Formation

During the 2024-2025 academic year, both the Global Formation Team and the Community Formation Team are partnering with the E. Stanley Jones School of Mission and Ministry. We will be collaborating with Drs. Brad Johnson and Jim Hampton, each of whom will be teaching a section of CD501 Vocation of Ministry (VOM) in the Spring 2025 term. As part of the VOM course assignments, students are required to participate in “Covenant Discipleship Groups.” Through our partnership with Drs. Johnson and Hampton, we are developing a pipeline for students who wish to continue participating in a discipleship group format beyond the requirements of their course. If this collaboration proves to be fruitful, our goal is to expand our strategy to all sections of VOM throughout the 2025-2026 academic year.

As part of our work, we recently collaborated with the seminary’s Library, Information, and Technology Services (LITS) Team to develop a Canvas Course that will house our discipleship group system. Once students finish the requirements for their VOM class, they can indicate their interest in continuing into a longer term discipleship group format, at which time we will enroll them in the new Canvas Course. This is not a course in the traditional sense. It is not for credit, and there are no graded assignments. Instead, it contains short modules that allow groups to learn about and practice the historic Wesleyan Class Meeting format.

We recognize that not every student will be registering for VOM in the coming semesters. As such, we are available to talk with any student who might be interested in exploring the historic Class Meeting. If you would like to join or start a group or if you are simply interested in learning more, please follow the instructions below:

• If you are a residential (Wilmore) student, email Community Formation at community.formation@asburyseminary.edu.
• If you are a non-residential (“Global”) student, complete this form.