Preview of ‘7 Practices of Disciple Making Churches’

NEW RESEARCH REVEALING THE 7 PRACTICES THAT MULTIPLY DISCIPLES

The North American Church faces a stark challenge: the 5 Percent Problem.

In 2020, Discipleship.org released results from a national study on church disciple-making cultures. The findings were alarming: just under 5% of churches have cultures rooted in Jesus-style disciple making.

That means 95% of our churches lack this foundation. In practice:

• Life-on-life disciple making isn’t the core mission.
• Pastors and leaders aren’t personally practicing relational disciple making.
• Members aren’t equipped to become disciples who make disciples.

As one friend quipped: “Our churches have adopted the functional mission of going into all the world and making more church attenders, baptizing them in the name of programs, and teaching them to volunteer a few times a month.”

We knew some leaders and churches were bucking this trend, so in late 2024, we launched an 18 month in-depth investigation to identify North America’s top disciple-making churches (including in Canada). Our goal: uncover their practices to equip leaders everywhere.

We interviewed hundreds of leaders, analyzed data, consulted practitioners on multiplying churches, and heard stories of heartbreak and hope.

The result? Game-changing insights for every leader:

• We identified 9 top churches and networks excelling in disciple making.
• We distilled their key practices.
• We compiled a book with leadership questions to apply the research to your team.

“The roadmap we’ve been waiting for… highlighting the ‘muscle memory’ of churches cracking the code on multiplication.” —Dave Ferguson, CEO, Exponential; author, Multiplier

“The authors have put gasoline on the fire of the Great Commission. This book comes from practitioners, not consultants.” —Jim Putman, author, pastor, and leader at the Relational Discipleship Network

“A valuable tool for anyone serious about developing a disciple-making culture.” —Jeff Vanderstelt, author and executive director, Saturate

“The disciple-making resource pastors have been asking for—grounded in proven practice, not theory.” —Vick Green, CEO, Replicate Ministries

For the full book, click HERE