This document outlines a 5-phase process for shaping a church ministry culture around disciple-making. Phase 1 involves sharpening convictions on disciple-making. Phase 2 reforms one's personal culture to model convictions. Phase 3 involves evaluating current practices against convictions. Phase 4 innovates and implements changes. Phase 5 maintains momentum in the new direction. The process is thorough and builds on previous phases to fully reform a church culture over time around disciple-making convictions.

1. Shaping Your Ministry Culture
around Disciple-Making

3. The Vine Project
The Vine Project book
https://thevineproject.com/
The Vine Project resource library
https://library.thevineproject.com/#/
The Vine Growers community
https://www.vinegrowers.com/
The Vine Project book reviews
https://www.challies.com/book-reviews/the-vine-
project
http://jeffreysiauw.blogspot.sg/search?q=+vine+project

4. Culture
Culture is “the whole way we do things
around here”, the complex and deep-rooted
matrix of belief, practices, shared language,
traditions and preferences that a group of
people have developed over a period of time.
The culture will usually shape what people
actually do in any given circumstance, often
more so than their stated beliefs.

5. Church Culture
The culture of a church or any organization is a
heavy and powerful drag against any attempt
for meaningful change.
There is little point teaching some new
convictions or initiating some new kinds of
vine work [disciple-making] unless you’re also
prepared to reform and optimize the trellis
[ministry structure] that supports it and gives
it structure and shape.

6. Problems in Church Culture
The two main problems nearly every church
culture faces are:
• Lack of shared clarity on core convictions (i.e.
We don’t all have a clear shared understanding
of who we are and what we’re trying to do
together under God)
• Lack of alignment between convictions and
practices (i.e. A bunch of miscellaneous things
happen around the church that no longer reflect
our convictions, if they ever did; or worse, that
reflect and reinforce different convictions)

7. Changing Church Culture
You cannot change the culture by working on the
culture, because culture is a description of what
you have become.
What you can work and change are the elements
that produce culture:
• The deeply held beliefs and convictions that
drive and underpin your culture (not all of
them always openly expressed)
• The activities, practices and structures that
express and embed those beliefs at every level
of church life

8. Five Phases
Shaping Your Ministry Culture
around Disciple-Making
How can I change the whole culture of our church
in the direction of disciple-making?

9. Phase 1
Sharpen Your Convictions
Dig into the Bible and its theology to clarify what you
believe about disciple-making and ministry.
Five convictions related to ‘discipleship’ and ‘disciple-
making’:
• Why make disciples?
• What is a disciple?
• How are disciples made?
• Who makes disciples?
• Where to make disciples?

10. Phase 2
Reform Your Personal Culture
Make sure that your convictions have penetrated the
culture of your own life; that you are demonstrating
your conviction by how you live and minister to
others.
This step is so often skipped but so vital because:
• The true convictions is not just concepts and
content but a way of being and living.
• We must also live them if we are to teach them to
others.

11. Phase 3
Loving & Honest Evaluation
Undertake a clear-eyed thoughtful
examination of everything that happens in
your church to see how well (or poorly) it
accords with your convictions: in what areas
does your culture best reflect your
convictions, where is it weakest, and where is
the greatest potential for growth and change?

12. Phase 4
Innovate & Implement
Work out what you want to stop doing, start
doing, and keep doing; plan new pathways for
disciple-making and work out how to
implement those over time.
Four key areas:
• Your main gathering (Sunday gathering)
• Pathways for rest of your church life
• Your long-term plans for growth
• Your communication and common language

13. Phase 5
Maintain Momentum
Monitor and review how the project is
unfolding; look at obstacles and work out how
to overcome them; build momentum and
keep it rolling.
Turning an ocean liner around takes hefty
quantities of both energy and time. But once
you’ve put your energy and time, and
established a new direction, the momentum
can work in your favour.

14. Five Phases
• The phases follow each other and build upon each
other.
• Do not skate past any of the phases too quickly, but
take the time to do the work thoroughly and
thoughtfully.
• Different churches and ministries will work through
these phases at different rates.