Elements of Successful Discipleship Practice in Crosspoint’s Church (2) – Leadership of Zone Pastor

“As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs, the autumn rains also cover it with pools.” (Psalm 84:6)

I have previously shared that the most important thing for the success of a discipleship system is that the zone pastor must embrace the vision and be the first person to take on the leadership role in the zone. Starting from scratch to build up this system, he or she has to begin with the NBC, followed by the DNA and the LC. Therefore, the zone pastor must first take the lead in leadership, and through building relationships with the members of the zone, we can get to know each member more deeply and look for the right people who have the “Four Elements” (Faithful, Available, Relational, Teachable) mentioned in the previous article. The process will take a period of time. At the beginning of the first year, the NBC group will be developed, followed by the DNA, and then, after about a year, the leader cell will emerge. At the same time, new NBCs will be developed on a cyclical basis. At this stage, different levels of discipleship groups have to be led by the zone pastor, and the workload will increase with the development of new groups. This is a demanding process during the birthing stage of the discipleship system. When the disciples of the leader cell have been equipped for a period of time and have become mature, the zone pastor can select capable and qualified disciples who are willing to rise up and take on the responsibility and delegate the disciple-making duty to them step by step, such as helping to lead the NBC and DNA groups. One day, they will begin leading their own LCs, birthing a new ecology under each disciple’s network.

The zone pastor needs to know that when you are selecting the right people in the zone to be trained and become the closest disciples, you cannot leave these people to others, but must be personally involved so that your life can be an example to them. In addition, through the continuous close contact, you can observe and evaluate whether they are suitable to be the ones who are capable to shape other disciples in the future. This initial period of establishing a discipleship is the most difficult one. However, as mature leaders emerge to share the workload of discipling others, the joy of harvest is just around the corner.

Therefore, I divide the timeline for establishing a zone’s discipleship system into four stages:

• The first stage is the “Birthing Period”, where we set up all three-level discipleship groups in the zone; or the zone pastor starts from zero, sets up the NBC for new believers, followed by an 18-month DNA group, and only after a year can he or she have the opportunity to select disciples for his leaders cell.
• The second stage is the “Laboring Period”. As I have just shared, the zone pastor needs to spend a lot of time to lead many different groups in person, which is a lot of work and time demanding.
• The third stage is “Growing Period”, where leaders emerge gradually as the discipleship develops and can help share in the work of shaping other new disciples.
• The last stage is the “Harvest Period” where the zone pastor only needs to focus on his/her own leaders’ cell and the leaders’ cell members can help take on the works of the discipleship and develop new groups on a cyclical basis.

I sincerely remind all zone pastors once again that it is a difficult process to go through all these four stages. Yet, after you have gone through this valley of tears, you will make this valley a place of spring; and the blessing of the autumn rain will cover the whole valley. This “valley” is, realistically, your own pastoral zone.

(to be continued)

Your Pastor,

Ting Y Leung