The Utilisation of the Interpersonal Pyramid Model for the Evaluation of Discipleship Programmes: A Case Study of Riruta Baptist Church

Abstract

The concern of this study was to explore and evaluate discipleship programm in Riruta Baptist Church utilising the Interpersonal Pyramid Model (IPM) Grunlan and Mayers in their book, Cultural Anthropology: A Christian Persp tive (1988). The final stage of this model is apprenticeship which is widely pra ticed in discipleship and traditional leadership development in Sub-sahara rica (as the literature review will show). Focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and unstructured observati were used as data collection techniques. After the analysis of the data, it found that discipleship programmes in Riruta Baptist Church were conducte forms of Bible studies and fellowships. The stages of the IPM existed, to s extent, in the discipleship programmes in Riruta Baptist Church, except for highest stage in the pyramid, the apprenticeship level. However, the practices each stage that existed in the Church was not as fully developed for the discip ship purpose as they could be. For example, trust was still at the reporting of fa level. The disciples, however, expressed interest in improving relationships with the discipleship groups. Although the pastor was loved and highly respected: the disciples, he was not practising any true apprenticeship relationship with t members. The researcher concluded that there was need for apprenticeship Riruta Baptist Church. The research has been significant for Riruta Baptist Chur because the implementation of its findings would contribute to its growth. Also, the IPM was found to be somewhat culture specific. Therefore, if the search model was to be applied elsewhere in Africa, then it needed cultural ada: tation. The researcher hopes to apply the model in the churches in Rwanda.