“What is Discipleship?”

When we sat down to discuss Discipleship, the first question was “What is Discipleship?” I think we all have an idea of what it is but many churches haven’t taken the time to define what it means for them. Once you line that definition up, you then have to evaluate where you are and where you need to be. This is where the many obstacles show up.

For us, we had to look for people who were capable and willing to train others. We knew we would have to develop new content for training disciples. We realized we would need to find space to meet and time to meet. We looked at issue like quality control. How could we ensure that every member of our church and everyone who went through discipleship training in our congregation would get a consistent and cohesive message that aligned with our values? How would we assess where people where? And, lastly, how would we afford it all?

Then, an interesting thing happened. As we looked at all of our concerns, we began to realize that they existed across other ministries as well. Whether it be volunteer training, our student ministry, our kids ministry, small group training, our worship team, our tech team, and our growth track program we use to welcome new members.

We knew we had to find a solution and we found it through the development of an online learning platform. By leveraging e-Learning technology we were able to provide an affordable option that removed the barriers we face.

We now had a place where we could put all of our content. It wouldn’t get lost or misinterpreted or misplaced. We could update it or improve it as needed. We could ensure that our members would get the same cohesive, quality message at all times.

Further, we could build training for our leadership, to help them grow and to ensure they understood what it meant to make disciples and what values we hold as a church.

The need for space and time were also addressed. By using an online platform, an incredible amount of flexibility was added to the structure and timing of courses. They can be self-paced or they can meet in person at a specific time. People could meet in groups or from the comfort of their own home.

The ability to use various assessment tools would allow us to see what people were learning and identify any gaps in our training. The powerful reporting options would give us the tools we needed to be more effective.

And lastly, and most importantly, the cost wasn’t prohibitive. In fact, the problems the platform solved more than made up for the cost!

So, if you’re looking for a more effective and efficient way to disciple, we want to help you.