It’s a critical question that gets to the heart of our mission, yet many of us aren’t fully confident in our approach. In a recent webinar for church leaders, president of Trueface and discipleship advisor for RightNow Pastors+ Robby Angle shared a valuable framework for effective discipleship.
Rather than jumping straight into systems and models, Robby challenged us to first examine how we view discipleship. He suggested that our beliefs about spiritual growth impact our ministry approaches more than we realize.
In the webinar, Robby called us to shift from a performance-based mindset to one of grace. Many Christians unconsciously operate from a “know more, do better” philosophy, thinking that spiritual growth comes primarily through increased knowledge and improved behavior. However, Robby proposed a different lens: growth happens through trusting and receiving God’s love, not through striving to earn it.
This perspective shift isn’t just theoretical—it dramatically impacts how we lead and disciple others. Leaders who see themselves as “sinners striving to be saints” will likely create discipleship environments focused on performance and knowledge acquisition. In contrast, leaders grounded in their identity as “saints who occasionally sin” tend to foster authentic, vulnerable discipleship spaces where real transformation can occur.
When it comes to practical implementation, Robby outlined four key areas for building an effective discipleship strategy:
1. Developing Leaders: According to Robby, the health and maturity of small group leaders accounts for about 60% of a group’s effectiveness at discipleship. He said 25% of the group’s success comes from following best practices, and the other 15% comes from influences beyond the leader’s control, like group chemistry or life circumstances. Since so much of a group’s health depends on the health of the leader, Robby suggested spending intentional time developing leaders.
2. Supporting Leaders: Both initial onboarding and ongoing support are crucial for forming leaders who can disciple others in the ministry. Robby said the onboarding process is important because leadership habits are easier to form early than to change later. In the webinar Robby shared “5 Core Components that Separate Great Leaders from Ineffective Ones.” Those components can be used as a rubric to guide leaders and ensure their effectiveness.
3. Forming Groups: Robby encouraged church leaders to think about group formation like a “customer journey.” But instead of mapping a buyer’s steps to purchase a product, he said to list out all the steps someone must take to join a group at your church. The best way to improve this process is simple: ask people who recently joined groups about their experience. Use their feedback to make it easier for others to get connected.
4. Equipping Groups: Robby encouraged churches to be clear about the small groups model they choose (closed vs. open groups, study format, meeting frequency, etc.), but to focus more on the quality of the small group leaders than the actual group format itself. In Robby’s experience, he’s witnessed both excellent and poor outcomes from virtually every small group model. While many churches spend the majority of their time focused on group models and strategies, Robby suggested that this might be misplaced energy. Instead, turn your attention to your leaders by giving them all they need to lead well.
For those feeling overwhelmed by the scope of building or improving a discipleship strategy, Robby offered encouraging advice: don’t try to do everything at once. Instead, prayerfully discern the one next step God is inviting you to take in your ministry context.
Creating a thriving discipleship culture is patient work that unfolds over years, not months. But as Robby reminded us, it’s worth the investment because the impact is eternal. It’s about seeing people fall more deeply in love with Jesus and experience genuine transformation.
Want to dive deeper into these concepts? Watch the full webinar for detailed examples, additional resource recommendations, and an exclusive Q&A with Robby. Click here to access the webinar recording.
Much of the webinar’s content was based on Robby Angle’s Discipleship Framework course, a comprehensive training experience designed to help your team think about, build, and implement a discipleship strategy tailored to your church’s unique needs. Click here to learn more about Discipleship Framework.
Disclaimer: This blog was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence. It may contain inaccuracies and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional advice. If you find content that is inaccurate or otherwise needs to be reviewed, please email webinars@rightnowmedia.org.
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