Levels of Engagement

These “levels of engagement” are derived primarily from what we see in Scripture
and how people relate to the Lord within those sacred pages. The SC School of Discipleship
is concerned, primarily, with those levels in black.

Apostle
- A person who has been commissioned to share in the governance of the Church
- This would be a bishop or a possibly a member of the laity

Co-Worker
- A person who has been commissioned to spread the gospel publicly on behalf of Christ and his Church
- This person actively leads and disciples others in the way of the faith
- This could be an ordained or lay minister (e.g., a priest or pastoral leader)

Servant
- A person who has been called and sent to minister to others in the name of Christ
- This ministry could be through public witness and service, or through behind-the-scenes witness and service (like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea)
- This could be an ordained or lay minister (e.g., a deacon or spiritual director)

Disciple
- A person who has learned (and keeps learning) the doctrines of Scripture and Tradition
- One who has committed him-or herself to applying the lessons taught by Christ to his or her life, in imitation of Christ the Teacher
- One who is committed to a life of ongoing conversion of heart and mind
- One who asks the question: “What does God ask of me?”

Seeker
- A person who is “in the crowd” that follows Jesus around
- One who begins to ask questions about faith and wonders about relationship with God
- One who is intrigued enough to be curious about God and faith
- One who is able to be evangelized (that is, to be influenced and shaped by the Lord)
- One who is a potential disciple

Novice
- A person who is “in the crowd” that follows Jesus around
- One who is primarily a recipient of divine grace (healing, hope, forgiveness, and so on)
- One whose primary question is: “What can God do for me?”
- One for whom conversion of heart and mind isn’t especially a priority
- One who approaches faith formation as primarily something that has to be done

Foundling
- A person who finds him-or herself at our doorstep without a desire to be there, nor with a desire to be engaged in things related to faith
- One who, nonetheless, has a basic “religious sense”
- One who might be “spiritual, but not religious”

Unbeliever
- A person who does not believe in the Christian God, nor any god, nor has any particular use for religion, faith, or Church