Step 1: Present the Ministry to Your Church Staff and Lay Leadership
After making the decision to implement “Operation Multiplication,” we recommend that you present the equipping process to your church staff and lay leadership by printing and distributing the pages under the “What is OM?” tab. As your assembled leaders take turns reading the paragraphs aloud, you can periodically stop to provide amplification and illustrations from your local church and personal experience.
Step 2: Preach About The Great Commission Mandate
One or more vision-casting sermons are typically preached to explain the Biblical mandate for disciple-making. To successfully launch this New Testament emphasis, pastors normally seek to inform their congregations about the ministry vision and life-changing objectives of “Operation Multiplication.” The last section of the A Call to Joy Discipler’s Guide (Pages 121-195) provides outstanding material for sermon preparation. We feel it is important to emphasize that “Operation Multiplication” is not designed to be a church event - but an equipping process. It establishes Christ-centered friendships for every new believer and new member who unites with the church. Through these discipling relationships, new members learn how to spend quality time with God - for the rest of their lives, pray effectively - for the rest of their lives - memorize Scripture - for the rest of their lives - study the Bible - for the rest of their lives - and share their faith naturally - for the rest of their lives!
Step 3: Pray for One or More Coordinators
Prayerfully ask yourself, “In our congregation, who has a heart for evangelism, genuinely cares about people, is respected, and will commit the time to oversee this new ministry?” Your selected potential Coordinator(s) should be requested to read the information under the “What is OM?” tab to be sure he or she is personally committed to the church’s ministry vision for – fulfilling the Great Commission. The two main roles of the Coordinator are to assign each new believer and member to a trained discipler, and track the progress of each discipling team using the forms in the Coodinator’s Notebook. Larger churches will need several Coordinators for different age groups, along with an Executive Coordinator.
Step 4: Identify Potential Disciple-Makers and Invite Them to a Luncheon
The Discipler enlistment phase of “Operation Multiplication” is critical to its success. Over the years, churches have used many traditional methods such as: bulletin inserts, sign up sheets, announcements from the pulpit, etc. – however, we have found that personal enlistment which utilizes a good meal enjoys the greatest success. For example, one church in California with 200 in attendance initially tried to enlist potential disciple-makers using a bulletin insert, announcements and sign up sheets but they had only 4 volunteers for their training. Then they hosted a vision-casting luncheon using the following personal invitation plan and immediately enlisted 65 “Operation Multiplication” disciple-makers!
Personal Enlistment Plan
First, the church mailed an individual letter of invitation (sample letter on page 18 of the Implementor’s Notebook): then they followed the letter with a phone call. The invitation was sent to every deacon and spouse, plus each Bible study leader and their spouse.
Creating Invitation List
When the Bible study teachers were contacted by telephone, they were also asked to identify the most spiritually mature members of their class or group. The teachers recommended those whom they felt would be good role models for new church members. Then, the pastor’s letter of invitation was also sent to that church-wide list. Following this, those recommended were personally called and invited to the Sunday luncheon. The telephone call sounded something like this:
“Hi Terri, this is Laura. Did you receive the pastor’s letter of invitation to the ‘Operation Multiplication’ luncheon? I’m excited about the mission of this new ministry. Our church is preparing to equip a team of disciple-makers who will personally care for each of our new members. As you know, when new members join our fellowship, they need far more than a handshake. They need – a friend who will make them feel welcome, answer their questions, train them in the basics of spiritual growth, and show them how to win and disciple others.”
“All too often, we’ve welcomed our new members basically hoping they would find a dedicated Christian friend and attend a Bible study class. However, due to our lack of follow up, many of those new members have quietly left through the ‘back door.’ Instead of hoping they will stay and grow, the pastor has decided to establish an intentional disciple-making process. ‘Operation Multiplication’ will help ensure that every new believer and new member receives the personal friendship and attention they need.”
“Terri, if we disciple our new believers and show them how to share their faith, spiritual multiplication will take place naturally! That’s why the church’s new ministry is called ‘Operation Multiplication.’ On Sunday, (date) Pastor ________ would like to invite you to a vision-casting luncheon after the worship service. He will explain our church’s spiritual need and present the exciting new ‘Operation Multiplication’ training process and its materials. Do you think you and your husband will be able to attend?”
NOTE #1: As an additional enlistment activity designed to avoid the possibility of accidently overlooking a qualified lay leader, some pastors make announcements from the pulpit inviting interested members to contact a specific individual if they would like to participate in the eight sessions of training required to become a disciple-maker.
Step 5: Order Materials
The church should plan ahead to order an A Call to Joy/A Call to Growth Discipler’s Pack for each lay leader who pre-registers to attend the luncheon. Typically, each luncheon participant pays for his or her own set of materials, however, some churches choose to provide for all or a portion of this cost. Because “Operation Multiplication’s” ministry is non-profit, the training materials are made available to participating churches at 50% less than normal retail prices. Prepare now to order your packets 10 days or more in advance of your luncheon. None of the disciple-making materials purchased will ever be unused because the ongoing member assimilation ministry will always need them. Within 45 days following the luncheon, the church should plan to order its first A Call to Joy and A Call to Growth Timothy Packs for new believers and new members. These small inexpensive packets are typically given to new church members by the equipped disciple-makers at their first meeting.
Step 6: Challenging Luncheon Participants to Become Equipped Disciple-Makers
During the vision-casting luncheon, the need for new member assimilation and disciple-making is presented by distributing a copy of “What is OM?” to each attendee. When practical, depending on the number of luncheon participants, we recommend that individual paragraphs be read aloud by the participants with amplification from the pastor. When this is not practical, the strategy can simply be read by the luncheon host with each attendee silently following along using their copy. We recommend that you pre-select two spiritually mature church members to role-play 15 minutes of session one during the luncheon. This activity is designed to show your members how to use their material.
At the close of the luncheon, each attendee is invited to become an equipped Disciple-Maker. When this spiritual challenge is presented and accepted, each lay leader is then paired with a fellow luncheon participant (men with men and women with women). You will need to prepare a sign-up sheet for your church's teammates. These names will be given to the Coodinator(s). During the week following the luncheon, each team of (2) begins the eight inspirational training sessions. These individual teams of two meet at a time and place of their choice for eight or more weeks and complete the 8 Session Discipler Equipping Guide. The guide serves as a “road map” showing disciple-makers in training how to lead new church members through the 7 sessions of A Call to Joy and 11 sessions of A Call to Growth.
Step 7: Pairing The New Believer or Member with a Disciple-Maker
When a new believer or new member enters your church, he or she customarily fills out a Decision Form which is then given to the Coordinator. (A sample form is located in the front flap of the Implementor’s Guide). They are then asked if they would like to participate in a one-to-one friendship process with one of your church members entitled A Call to Joy. They meet once per week for 7 weeks (aboout 1 1/2 hours per session) to learn spiritual growth skills.
If the answer is yes, the Coordinator assigns the new member to one of the church’s trained disciple-makers. Often, these assignments are made based upon the new member’s special needs, spiritual history, the neighborhood where they live, or the Bible Study class they attend. The discipler contacts the new member and they schedule when and where they will meet together weekly. These fellowship and training sessions usually include coffee or desert at a local restaurant, home, or another mutually convenient location.
The church’s assignment process needs to be consistent and have the prayerful oversight of a highly dedicated church or staff member. For assistance with any of these seven steps, simply ask your Coordinator to call (800) 779-7570. May the Lord give your church faithful men and women to serve as His disciple-makers.
Thanksgiving, Intercession, and Petition