The Senior Pastor’s Role in Discipleship
By Grant Edwards

First Steps can succeed or fail in a local church and often the difference is the Senior Pastor. One-on-one discipleship, typically, is a change of culture as a local church begins to value and practice a one to one response to initial discipleship. In other words, from classroom to a coffee house, from the sanctuary to personal, and from small groups to one on one—discipleship is a culture shift and it requires the Senior Pastor’s support.

After leading a one day conference a couple years ago the pastor asked me, “Will my church begin to grow if we implement discipleship?” My answer was, “It’s possible.” Some churches have many ingrained habits of trying to nurture significant spiritual rootedness through ineffective large or small group patterns. The initial response, in most churches, to a new believer is to offer a class or small group. But spiritual change works best in a one-on-one relationship!

The Senior Pastor must lead the change. I was fearful my pastor friend was more interested in beginning another program called “First Steps” than leading a culture change. If a pastor will initiate, sustain, and encourage a one on one response to discipleship … yes … I believe the church will grow.