TOOL 8

A Guide for Disciplers

Your role is to help someone pay attention to Jesus, understand Scripture, and practice following Him. At its core, discipleship happens through friendship. You don’t have to have all the answers. You do need to be praying, prepared, and present.

Before each meeting

Read the session and try the practice yourself.
Pray for your disciple by name.
Choose one question you most want to ask.

At each meeting

Begin with their real week. Ask about the action step, and listen for joys, burdens, questions, and signs of growth.
Open the Bible together. Ask what the passage says before discussing what it means for life. Use the teaching as help, then return to the text.
Model, then invite. Do the practice together. Help them make the next step specific enough to try before you meet again.
Pray and follow up. Keep your between-meeting check-in. A short text matters more than you think.

Hand off leadership gradually

Follow the pattern in Growing into a Leader (Model, Assist, Watch, Leave). By Session 11, your disciple should lead the whole meeting.

When a question is hard

It’s okay to say, “I don’t know. Let’s find out together.” Read the surrounding passage, ask a pastor, or use a trusted study resource. Test impressions against Scripture, the character of Jesus, and wise counsel.

When to get help

Some situations need more than a discipling friendship. If you hear about abuse, a risk of harm to self or others, a crisis, or physical dependence on a substance, don’t carry it alone. Stay with the person, involve a pastor right away, and follow Colonial’s safeguarding procedures. In an emergency, call 911.

Practical wisdom

Pair with someone of the same gender for one-on-one discipleship, or meet as a triad.
Meet in a public or open setting when you’re getting started.
If you miss a week, pick up where you left off. If life gets hard, it’s fine to pause on a lesson.
Stay connected to your own discipler, coach, or group as you disciple someone else.

Inviting someone: see “What to say” in Session 11.

Course developed by Pastor Jeff Sparks for Colonial Presbyterian Church. Some of the material and the original course concept draw on Discipleship Pathway (2024), Rev. Megan Koch and Rev. Phil Wiseman, Table Church, Des Moines. CC BY 4.0 · creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 · Original: discipleship.guide. Scripture: Berean Standard Bible (public domain). Website format: lesson content and L.I.G.H.T. labels follow the September 30, 2026 booklet.