Glossary

Here you will find brief definitions and explanations of terms used within this Foundations21 website.

Blended learning: A description of learning made up of a variety of different elements. Foundations21 does this by bringing together a blend of different ways to learn and grow in Christian discipleship, including personal study and reflection, meeting in a small face-to-face group, and membership of a worldwide online community of faith.

Bulletin Boards: These are message boards that give you the facility to discuss issues and raise questions with everyone else in the Foundations21 worldwide community.

Cell: The Church can be described as operating at three scales: cell, congregation and celebration. The smallest scale is that of the cell, meeting regularly face-to-face or, increasingly, online, for welcoming each other in fellowship, worshipping together, studying God's Word, and learning how to witness to others.

Chat Room: A place to go and talk about anything you want to raise with your friends, mentors, small group members or anyone else within the Foundations21 worldwide community. These are safe places within Foundations21 itself, which can only be accessed by subscribers.

Contemplation: The spiritual discipline of prayer and reflection that goes beyond meditating on the Bible to seeking the heart of what God is showing his people.

Cyclopedia: A searchable resource of short articles on subjects introduced throughout each of the Rooms, Levels and Waymarkers of Foundations21. It's like a mini-encyclopedia.

Daily deliveries: Each day, on the Foundations21 Homepage, you'll find a new quotation, promise, Psalm, Bible reading and reflection, to inspire, encourage, resource and inform your spiritual journey, along with a region of the week to learn about and include in your prayers.

Disciple Master: Jesus is our foremost Disciple Master. But we have others who assist us in learning how to become increasingly disciplined followers. In Foundations21 each Room is introduced by a ten minute Disciple Master Programme, featuring many leading teachers and communicators of the faith.

Discipleship: Every Christian is called by God to become an increasingly disciplined learner and follower of Jesus Christ. Discipleship involves a 24hr daily commitment to personal change and growth, in the way of Jesus Christ.

Disciplines: The many ways that God's Spirit uses 'to replace habits of sin with habits of righteousness' (Dallas Willard). The disciplines include, for example, study, social action, service and solitude, amongst many others.

Doors: Each of the twelve Rooms in Foundations21 is reached by going through a Door from the Great Court. Then, at the end of Levels 1 and 2, there is a further doorway to go through, which represents your next step in discipleship.

Gospel Learning Style Quiz: An onscreen series of 21 multiple-choice questions, which enable you to find out your preferred learning style and therefore the Pathway that you may find most helpful, as a starting-point, in Room 1 of Foundations21.

Great Court: This is the starting point for your exploration along the different discipleship Pathways. The Great Court contains four statues, which are ancient symbols of the four Gospels.

House group: Churches often encourage small groups of members to meet midweek in private homes for Bible study, prayer and mutual support. Healthy small group life has been at the heart of every significant renewal movement of the church. The Cell movement has added a particular emphasis on mission, encouraging cells to multiply by attracting new members from outside the church.

John type: People who like the John Pathway. John people prefer to learn through images, concepts and ideas. They like to delve deeply into the complexities and challenges of faith, but are moved to contemplation as they fathom the depths.

Learning style: There are many different styles of learning. For example, some people like to learn through structured presentations, others through stories. Because every person is different, Foundations21 seeks to appeal to each of four main ways in which adults prefer to learn. In Foundations21 these are called the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John styles.

Level: Each Room and Pathway is accessed at one of three Levels. These three Levels reflect stages of faith. Level 1 takes you beyond the basics, Level 2 introduces some more challenging themes, and Level 3 invites you to study in greater detail.

Library: A searchable list of books, which are referred to, referenced, quoted from or used as sources within Foundations21, linking you directly to the publisher, allowing you to purchase the book online, as well as browsing the rest of that publisher's list.

Lifelong learning: Today learning is seen as an important part of every stage of life. Sometimes it's formal involving specific study. More often it's informal, as in our everyday experience and awareness of the world. Foundations21 mixes the formal and the informal together, to develop a habit of learning as we grow in our faith through life - just as Jesus did with his disciples.

Luke type: Luke people are people people! They prefer to learn within a community or group setting, journeying step-by-step with others, as they explore stories and travellers tales, developing relationships for nurturing discipleship.

Mark type: Mark people are spontaneous, creative and enjoy having fun as they learn. They prefer their learning in short bites, each of which is practical and points them to the purpose of discipleship.

Matthew type: Matthew people prefer to learn in a sequential way that reflects their respect for authority, good teaching and becoming guardians of the Christian tradition.

Mentor: Every member of the Foundations21 community is encouraged to select at least one Mentor to accompany them through Foundations21. A mentor is a wiser, trusted friend, supporter and adviser, although they need only be a couple of steps further along the way of discipleship.

Ministry: Ministry literally means service. The many and diverse ways in which Christians can serve God and others is what 'ministry' is all about.

Multi-media: This is about using a variety of methods to communicate. Foundations21 offers a rich blend of things to look at (including in excess of 3,500 web pages) things to watch (6 hours of video content), things to do (like interactive questions and activities) places to explore (over 7,500 links to other sources on the internet) and things to listen to (there are links to both music and speech).

Onscreen wizard: A simple-to-follow sequence of computer screens to lead you through (for example) the set-up process step-by-step, inviting you to do tasks in a prescribed order, with the minimum of fuss.

Pathway: There are four routes through each of the twelve Rooms of Foundations21. These are called the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John Pathways.

Room: Each Room takes one of the twelve main themes of Foundations21, such as Jesus, Prayer and Christian Mission.

Small group: A group of people - usually no more than 8-10, but can be as few as 3-4 - who meet together for mutual support and fellowship. Every member of the Foundations21 community is encouraged to join with others to become part of a Foundations21 small group.

Spiritual gifts: God distributes specific spiritual gifts amongst his people, so that we are equipped together, to be 'fit for purpose'. Such gifts include teaching, helping, healing and discernment, amongst many others.

Stages of faith: Each of us is on a journey of discipleship. That means we go through different stages of faith. The Levels of Foundations21 partly reflect these stages, from 'conforming faith' to 'owning faith' to 'exploring faith'.

Take the Tour: An animated presentation of the main features and benefits of Foundations21, which can be found on the Homepage of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

Timewall: A visual timeline with links to short articles - within and beyond the Foundations21 virtual learning environment itself - tracing the history of faith in God from the earliest foundations to the present day.

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE): The main Foundations21 VLE is much more than a static website. It is an entire environment in which you can interact with the content, your friends, group members, mentors and a worldwide community of Christians, all learning and growing in discipleship together.

Vocation: The calling we discover, that God has invited us to take up and for which he is equipping us, with natural abilities and spiritual gifts.

Waymarker: One section of learning, study and reflection for personal growth, which should take a single session to complete (45-90 minutes, depending on the Pathway and Level). As each one is completed, it marks the way of your journey along a Pathway.

Web-based: Foundations21 makes extensive use of the Internet as a source of learning and a means of communication in real time, as well as for sending/receiving email messages. But it also involves group meetings, watching videos and engaging in activities away from the computer. Foundations21 is web-based, but not merely electronic, learning.

Witness: Every Christian is called by God to bear witness to their faith and 'the hope that is in them', of new life for eternity, in Jesus Christ. The New Testament word for a witness is 'martyria', indicating the way in which many Christians - through the ages and still today - have borne witness to their discipleship faith in Christ.