Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Matthew 28:19, 20
We often quote the first part of the Great Commission in Matthew—“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…”—and we make that our focus, valuing numbers of baptisms over all else, and leaving new members to make their own way once we have added them to the tally. But what about the rest of the commandment: “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”? This is what discipleship is all about, guiding each other towards a transformative relationship with Christ and cultivating deeper church bonds.
The Global Church Member Survey (GCMS) 2023 asked participants about how their local church is nurturing and discipling its members. Nearly 68% agreed (including 45.5% who agreed and 22.2% who strongly agreed) that their local church offers training on nurturing and discipling church members. Around 17% weren’t sure whether their church offered nurture and discipleship training, and more than 15% disagreed (including 9.3% who disagreed and 5.9% who strongly disagreed) that their church offered any training. Praise God that so many churches are offering discipleship training to their members!
The figures from the GCMS 2018 were similar: 5.5% strongly disagreed, 9.8% disagreed, 19.8% were not sure, 45.9% agreed, and 19% strongly agreed.
When asked about overall caring for and nurturing of members by their church, 2.4% claimed that this question did not apply to their church, 3.5% said that it needed to decrease greatly (1.5%) or somewhat (2.0%), and nearly 20% believed that their church was at the right level. However, nearly three-quarters of the members believed that the level of nurturing in their church needed to increase somewhat (45.6%) or greatly (28.6%).
In 2018, the figures were similar: 2.1% claimed that it did not apply to their church, 2.1% said that it needed to decrease greatly, 3.7% claimed it needed to decrease somewhat, 22% thought it was at the right level, 39.8% stated that it needed to increase somewhat, and 30.4% thought that it needed to increase greatly.
Finally, in 2023, the members were asked about their own involvement in caring for and nurturing local church members. Again, a tiny number answered that the question did not apply to their church (2.3%) or that their involvement needed to decrease greatly (1.5%) or somewhat (2.0%), and 19.6% believed that their involvement was at the right level. Again, nearly three-quarters said that their involvement needed to increase somewhat (47%) or greatly (27.6%).
Once again, the numbers were similar in 2018: 2.4% said it did not apply to their church, 1.7% stated that it needed to decrease greatly, 3.7% believed that it needed to decrease somewhat, 20% said that it was at the right level, 42.2% stated that it needed to increase somewhat, and 30.1% thought that it needed to increase greatly.
There are striking similarities between the figures regarding the churches’ and members’ personal involvement in nurturing and discipling within their local congregations. In contrast to the prevailing attitude that evangelism and outreach are the responsibility of a church’s pastor, members seem to be aware of their roles in caring for and discipling fellow members.
Two-thirds of the survey respondents’ churches provide nurture and discipleship training, but a great majority of members feel that their church’s and their own involvement should be greater––once the training is done, it is then important to put that knowledge into practice.
You can access the full report here.
Created in collaboration with the Institute of Church Ministry.
Published by ASTR on 9/24/2024.