As we look to build the team of people who influence the discipleship of this child, we must start by placing the child in the center. Think of a child who regularly attends your church and ministry; someone you see a couple of times a month — both in your children’s ministry and at other times. Their parents need to regularly engage in your church, too. Do you have that child in mind? Great! Write their name down.
Your Team
Build Your Dream Team
In the last exercise, you engaged in the deep reflective work of what and who contribute to your effectiveness as a child disciplemaker. In this exercise, you will thoughtfully evaluate the people who make up your child discipleship dream team.
Exercise: Forming the Dream Team
Step 1: Name a child.
Step 2: Who forms faith in this child?
Keeping in mind the goal of lasting faith in the child whose name you wrote down, who are the people who spiritually form that child? Consider the people you serve alongside who help create a welcoming environment for this child to know, love and serve Jesus every time they walk through the doors of your church. Include the parents or other family members/guardians of this child. Who are some additional people this child interacts with on a weekly basis — at school, at home, at activities, etc.? Write those names in the spaces provided. If you don’t know actual names, write down another descriptor (parent, teacher, etc.).
Step 3: What impact area(s) do these people influence?
As you work through this exercise, you might begin to see there are people who either directly influence the discipleship of the child you named or help you influence the discipleship of that child. We’ll return to that in a future exercise. For now, let’s consider the categories of impact — Building Relationships, Prayer, Discipling/Mentoring and Equipping Parents. What categories of impact — either directly or indirectly — do these people influence? Write that category of impact next to each name.
Step 4: Evaluate
What observations can you make about the “team” of influential individuals you named in step 2? Reflect on the following and write your observations in the space allotted.
-Are all of the categories of impact covered by someone?
-Are there any categories that are stacked with influence, but other categories that are sorely lacking people to spiritually influence that child?
-What categories do you need to find someone to join your team? Who might that be?
-Does your senior pastor know they are influential in the discipleship formation of this child? How can you help communicate to them the importance of their role?
-Have you viewed the child’s parent/guardian as part of your team? Why or why not?
-Write down the names/roles of the people you want to include on your dream team.
-What is one thing you want to accomplish this week to help build a stronger team to disciple the children in your church?
You’ve done some great work! Now that you’ve identified your dream team, let’s take a look at how you can find time to do those things most effective to child discipleship. Ready to magically find more hours in your day? Let’s learn about Relational Compound Interest!