Synergy Resources

The work of discipleship and training does not stop with discipling a new believer. We want to help believers grow in their character, convictions, and ministry competencies as they cultivate the gifts God has given them. We need a path people can walk down to become ministers, disciplers, and leaders. This path is a key part of church health and multiplication: Unbelievers become new believers who become growing believers who sometimes grow into spiritual leaders.

The Pathway

Unbelievers need the Gospel. They need to hear what it is and have their questions and objections answered.

New believers need Christian community as well as exposure to the Bible and doctrine. They also need to know how to fight sin and temptation well and how to grow in godliness and pursue righteousness.

Growing believers can go deeper in their biblical theology. They engage more effectively in evangelism and disciple unbelievers and new believers. Growing believers are learning more readily how they can kill besetting sins and grow in holiness.

Finally, growing believers can become spiritual leaders. These are people who have exemplary maturity in their faith. They are engaged in making disciples by sharing the Gospel and helping new believers come into maturity in their own faith. These leaders are taking initiative to influence people towards God’s purposes by God’s power.

As you help others navigate this pathway, there are several key actions to take:

• Identify what you are looking for — character, convictions, and competencies. These are our goals for other believers’ growth.
• Recruit believers into ministry that suits their God-given skills. Churches should be looking to draw new believers into ministry, not recruiting people from one ministry to another.
• Select: Not everyone will fit the ministry needs and context they start in, so it is okay to redirect someone into a ministry that fits who God has made them to be.
• Train: This can include providing resources, training, etc. Train new and growing believers in character, knowledge, skills, and affections. Give them resources, teach them, mentor them, and get to know them.
• Deploy: Give growing believers authority gradually and let them take ownership of their ministry.
• Evaluate: Have clear standards to evaluate growing believers’ ministry work and help them improve key skills while recognizing and praising what they do well.
• Affirm: Write thank you notes and emails, affirm them in public when appropriate, and consider recognizing their service with gifts.
• Multiply: See beyond initial leader training to a multiplying movement (disciple-making disciples).

Discipleship and Leadership Development

Consider what needs to be given to people so that they can grow effectively and incrementally in their ability to deal with various ministry aspects of the church. There are three components you will need to provide: knowledge, coaching, and experience.

• Providing hand-on ministry experience makes up 70% of the training.
• Offering coaching before and after experiences comprises 20% of the training.
• Delivering knowledge is 10% of the training.

As people grow as disciples, they can lead other people to grow in the Gospel and in their skills to minister to others. It requires empowering people with the right kind of authority. Empowerment is the intentional transfer of authority to an emerging leader within specified boundaries from an established leader who maintains overall responsibility for the ministry. Leaders cannot hold on to all the authority themselves; they must wisely and responsibly delegate authority to others.

Action Steps

1. Disciple every member of your church to be disciplers.
2. Minister and raise up ministers.
3. Have a process in place to help people progress through the pathway from new believer to leader.

The bottom line? We want to see disciples made and disciplers equipped.

Dr. Jeremy Kimble, Professor of Theology and Director of the Synergy Initiative at Cedarville University, is passionate about teaching college and graduate students the truth of God’s Word. He is committed to teaching in the classroom, mentoring students, and speaking in church, camp, and conference settings. He served in pastoral ministry for eight years and is currently an active member and minister at University Baptist Church. Dr. Kimble's academic interests include biblical and systematic theology, ecclesiology, preaching and teaching, and the mission of the Church.

Synergy is the combined power of a group working together that is greater than the power of individuals working separately. The Synergy Initiative aims to help students plan strategically to graduate from Cedarville, go together with others from this place, and invest their energies, talents, and efforts in planting, revitalizing, and multiplying churches. As Cedarville graduates join up with other church members who are equipped to do the work of ministry, the combined effect of their efforts will accomplish, by God’s grace, abundantly more than only a couple of pastors in a church doing all of the work on their own. Thus, the goal is to equip students to leave Cedarville University ready to help establish and strengthen local churches throughout the nation and around the world.