2027 Disciple-Making Leaders (Foundational) Network
- Image
The aim of the Disciple-Making Leaders Network Foundational Track is for each participant to develop biblical convictions about leadership and disciple-making, so that by the end of the Forum, they understand their calling as leaders to build relationships that help God’s people become mature. A key component of this Network will be small-group interaction, discussion, and time set apart for Q&A throughout the four days of the Forum, which will help deepen participants’ learning. The Network will also include lectures on key biblical material and discussion of practical examples. Participants will be encouraged to develop practical strategies for becoming more effective in disciple-making.
Applicants should be those involved in Christian leadership (at any level) who desire to develop maturity in the members of the body of Christ and are willing to grapple honestly with their responsibility to make disciples. Prior preparation will be set for all applicants.
What Network Participants Are Saying
- 'I have a strong desire to help teen girls come to know Christ, but no one discipled me, so I don't have any experience in doing that. This Forum has been a huge blessing for me. The sessions are very relevant and helpful. It gave me the motivation to disciple teen girls. God put me in contact with the people who have done it for a while and who have done it with success. Their experience gave me a vision of what to do and how to do it. I'd love to say a big, huge 'thank you!' I'm filled with passion and motivation and also with a vision to become a fisherman to win people for Christ. I also want to encourage other leaders in my church to do the same so that Jesus our Saviour will be glorified throughout Georgia.'
- Salome Gaprindashvili, Youth Leader, Georgia - 'Through the Disciple-Making Leaders Network, I am learning how to make disciples who make disciples, so that students in Belarus not only come to know Christ but grow deep and learn to put effort into others.'
- Katia Malykh, Student Staff, Belarus - 'This year has been difficult for me, and being at the Forum has really been a blessing. Being encouraged by other brothers and sisters, learning so much about God, and being provided with the tools to study the Word and make disciples have all been so helpful for me. The Forum’s Disciple-Making Leaders Network has encouraged me to go back home and keep serving in the local church. It has also helped me make connections with people from all over the world that will last a lifetime.'
- Alja Ravnik, Youth Leader, Slovenia
Applicants should be leaders who desire to develop maturity in the members of the body of Christ and are willing to grapple honestly with the responsibility to make disciples. This Track is designed for those who have NOT attended the European Leadership Forum Disciple-Making Leaders Network in previous years.
Network Leadership
Network Speakers
Amy Allert was born and raised in Austin, Texas, United States, before God called her and her family to serve abroad in Kenya, Germany, and, currently, the UK. She has discipled leaders for over 35 years through local church university ministries, Cru, and, most recently, Via. She lives just… Read more
Andrew Dickson lives by the sea on Northern Ireland’s world-famous Antrim Coast with his wife, Katherine, and their two young children. After spending over 13 years in local church and para-church ministry, Andrew now serves as the Congregational Life Development Officer for the Presbyterian… Read more
Terry English is a leadership and organisational development coach who seeks to help leaders to “love growing their organisations”. He currently lives in the Czech Republic and has equipped ministries and leaders across Central and Eastern Europe for the past 27 years. In his free time he… Read more
Stephen McQuoid grew up in Ethiopia where his parents were missionaries. He then lived in Ireland where he qualified as a nurse before going on to study theology, gaining a variety of degrees including an MTh and PhD in theology. He is the author of 20 books on subjects such as discipleship,… Read more
Emanuel Tundrea completed his PhD in software engineering at Polytechnic University of Timisoara, Romania, in conjunction with the University of Nice, France, and then he earned his MA in Pastoral Theology in Oradea. In 2001, he joined the staff at Emanuel University of Oradea where he is… Read more
Network Programme
Sunday, 23 May
Discipleship is not a new concept. Even though many churches do not yet give real focus to the discipleship process, discipleship itself is as old as Christianity. This is because Jesus made discipleship a central feature of His ministry. He took twelve men and poured His life into them so that they would be able to continue His ministry once Jesus had returned to be with His father. Given Jesus' commitment to discipleship, it is natural that we look to His example and try to emulate Him. In this session, we want to study His discipleship ministry, which is described for us in the Gospels. We will see why Jesus did discipleship, how He discipled the twelve, and we will explore the content of His discipleship curriculum. This will give us a firm biblical foundation for our disciple-making today as we learn from the Master.
Being a disciple-maker can be joyful, but it can also be hard. Situations may arise in your discipleship relationships that leave you feeling angry and anxious, disappointed and discouraged, envious and exhausted, lonely and lost. What can you do to overcome the struggles that might tempt you to give up and instead continue in ministry with joy and faithfulness? This session will explore these questions and dive deeply into the Bible to offer some everyday steps you can take to strengthen your soul, for the benefit of yourself and those you lead.
Monday, 24 May
How we raise a future generation of disciple-making leaders is of urgent importance for the church in Europe today. Through this session, we will consider important principles for helping young people grow towards spiritual maturity as well as explore helpful practices for empowering young leaders.
The culture of the world is forever endeavouring to confuse or distort masculinity, either by diluting and weakening its distinctiveness at one extreme or by celebrating toxic domineering behaviour at the other extreme. Discipling men and bringing clarity and definition to the question of appropriate Biblical masculinity is an urgent priority in Christian leadership across Europe. In this session, we will begin to explore Biblical masculinity and how it ought to shape the way we disciple men.
The disciple-making process is not a complicated one, but for the women we disciple, unique obstacles affect their engagement with the biblical mandate to become disciple-makers themselves. In this session, we will look at the barriers women face to faithfulness in discipleship, how we can help remove them, and, by God’s grace, recover discipleship as Jesus’ means for changing the world.
Tuesday, 25 May
Our current digital context has created many challenges, but also provides us with new opportunities. This session will examine how we can continue to follow Jesus’ command to make disciples as we adapt to the constant digital advancements that are shaping our culture. Just as Paul used letters from prison to communicate to people beyond his physical reach, we are able to reach people through our current digital spaces!
This session will consider how the development of discipleship is a key contributor in the area of Church Revitalisation. In order to enable a church to reach wider, it is necessary to lead people deeper. Through this talk, we will consider some key shifts that can be made to help develop a discipleship culture in the heart of your church.
Wednesday, 26 May
The Apostle Paul used various imagery to convey the concept of disciple-making, tailoring it to different contexts: a farmer to the Corinthians, a parent to the Thessalonians, and an apprentice to Timothy. In this session, we are inviting you for a real-life case study reflection. We invite our participants to submit situations from their own contexts where they seek advice. We will select three distinct case studies and invite the group to reflect and offer counsel, using the biblical imagery that best conveys biblical wisdom for each specific context.
We learned that there is no shortcut to maturity and there is no shortcut to mature leadership. All of us embark on life’s journey with a variety of backgrounds and experiences that affect the progress we make in our growth. All of us are led by God to make disciples in different contexts. One thing is sure: no matter how much we know, or what our spiritual, psychological, or emotional heritage might be, it takes time to mature and it takes perseverance in the long term to make disciples. In this last session we will explore:
- How can we continue to grow as disciple-makers?
- What are the next steps to springboard to fruitful ministry?
We plan to end by forming cohort groups to keep one another accountable to the plans we've made and to spur each other on throughout the year and then entrust each other in God’s providence in prayer.