Why a Pastor of Discipleship?

To grow beyond the small church size, one thing that must be achieved effectively is that the church must move beyond the level of a single cell organism toward multiplication of cells. If your biology class was long ago, the point is that when a baby is conceived the sperm and egg becomes one single cell. That cell does not just grow into a body; the cell grows and then multiplies into two cells, then four, then eight then sixteen etc.
In the church realm, the senior pastor is often looked to in order to provide leadership and participation in all areas of ministry. When the church has 50 people, the pastor very well may also be the janitor, chair setter upper, secretary, youth pastor, counselor, worship leader and many more things that could be listed but would take up a volume in and of itself.
The point of this note is that many churches, after hiring a youth pastor and music minister do not know where to go next. I would like to suggest that a Pastor of discipleship is an important early addition to the church staff.
What would he do? His job description would be to help church members grow in their commitment, competence, character and conviction as they seek to move toward spiritual maturity. Unless church members are capable of becoming leaders themselves, the senior pastor will be continually overworked and in need of more hands. The Pastor of Discipleship would allow the Senior Pastor to delegate much of the workload that is expected of him in regards to teaching Christians to become true disciples of Jesus Christ. When the core congregation can be described as people who disciple others, who have a kingdom vision – showing God’s heart for people outside the church, who see new believers as a great chance to watch God in action and help mentor them, who use their spiritual gifts effectively, who’s character is self sacrificing and Godly, and who see worth in every individual, then the church will continue to grow even when the Senior Pastor leaves or the church has grown beyond the size that he can be a direct influence on each congregation member. The Pastor of Discipleship could be responsible for small group studies and other Bible study groups sponsored by the church. He could be responsible for writing or obtaining discipleship curriculum for specific groups as the need arises. (Example: something written specifically for the single’s ministry.) He could also be a director of ministries within the church leading the lay ministers in caring for new believers, men’s/women’s ministries, prayer ministries, etc.