Insourcing

Book excerpt: Too many of today’s pastors and leaders mistakenly think that thriving programs, lively worship services, and relevant preaching are adequate for developing people into the spiritual dynamos God desires. In many churches, the primary objective of the church—personally discipling individuals into mature followers of Jesus—has been “outsourced” to large-scale programs. But are people truly being disciple and taught how to follow Jesus? Are they growing in spiritual depth and missional determination? Twenty-five years ago, the leadership team of Perimeter, Randy Pope’s rapidly growing church realized that nothing but personal discipleship could account for the uniqueness of individuals and the call of God on each person’s life. Perimeter calls their approach “life-on-life missional discipleship,” and this book tells the story of how they learned to bring discipleship back from the margins of church life to the mainstream. Many pastors and leaders are slowly awakening to the reality that current models of ministry just aren’t working the way they had hoped they would. Randy’s journey as a pastor will encourage you and invite you to consider the effectiveness and fruitfulness of your own church’s discipleship efforts.