Creating a Disciple Making *Culture* Is Possible With an Intentional Strategy | Small Circle

The podcast begins with an introduction to the session focused on creating a disciple-making culture within churches. It emphasizes that disciple making is not about programs but about cultivating a natural culture infused in the church’s DNA. The speaker, Steve McCoy, discusses the importance of understanding Jesus' approach to relationships—crowds, groups, and one-on-one—and advocates for a strategy that emphasizes personalized, relational disciple making. This foundation sets the tone for the importance of intentionality and holistic engagement in discipleship.

McCoy stresses the significance of small, relational circles, especially one-to-one disciple making, echoing Jesus’ model. He shares statistics and stories illustrating how authentic, personalized conversations foster trust, obedience, and life change. The discussion highlights the use of tools like Journaling and labs to deepen relationships and encourage obedience over mere knowledge. Strategies such as slowing down the process, making disciples over a period of months, and intentionally nurturing multiple generations of disciples are presented as crucial for building a sustainable culture.

The episode emphasizes practical strategies to build a disciple-making culture. Key points include engaging everyday church members in disciple making, reaching multiple generations through multiplication, and fully involving church members in the mission of disciple making to Jesus. The importance of starting with leadership but extending it to all members is underlined. The discussion also covers the importance of giving away tools and resources, training other churches, and expanding the disciple-making ripple effect from local to global levels. The importance of patience, relational depth, and intentional multiplication are core themes.

McCoy discusses practical steps such as using specific tools and schedules to maintain momentum (every other week meetings, Labs, role of the Holy Spirit). He emphasizes the importance of patience, relationship-building, and avoiding dependency—encouraging disciples to also disciple others with a focus on producing healthy, confident disciple-makers who can speak into each other's lives. Laying out the process for choosing disciples, including addressing potential obstacles like gaps or conflicts, he advocates for honesty and the importance of long-term commitment to depth relationships.

The host explains how the disciple-making movement can extend beyond individual churches into communities, cities, and nations by training others and giving resources freely. Using a cultural analogy, he describes the ripple effect—reaching from local church settings to regions and nations—highlighting the importance of multiplication and generosity as core principles for a vibrant disciple-making culture.

The episode concludes with encouragement for churches and individuals to start where they are, utilizing available tools and strategies, to build a culture of disciple making. The host advocates for partnership and sharing resources to accelerate the movement worldwide. The episode invites listeners to participate in ongoing training opportunities, emphasizing that creating a disciple-making culture is achievable with intentionality, patience, and a readiness to give away what has been learned.