Creating Missional Communities for Disciple-making

By Dave Jansen

“Disciple-making starts when we intentionally invite people to walk with us.” – Bill Mowry in Walk with Me

Those words struck a chord with me as I began reading another one of my coach’s books on discipleship.  Bill has taught me much over the years on how to walk alongside others for the sake of the gospel.  Most notably, that life change happens in the context of friendship.  As a pastor, I wanted to believe that that teaching was the key to transformation – that if I just taught people all the right things their lives would conform to Jesus.  Well, I learned quickly that’s not how it works.  The transference of information doesn’t lead to transformation.   It happens in community, when one person walks with one another in love, showing them how to follow Jesus in the craziness of life.  In the context of friendship, evangelism is fruitful and discipleship is transformational.  And for my congregation to grasp this and intentionally build friendships with people who need Jesus, they needed to see me living it out before them. 

However, like many pastors, it is easy for me to become insulated in the life of the church.  We pastors tend to spend all of our time with the found, trying to equip the saints for ministry so that the church is built up in love.  We teach and care and lead God’s people with diligence, but we often spend very little time with the lost, connecting authentically with people who are far from God.  And then we wonder why we’re not leading people to Jesus or why our congregants aren’t either.  But how?  How could my wife and I be more intentional about our own evangelism and disciple-making efforts?

In 2020, I learned about a movement called “Fresh Expressions” that had begun in England but was making its way here to the U.S. and its approach intrigued me.  Since 60% of Americans say they will never go to a church, how do we go to them and meet them on their terms and on their turf?  The Fresh Expressions movement was built on the idea that instead of doing outreach with the goal of bringing people to church, let’s create community around shared hobbies, passions and proximity to others, and in let those become spaces to meet people and build friendships.  In other words, let’s create missional communities doing things we ourselves like to do, and invite other people from the city to join us.  As we meet over shared pastimes or passions, we can grow our friendships naturally and start spiritual conversations along the way.  The key is that you are consistent in meeting (not one-time events) so that relationships can develop naturally, and that you are far outnumbered by unbelievers so that it doesn’t become another Christian group.  It must be a safe place for people to meet other people that enjoy the same activities they do, without overt proselytizing. 

With this goal in mind, my friend Ryan and I each decided to start a “meet up” around activities we enjoy ourselves that could become our “fishing ponds.”   Jesus calls us all to be fishers of people, but we don’t often have a consistent spot to fish.  Our missional communities would be our intentional fishing spots, where we could connect with unbelievers and start meaningful conversations.  Ryan started a board game group, and out of that group his wife has started a book club.  I started a hiking group, walking a different 2-3 mile trail every week. 

Each week we begin our hikes introducing each other and encouraging conversation along the hike between everyone, reminding everyone that we are as much about building community as we are exercise.  We give them an icebreaker question to discuss with others along the hike, and as the season continues those icebreakers probe a little deeper.  This allows people to share their stories and to comfortably talk about things of a more personal nature.  Along the hike, there are often opportunities for people to share their struggles and to talk about spiritual things.  Occasionally, there is even an open door to the gospel. 

We have been consistently hiking weekly now for 5 years and the group has gelled into a real community of friends, and a safe place for others seeking friendship.  Because I am real about being a pastor, some have inquired about our church and have connected with our congregation.  Still, that is not the goal.  The goal is not to get people to come to our church.  It is to authentically create “church” in our community by loving people where they are and walking alongside of them.  People are still longing for and seeking community as much as ever, they are just afraid to seek it in a church setting.  Our missional communities provide a space where friendships can be built, conversations can begin, and faith stories can be told.  In that context, disciples can be made the way Jesus made them – by walking together. 

For more info, on our hiking group, find "Walk With Me Gahanna" on Facebook and the Meetup app.