Discipleship is about relationship. Jesus’ ministry began by calling people into a community of learning and action. They served their world, not through a fully-formed institution, but by building communities of people who were asking questions and seeking to live like Jesus. As we shift and reflect together in the Southern Province, we hope to find more avenues for connection that equip us as agents of God’s transforming love in the world.
There are some perennial questions that invite Christian communities into deeper reflection and action in the practice of discipleship. While our congregations have varied histories and experiences, the areas of attention and intention are similar. How can we as a larger denominational group create space to celebrate, grieve and encourage one another in our different ministries?
In the Southern Province we are using 2024 to focus on the book, Shift 2.0: Helping Congregations Back into the Game of Effective Ministry by Dr. Phil Maynard. This focus on Shift 2.0 is, itself, an experiment resulting from evaluation, reflection and work at the provincial level to understand the ways our structure can better support, encourage and accompany congregations and ministries in North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Florida. This concerted effort to listen and learn from congregational leaders has been underway since the Southern Province transitioned to a commission model with the Commissions on Congregational Development (CCD) and Ministry (COM) under the direction of the Provincial Elders’ Conference in 2021.
The book highlights areas of congregational life that are common to all of us and areas of community life that can be overlooked as we move through the rhythms of the years. Dr. Maynard uses the lens of his experience in church leadership to invite the readers to consider their own context and evaluate the ways in which the experience of following Jesus is reflected in the community norms of their congregation.
The focus on shift is about cultivating space to ask questions together and embracing curiosity about where we are and what being the church means today. The questions and tools that are part of Shift 2.0 give our province and congregations some common language to start conversations at the Intersynodal Conference to be held in late October, which will focus on the journey of discipleship as the foundation for all 5 expressions of congregational life in the book.
We hope this experiment offers congregations and leaders the opportunity to be heard and encouraged in ways that enable them to move forward in ministry with hope and confidence in God’s guidance and community with other Moravian disciples. By starting with a common language, we believe relationships will continue to grow and build with a positive impact on the experience and practice of faith in Southern Province ministry settings. We are already hearing from some leaders about the response to the concepts in Shift 2.0 through new conversations and directions.
What we have learned so far…
In the first quarter of this year, the Province participated in two different gatherings of leaders in congregations where we introduced the concepts found in Shift 2.0.
First, at a youth and leadership retreat in the Florida/Georgia District of the Southern Province in February 2024, the theme was “Shifting through the Seasons of Life.” Members from congregations and fellowships shared their reactions to the book and began talking about their own assumptions and the practices that they would like to explore and use shift in response to the call to be disciples. The energy and deep reflection on the part of the leaders and youth who participated was exciting to witness. Even more thrilling was hearing folks talk about what they were going to do next to dig deeper and grow as followers of Jesus.

Angelica Regalado-Cieza leads a discussion during the Florida/Georgia District youth and leadership retreat in February.
One participant reflected on aspects of worship that have been staples in her experience of church life. She reflected that until now, she had not thought to ask her daughter or friends if worship felt like a place that called them into discipleship. And if they had ideas for how worship could be more connected to their experiences to support their faith.
Then in March, provincial staff and staff from the Moravian Ministries Foundation in America met with leadership teams from six congregations to begin an 11-month learning cohort. They used the material from Shift 2.0 as a base to equip the leadership teams to share and engage their congregations in assessment and discovery of opportunities for service and ministry. One of the most valuable parts of this process will be the intangible benefits to each congregation as they work alongside leaders in neighboring churches.
The five areas of congregational expression outlined in Shift 2.0—hospitality, worship as a lifestyle, discipleship, service and generosity—are the foundations of our common conversation. We look forward to the opportunity to share with each other the resources that resonate with our local contexts and experiences as we deepen the practice of Christian life and discipleship in our communities. In the Moravian Covenant for Christian Living we state, “We are called into a Christian fellowship by the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the eternal purpose of God the Father (Ephesians 3:11) by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:18-21), and as members of Christ’s Body, the Church, to serve all people by proclaiming the Gospel and witnessing to our faith by word and deed.”
It is together that we learn and grow as disciples of Christ who live like Jesus in the world through faith, love and hope.
The Southern Province will meet for its Intersynodal Conference on October 25 and 26 at New Philadelphia Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Rev. Rebecca Craver is the executive director of the Commission on Congregational Development in the Southern Province.