There is one action that I recommend before you form a planning team for disciplemaking. That action is prayer. You don’t have to pray about whether or not to do disciplemaking. Our Lord has already commanded it (Matthew 28:19-20). But it is helpful to pray about how to do disciplemaking and who should be involved.
One additional element will make prayer and disciplemaking more fruitful: the pastor’s support and participation. When the pastor makes prayer and making disciples a priority in his own life, the congregation will be more likely to see its importance and to get involved.
Form a Planning Team
Pray for members of this team. Avoid making the team so large that decisions and actions are slow. At the same time, don’t miss the opportunity to involve key contributors of disciplemaking passion, creativity, and organization. One way to keep the team nimble but involve a larger group is to bring them into the planning for specific reasons at strategic times.
Planning Team Paths
Leading the planning team along an intentionally productive path can produce greater excitement and progress. Some like to start with the why and then move to the content and the method. Others like to start at the end and work backwards (objective, goals, plans, actions): when will we start the plan and then what needs to be completed before that date…one goal, plan, action, and decision at a time. I find that a tentative deadline helps the planning team to keep things moving forward on the path. Some groups find several smaller deadlines raises productivity.
Planning Team Topics
Following are a few topics that will be included. The list is not exhaustive.
- purpose, outcomes, expectations, etc.
- what other church ministries and events contribute toward disciplemaking: Sunday School, discipleship courses, DNow, men’s/women’s ministry, preaching, music, etc.
- materials: the Bible, journal, journaling instructions, etc.
- practices: prayer and prayer requests, Bible study, journaling, scripture memorization, spiritual disciplines, practicing together, practicing with others, etc.
- methods: discipling methods (one-on-one, microgroups, D-groups, single gender, etc)
- multiplication: helping disciples gain confidence and competence in their ability to replicate what they are learning
- frequency: what is the recommended frequency of meeting: weekly, bi-weekly, varied depending on situations (like new Christians, or a specific focus like improving prayer, etc.)
- length: recommendation for how long each session will be and how many sessions will be typical
- leaders: how many may be needed, how will they be enlisted
- training: how will leaders be trained? in a demonstration group led by the pastor, in a long-weekend, etc.
Keep the Strategy Simple and Flexible
Too often we tend to overcomplicate a disciplemaking strategy. This leads to burnout and difficulty in our disciples replicating our efforts. Simplicity is key. At the same time, it is normal to want to develop the “perfect” system that will take forever to develop and may never start. Do your best to think of “everything” in the time you have, but be willing to learn from your efforts. Then make improvements. Simplicity and flexibility will make your strategy more effective in the long run. I encourage you to start small and build it strong rather than start large and unsteady.
Your Next Step
Have you prayed for disciplemaking? Is your pastor praying and willing to be involved? Are you ready to enlist and form a planning team? Now is the moment to assess where you are and begin moving toward a disciplemaking strategy that results in disciples making disciples. May our Lord find us faithful in carrying out the Great Commission. Make disciples!
Photo by Guillaume QL on Unsplash
