“We’ve been looking for a place to have our Discovery Bible Study. I’m so excited! The pastor has said we can use the church! It solves our childcare problem too. We can use the nursery area for the kids.” She sounded so happy. Inside, I cringed. “Oh no! That doesn’t sound like the best option. How do I help her avoid making this strategic mistake?” Gently, I began asking questions. Eventually, she began to see. It’s probably better not to have Discovery groups meet within the church building. Not if her goal is to start a Disciple Making Movement.
When you’ve grown up in a traditional church environment, this can feel strange. Everything we do as DMM practitioners must be run through a reproducibility test.
Let me explain further.
Discovery groups (whether they are DBS, T4T or story groups) have two primary goals;
1) to introduce people to Jesus who don’t know Him yet,
2) to train every disciple to make disciples themselves.
In deciding where to have your group meet, you need to ask these questions.
– Does this venue help us reach new people easily?
– Or could it be a barrier for them?
– Is the venue itself going to lend toward multiplication and second-generation groups?
– Or hinder that from happening?