Church Discipleship Assessment

Do you consider your church a disciple-making community? If so, what criteria are you basing this on? 

The Church Discipleship Assessment is a tool to help you assess your church’s disciple-making effectiveness in 11 key areas. The assessment is based on how a biblical understanding of discipleship can best express itself in a North American ministry context as described in Dr. Randy Wollf’s book, Maximum Discipleship in the Church. An assessment code is included in each book, but this assessment is also available at no charge for MinistryLift members (a MinistryLift membership is only $9.99/month for personal use and $29.99/month for church-wisde use and also gives you access to more than 180 training videos). Alternatively, you can purchase access to this assessment for yourself for a one-time fee of $10 (you can also purchase the assessment for your entire church for $100). 

Please note that your name and email address will be needed at the end of the assessment so you can receive the assessment report. You will also begin receiving MinistryLift blog articles and other MinistryLift emails about upcoming training events (you can unsubscribe at any time). 

You can read more about the assessment below or CLICK HERE to begin assessment using your login code. 

Imagine that discipleship in your church is like a grapevine. We want our churches to bear fruit, but the growth of the vine and its ability to produce fruit is dependent on at least four things: water, sunlight, good soil, and a supportive structure.

Water and Sunlight

As we think about making disciples in the church, it's imperative that we recognize the Holy Spirit's role. He is the One who draws people to Christ and helps them grow in Him. He provides water and sunlight to make discipleship flourish in our churches. Unless God grows the plant, our efforts are pointless. 

Good Soil  

Even though God ultimately causes discipleship to thrive in our churches, He has chosen to partner with us in this great, vine-growing venture. One of the ways that we can participate is to make sure that the soil has the right nutrients to support the growth of the vine.

The first five disciple-making elements in this assessment relate to your church's culture – the heart of your church. The five church cultural factors are like nutrients in the soil. They provide what discipleship needs to thrive in your church.

• Prayer Saturation
• Growing Relationships
• Growth Orientation
• Personalized Approach
• Missional Mindset

When these elements are growing in your church, you are much more likely to reach your disciple-making potential. 

Support Structure 

Of course, growing a vine requires more than just the right soil. You also need to have appropriate structures like a trellis that support the vine's growth. That's where the rest of the discipleship elements come in:

• Biblical and Engaging Preaching
• Effective Group Training
• Robust Small Groups
• Supportive Accountability
• Coaching/Mentoring
• Individual Spiritual Disciplines

As we grow all 11 elements, we will position our churches to move toward maximum discipleship.

If you want to find out more about how you can grow these disciple-making elements, check out the book, Maximum Discipleship in the Church, or refer to MinistryLift's other discipleship resources.

Note: We would appreciate your input on the assessment so that we can strengthen the next version (you will see a link to a follow-up survey in the report you receive after completing the assessment).