At a glance: this is a 14-week study and discussion guide for Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, with 99 questions organized by reading assignment. Week 1 is free to read, with no card required.
Richard J. Foster's Celebration of Discipline is widely regarded as one of the most important books on Christian spirituality written in the twentieth century. Its central thesis is both simple and revolutionary: the spiritual life is not a matter of trying harder but of training wisely. Foster argues that the classical spiritual disciplines — practices like prayer, fasting, meditation, confession, and worship — are not burdensome rules for the religious elite but are, in his memorable phrase, the "path to spiritual growth." They are, he insists, a means of grace: ways of placing ourselves before God so that He can transform us from the inside out. Organized into three movements — the Inward Disciplines, the Outward Disciplines, and the Corporate Disciplines — the book invites readers into a whole-life spirituality that touches solitude and service, simplicity and celebration alike.
To use this guide well, begin each week by reading the assigned chapter slowly and with a journal nearby. Notice what stirs in you — a phrase that convicts, a practice that excites, a question that surfaces. Then work through the discussion questions, either alone in writing or together in a small group. Let the questions do their work: some will ask you to understand what Foster is saying, others will press you to examine your own life, and still others will invite you to connect these ancient practices to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are using this guide in a group, resist the urge to rush. A few questions answered honestly are worth more than all of them answered superficially.
By the end of this study you should expect three things: a clearer map of the classical Christian disciplines and what they actually are (as opposed to what you may have assumed); a more honest reckoning with the state of your own interior life; and — by God's grace — a genuine, if modest, beginning of new habits of heart. Foster's book is not meant to be merely read and admired. It is meant to be practiced. Come to it expecting not just information but transformation.