How We Created a Discipleship Strategy at our Church

By Aaron Buer

Every church is different. We have different worship styles, staff configurations, values, and preaching styles. This diversity of expression is a beautiful thing.

However, there’s one thing that should be consistent in all of our churches.

Discipleship.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20)

It’s kind of “the thing”. If you aren’t making disciples then you aren’t a church. You’re something else entirely. We all know this, but at the same time, most of us don’t have a clear plan for how to actually make disciples. We just sort of expect people to grow when we preach to them or connect them with other Christians.

I think we can and should be more strategic in our planning.

Think about it. What would happen in your church if over the next two years, there was a marked increase in evangelism among all your people? How might your community be impacted by Jesus? Or, imagine if you focused on Christ-like relationships? What would happen in your church over the next two years if all your people forgave more? We’re more accountable? Encouraged more?

I’d love to share the blueprint our church uses for developing our discipleship strategy in hopes that it might be helpful in your own context in having a vibrant and effective discipleship strategy.

Step 1: What Is It?

It all starts with focus.

What if instead of emphasizing everything in the discipleship process, we chose instead to focus on a few aspects of discipleship for a period of time? A principle we have discovered in our church is that where we focus our energy, resources and attention is where we see growth. Focus leads to results. It might sound terribly unspiritual but I believe this principle applies to discipleship.

Read More via the original blog post here.