One of our primary methods for equipping churches to launch discipleship movements of their own is our Discipleship Training Cohorts.
We offer these cohorts all over the world, and they provide a step-by-step discipleship leadership training process for church pastors and leaders looking to bring transformational discipleship to their churches.
US Cohorts are 30 months long (2.5 years including coaching) and typically start every February. Our next cohorts will start in February 2025 and take place in Georgia, California, and New Jersey. We would love to have you join us!
If you’re ready to register, you can apply for the next cohort today. If you still want to learn more, then this article is for you!
Here are 7 reasons to join our next discipleship training cohort:
1) Our Training Cohorts Exemplify Life-on-Life
We believe discipleship matters, so we walk with you every step of the way, helping you to establish a strong, healthy discipleship movement in your church.
There are many great training opportunities for pastors and church leaders in the world, but we found that many of them consisted of a single, multi-day event. You go, learn a ton, get excited, and then return home and try to figure out (on your own) how to apply the things you learned.
Instead of a single event, our training cohort consists of 3 different in-person workshops. Each of these multi-day events is filled with expert-level training on launching a discipleship movement. Here is where the real difference comes in: after your first workshop, you return home and begin to join a weekly coaching call with one of our trainers. You build relationships with your trainer and the others in your “ignition group” as you seek to apply what you have learned during the workshop.
After the first 12 weeks, coaching calls continue at a monthly pace as you continue to grow and learn. These monthly calls continue until the training cohort is complete.
2) Partner with other Churches
During our live, multi-day workshops you will have the opportunity to join other church teams. You can meet fellow church leaders, share stories, and exchange ideas. Your teams will receive biblical discipleship training and action plans to help you successfully implement Jesus-shaped discipleship in your church.
After the workshop, you’ll continue some of those relationships through the regular coaching calls. Working alongside other churches gives you the chance to learn from each other, encourage each other, and hold each other accountable. Some of these relationships continue for years after the discipleship training cohort is complete!
3) Worthwhile Workshops
Our training workshops are a great experience for church leaders. You will learn as a team from experienced discipleship leaders and pastors who have both led discipleship movements for their own churches and have also helped churches across the US and around the world ignite disciple-making movements. You’ll also get to interact with discipleship coaches in a smaller group setting, and engage with other churches.
Not only is the content great, but since our next cohorts take place in 3 different parts of the USA, travel is easy!
We are hosting a cohort in New Jersey for people living in the northeast. We are hosting a cohort in California for people out West. And once again, we are hosting a cohort in Atlanta, GA. Several highways make driving to Atlanta simple for out-of-town guests who are within a few hours drive. If you’re flying, then you’ll be happy to know that the Atlanta airport is within a two-hour flight of 80% of the United States’ population. There are a wide variety of carriers and direct flights into the city of Atlanta, making it easy to find and book affordable flights.
4) Launch your Discipleship Movement with a Mentor
After the first workshop and the 12 weekly coaching calls, you and your team will be asked to start forming your own discipleship groups. These new discipleship groups will then launch and meet for about 6 weeks weeks before your group leaders (aka your ignition team), returns for the second training workshop.
The second workshop focuses on discipleship in practice and is then followed by monthly coaching calls. These monthly calls continue until Workshop 3 takes place. Throughout this process, you will receive a solid start, plus the relationships and support from your coaches and trainers who model what life on life truly looks like.
You’ll be able to share what you’re learning, ask questions, and learn from our trainers as you experience leading a group for the first time. You will also grow alongside others who are going through the process, and learn from each other as you launch your discipleship ministry.
5) Trusted by Other Pastors
As we said earlier in this post, we’ve hosted a number of training cohorts across the world. In fact, we have hosted over 300 churches in 30 cohorts across 15 different countries.
Hear for yourself what other pastors who have experienced the Life on Life Discipleship Training in these two videos:
6) Great Value
For every church, training opportunities must be weighed against the realities of a budget. We believe these cohorts are important for God’s people and can truly transform lives, so we work hard to keep costs low and keep the value high.
Our Discipleship Training cohort price has been developed for churches to bring a group of their top leaders, so that you can train as a life-on-life group before launching your own life-on-life missional discipleship groups.
Our package includes the following:
- Attendance for up to 6 people
- 3 different multi-day live training events (the Atlanta cohort will include 9 total days of in-person training over the course of the program)
- All curriculum and materials
- Meals during the workshops
- 12 weekly coaching calls
- 2 years of monthly coaching calls
- Ongoing support and encouragement from our discipleship coaches
The total cost of the training cohort is $4,000. Let’s break that down a couple ways:
- If you sent 6 people, then the cost is only $22.22 per person per month (over 2.5 years)
- If you sent 4 people, then the cost is still only $33.33 per person per month
- If you only counted the workshops, then the cost would be $222 per person, per multi-day training event (including the food!) This costs less than many popular conferences, and you still get all the weekly and monthly coaching calls on top of the workshops.
Our training cohorts are certainly an investment, but when you consider the ongoing, life-on-life discipleship training and coaching we provide, plus our in-person training events, it really does provide great value.
If the number is still a challenge for your church’s budget, then contact us to learn about our cohort scholarship opportunities.
7) Transformation in your Church, Community, and City
As you learn to ignite a culture change of deep, authentic discipleship through this model of life-on-life missional discipleship, you will emulate the way Jesus poured himself into his close circle of disciples, who went on to train others to do the same.
When a culture of disciple-making takes root, God does extraordinary things in individuals, families, churches, communities, and even cities. Join our next cohort and you can learn alongside the many pastors and church leaders who are discovering deeper levels of relationship within their circles of influence and joy in personal ministry.
Apply for our Next Cohort
Are you ready to see a discipleship movement take place in your church? Then go ahead and apply for our next training cohort! Once you apply, you will also have an interview with a Life on Life staff to see if there is a mutual fit to move forward with the Cohort. After being accepted into the cohort, you will receive registration information and other details.
If you still want to learn more or hear from one of our discipleship coaches, then why not attend one of our upcoming Info Calls to learn more about life-on-life missional discipleship training! These meetings are free and a great way to learn more about our process and program.