How to Create a Discipleship Pathway

After surveying and studying the discipleship pathways of thriving churches across North America for my book No Silver Bullets, I discovered that ownership matters when it comes to creating a discipleship pathway.

Most discipleship pathways are typically organized around what the church can do for individuals. This is because churches typically see their discipleship pathway as the ways disciples are formed through the ministries of their church: weekend services, classes, events, groups, and serve opportunities. And while I don’t disagree that the church needs to offer environments and opportunities for individuals to get plugged in and grow, I’ve come to discover that the goal for a discipleship pathway is never to get someone through it; the goal is to get individuals to own it.

After all, as long as the church owns the pathway, the only possible response for an individual is consumption. This is like the difference between renting and owning, or being an hourly worker versus a shareholder. When something is ours, a shift happens inside of us, and we tend to approach it in a fundamentally different way.

Check out this 90 Second Leadership video I recently filmed for LifeWay Leadership on how to create a discipleship pathway for your church.

If you like what you saw on this video, I elaborate on this concept further in chapter 8 of my book, No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry.

Click here to watch other 90 Second Leadership videos by LifeWay Leadership.