A Plan and Process for Discipleship

One of the most encouraging exercises for church leaders can be on-site visits to other innovative congregations. God’s Spirit still works in remarkable and unpredictable ways, and witnessing it first hand can build the faith of other missional leaders. The new book released at the M7 Conference, Best Practices in Discipleship, allows you to visit with a dozen other ministries in the Church of the Nazarene, to discover how they are experiencing significant growth. Each chapter is presented by a leader fulfilling our denomination’s new “Statement of Mission” in a unique way. Reading through these pages, several themes emerge.

One common theme was an approach to evangelism that allows new believers time for growing in their new found faith. What presenters repeat throughout these chapters involves much more than a new evangelism program, but their plan and process for discipleship. All the various ministries in these churches converge on the common mission of bringing people to faith in Jesus Christ, and discipling them into a local community of faith.

Because of this overarching theme, these chapters describe an ongoing discipleship process. These authors share about starting and growing all kinds of new Nazarene ministries. Then, you can consider the various stages of discipleship of new believers in your own congregation. Probably most of these target groups for discipleship are already in your church’s fellowship. They are measurable, observable behaviors that can reflect spiritual growth. The objective is moving them through these spiritual formation phases, growing in their faith and obedience to all that God may have for them. Your approaches may be different than what others are using. But, most find it interesting to see what some of the growing congregations are doing. As examples, consider a few of the discipleship target groups these authors mention:

New Believers in God’s Family
Without new decisions for accepting Christ and receiving Him as Lord and Savior, most plans and processes for discipleship run dry. This focus in evangelism fuels the fire for ongoing discipleship. New decisions for Christ are vital to the growth of Christ’s kingdom and the vitality of your congregation. Spiritual babies bring new life to every church. But the babies need to grow. Making decisions is not enough – we’re also about making disciples.

New Guests in your Ministries
Most church leaders understand strong churches attract new people into their fellowship. These chapters share a wide range of ideas and insights for connecting with new believers and the unchurched. For the majority of these growing churches, new people described a sense of belonging and acceptance at their church, helping them come to a place of believing in their hearts. And, new people were usually brought to the ministries of the church by their friends and family in the congregation. Research tells us the average guest ratio is about one to two percent of the average worship attendance, with growing congregations experiencing even higher numbers of weekly guests. Most struggling congregations need to address this important question: “How are we attracting new people into the church’s fellowship?”

New Attenders to Worship
After opening the front door of your church to first, second and third time guests, the next discipleship challenge becomes connecting them into the church’s fellowship. One of the authors called it making the church “sticky,” another describes it as “closing the back door.” Whatever the approach, intentional plans can be implemented for new people to connect and stay. Teams of volunteers join with the pastor and staff to welcome and enfold first, second and third time guests in each of these growing churches. Usually the plans were different, as they found what worked best for their situation in their ministry context.

New Partners in Ministry
As disciples grow in their faith, guidance into specific ministry becomes a growing priority. Discovering God’s call in these churches remained a common goal. As more find a place of involvement, the mission of the church moves forward. New team members become more involved in the mission and ministry of their church. New ministries are created as new ministry partners express their particular giftedness and interests for service to the church and to the community. As more partners in ministry become involved, the quality of the ministry increases as well.

New People in Leadership
Each of these writers agreed leadership development remains an important part of the discipleship process. The progress of their ministry depended upon the strength and range of the leadership team in their fellowship. New leaders are seen as valued assets. Team leaders continue to train and mentor new leaders in their ministries, while doing their own assignments. Service to others is seldom done alone. Every expression of ministry also serves as a training experience.

Evangelism can no longer just be about making decisions to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. Effective evangelism encourages a discipleship process in the lives of believers, for doing holy service in fulfilling their own mission and for becoming more like Christ. Each new ministry shapes a whole new generation of Christ followers.

—Jim Dorsey
Editor, GROW