How to Start a Discipleship Ministry at Your Church
The Discipleship Gap
Most churches are great at Sunday services. Many are good at small groups. But when it comes to one-on-one discipleship? Crickets.
Sure, it happens informally -- a mature believer grabbing coffee with a newer one here and there. But there's no system. No visibility. No way to know if it's working.
This article is for pastors and church leaders who want to change that.
Why Your Church Needs This
Before you invest the effort, let's be clear on why this matters:
Sunday sermons don't produce disciples. Information alone doesn't transform. People need application, accountability, and relationship.
Small groups hit a ceiling. They're great for community but limited in depth. Some things need one-on-one conversation.
Your spiritual leaders are burned out. When all discipleship falls on the pastoral staff, they drown. Distributed discipleship scales.
Jesus commanded it. "Make disciples" wasn't optional. It was the final marching orders.
Step 1: Cast Vision (And Keep Casting It)
Discipleship culture doesn't happen overnight. You need to consistently communicate:
- What discipleship is (and isn't)
- Why it matters
- Stories of life change from your own congregation
Put it in sermons. Print it in bulletins. Share testimonies. Repeat the vision until people can recite it back to you.
Step 2: Identify and Train Leaders
Don't ask for volunteers -- recruit. Look for people who:
- Are growing in their own walk
- Have capacity (not the busiest people in the church)
- Show natural mentoring instincts
- Are teachable
Then train them. Not a 6-month seminary course -- a 2-3 session training that covers:
- What discipleship looks like practically
- How to ask good questions
- How to work through curriculum
- What to do when problems arise
Step 3: Create a Simple Structure
Complexity kills discipleship programs. Here's a simple structure that works:
- Pairs meet weekly (or biweekly at minimum)
- Each meeting is 60-90 minutes
- Follow a curriculum (removes the "what do we talk about" problem)
- Commit to a season (8-12 weeks to start)
- Log check-ins (so leadership has visibility)
Step 4: Match People Intentionally
Random matching rarely works. Consider:
- Gender: Same-gender pairs only
- Life stage: A college student discipling a retiree is awkward
- Availability: If one works nights and the other mornings, it won't happen
- Affinity: Some commonality helps (single parents, men in business, etc.)
Do this manually if you have few pairs. As you scale, you'll need a system -- which is why we built DisciplePair.
Step 5: Provide Curriculum
Don't leave pairs wondering what to discuss. Give them:
- A Bible passage to read together
- Discussion questions
- A prayer prompt
- An action step for the week
This isn't restricting the Spirit -- it's stewarding time. Unstructured meetings drift into social hour.
Step 6: Build in Accountability
The silent killer of discipleship programs: pairs stop meeting and no one notices.
You need a system to track:
- Who's meeting consistently
- Who's fallen off
- Who's completed their track
This doesn't mean micromanaging every conversation. But you do need visibility into health.
Step 7: Celebrate and Multiply
When a pair completes a track, celebrate it. When someone who was discipled starts discipling others, celebrate louder.
The goal isn't just discipleship -- it's multiplication. Every person you disciple should eventually disciple someone else.
Common Pitfalls
Starting too big. Don't launch with 50 pairs. Start with 5-10, learn what works, then scale.
No accountability. If no one's tracking who's meeting, pairs will quietly die.
Curriculum without relationship. The curriculum serves the conversation, not the other way around.
Pastors don't participate. If leaders aren't in discipling relationships themselves, why should anyone else?
How DisciplePair Helps
We built DisciplePair specifically for church leaders who want to scale discipleship without spreadsheet chaos:
- Matching tools -- pair mentors and mentees based on life stage, interests, and availability
- Curriculum management -- assign tracks and see where each pair is
- Dashboard -- see who's meeting, who's struggling, and who's thriving
- Reports -- share discipleship health with elders and leadership
The Great Commission wasn't given to professionals. It was given to the church. With the right structure, every believer can become a disciple-maker.
Start small. Be consistent. Watch it multiply.