first wrote this Christian classic. If anything, email and the Internet may have intensified our quest for the quick fix. But Peterson's time-tested prescription for discipleship remains the same--a long obedience in the same direction. Tucked away in the Hebrew Psalter, Peterson discovered "an old dog-eared songbook," the Songs of Ascents that were sung by pilgrims on their way up to worship in Jerusalem. In these songs (Psalms 120-134) Peterson finds encouragement for modern pilgrims as we learn to grow in worship, service, joy, work, happiness, humility, community and blessing. This 20th anniversary edition of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction features these Psalms in Peterson's widely acclaimed paraphrase, The Message. He also includes an epilogue in which he reflects on the themes of this book and his ministry during the twenty years since its original publication.