Keith Clapp really deepened his faith in the last year. The catalyst? A survey he took online. “It’s changed my life completely,” he says.
Keith Clapp really deepened his faith in the last year. The catalyst? A survey he took online.
“It’s changed my life completely,” he says.
Clapp is a recovering alcoholic and addict who’s been clean almost 12 years. He gives God the credit for that. “This is part of why I do street ministries in the Edison neighborhood, because I used to go down into the Edison neighborhood to buy drugs. Now I’m going back there to do good things.”
Street ministry has been at the core of Clapp’s recent growth. Street ministry, and Scripture reading.
The Scripture reading took on new meaning after Clapp took the Grow Tool, an online assessment developed by Rod Tucker, the adult discipleship pastor at his church, the River in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The assessment—a series of 60 questions—measures 20 different discipleship characteristics and makes suggestions for personal spiritual growth. “We wanted to give people next steps, growth opportunities,” Tucker says. “The ideas are community-based, lifestyle-based, and resource-based. The idea is to give people the tools to take ownership of their own spiritual growth.”
Clapp calls the Grow Tool “innovative.”
“It really helped me to know the things that I needed to work on, because I was brutally honest with myself when I was going through all the questions.”
The Grow Tool suggested that Clapp work on Scripture reading. By following the recommendations from the assessment, he says he’s both spending more time in Scripture and getting more out of it.
“It taught me to be more in the Spirit and let the Holy Spirit guide my Scripture readings,” he says. “When I sit down to do Scripture reading, I pray about it first. I pray that the Lord would guide me.”
What Clapp has noticed is how often his readings relate exactly to something he’s going through—and it’s not just him. In the street ministry that’s close to his heart, “the people that we encounter, a lot of the prayers that they need relate to the Scripture readings that I’ve gone through during the week.
“That shows you how much God is working in the whole process,” he says. “It helps build your faith.”
“Sometimes it can be so overwhelming to know how to begin or what to study, so the breakdown of actions to take is helpful,” says Deb Withee, another church member. “The Grow Tool broke down the various areas of study, and I could match them with the areas in my life where I felt the need to start.”
To help people make the most of the Grow Tool, the River offers optional discipleship coaching after members take the assessment. Withee is one of the coaches. “I was asked to…coach another person by chatting about their strengths, in which areas they want to grow, and some action steps to begin growing,” she says. “That meeting revealed to me how this tool—and especially the discipleship part—can enhance the sense of community among the church.”
“You can see the culture beginning to shift,” Tucker says. “People are doing things intentionally for their own spiritual growth, and it’s having impact in the city.”
Try out the Grow Tool for yourself at theriver.info/grow.
Join a discipleship leadership or learning community with other churches: transformation@rca.org.
Reflect on practical next steps you can take to deepen your growth as a Christian.
[Photo by Rod Tucker]
EN 
ES 
KO 
PT