To prepare disciples who make other disciples, I recommend having a process that moves a person from point A to B. My book, Leadership Explosion, describes different equipping tracks that churches use.
I’ve developed my own equipping track that takes a person from conversion all the way to facilitating a small group, or being part of a team. Each book in my equipping series contains eight lessons. Each lesson has interactive activities that helps the trainee reflect on the lesson in a personal, practical way.
The person being trained should also participate in a small group in order to experience community while learning about it.
I begin with a book on basic biblical truths called Live. This book covers key Christian doctrines, including baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
The next book is Encounter, which guides the believer to receive freedom from sinful bondages. The Encounter book can be used one-on-one or in a group.
Then the trainee uses Grow, to learn the spiritual practice of the daily devotional time. Grow gives step-by-step instruction for having a daily quiet time so that the believer will be able to feed him or herself through spending daily time with God.
Then the person studies Share, which helps him or her learn how to evangelize. This book instructs the believer how to communicate the gospel message in an appealing, personal way. This book also has two chapters on small group evangelism.
The fifth book is called Lead. This book prepares the person to launch a cell or be part of a leadership team. Another book that goes along with Lead is the book Facilitate, which talks about the dynamics of the small group.
The trainee is exercising his or her spiritual muscles in the cell group while completing the five books. I have two other books (Coach and Discover) that are part of my advanced level training. The book Discover focuses on how a cell leader can discover his or her own spiritual gifts (s) and help others in the group find theirs. My book Coach helps a small group leader coach someone else who is leading a group.
Some people believe that the only way to train new believers is one-on-one. Others disagree and train new believers in a group setting. Don’t confuse the training methodology (where and how you train people) with the training track itself.
There are a great variety of methodologiesfor implementing discipleship training (e.g., one-on-one discipleship, one-on-two or -three, training after the cell group meeting, training during Sunday school hour, seminars, retreats, or a combination of them all). Many teach the training track during the Sunday school hour, which is often connected to the worship service. I do suggest, however, that those who can’t attend during that time slot be given the freedom to take the same training before the cell starts, after the cell finishes, during a day-long training in a home or be given other options to complete the training.