Take the Lid Off of Your Formation Pathway
I recently heard Jon Tyson say at a church planting gathering, “Growth track is great for making volunteers, but terrible at forming disciples.” Ouch.
The typical formation pathway looks something like this: baptism, reading the Bible, serving on a team, giving, joining a group, and maybe taking a class or two. The pinnacle of this model is leading a team, leading a group, or getting on staff. And if you make it onto staff, the highest aim in many larger churches is becoming a campus pastor.
If you don’t fit that mold, you’re often encouraged to serve every few Sundays while you quietly live out your real passions in the marketplace or through a hobby.
There are real benefits to this model. Most obviously, it provides clarity in the first steps of following Jesus. Coming out of a chaotic, drug addicted background, that clarity was exactly what I needed. But a couple years in, I hit a point where I had checked all the boxes and, honestly, I was bored with what the church was offering.
Is this all there is?
Should we focus most of our energy on the first steps of formation and trust people to find depth elsewhere? Or can we expand our vision of what spiritual formation could be?
I’m not an expert here. We planted a church seven months ago, and a lot of this is still in its infancy. This isn’t a play to copy and paste. It’s just a look at how one church is trying to expand the vision of formation. My hope is that it sparks fresh ideas in your context.
Here’s how we’re trying to take the lid off our formation pathway at Artisan City.
1. CrossFit-style practices
Most churches give one clear action step at the end of a message. That’s helpful, but limited.
Instead, we end each gathering with three levels of action: one for the newcomer, one for the believer, and one for those who want to go deeper.
This is modeled after CrossFit. Same workout, different levels: scaled, Rx, Rx+.
For example, in a message on generosity:
The newcomer pays for someone’s meal
The believer begins tithing
The person going deeper looks for an opportunity for radical generosity, like giving away a car
We’re all moving in the same direction, just at different levels of maturity.
This lets you pastor across the whole spectrum without dumbing things down or overcomplicating them.
What would it look like to give action steps to more than one type of person in your church?
2. Develop a custom aim and design for formation
We often outsource our formation strategy to churches in different contexts or even different eras. That can be helpful early on, but at some point the training wheels need to come off.
In seminary, I was challenged to define the markers of a mature disciple. I landed on twelve markers of a mature apprentice of Jesus:
A growing, grace reliant, intimate relationship with God through prayer, Scripture, worship, listening, and obedience
Increasing knowledge of God and His Word
Christlike character shaped by the fruit of the Spirit and love for others
Growing freedom from sin, spiritual opposition, and the value system of the world
Ongoing repentance, humility, and teachability
Emotional health and endurance through difficulty while remaining faithful and loving
Deeply rooted in the Body of Christ with real, accountable relationships
If applicable, a healthy and growing relationship with spouse and children
Awareness and use of spiritual gifts to build up the church and disciple others
Missional engagement beyond the church through hospitality, evangelism, and mercy
Open handed generosity and wise stewardship
Leveraging vocation for God’s glory, the good of others, and the advancement of His Kingdom
Then the follow up question: how do people actually become this kind of person?
That question began to shape everything. Our environments, our rhythms, our priorities.
What do you think a mature apprentice of Jesus looks like? And what actually forms that?
3. A robust vision of vocational sacredness
Most churches rarely talk about vocation outside the church because it doesn’t directly impact attendance or giving. But that ignores the cultural mandate in Genesis and reinforces the sacred secular divide.
If we want to expand formation, we have to speak into real life.
What does it look like to be a barber, an engineer, a mom, for the glory of God?
Formation doesn’t stop at the church doors. It shows up in work, creativity, relationships, and contribution to the world.
4. Incubation for Kingdom visionaries and entrepreneurs
A lot of people have Kingdom ideas but nowhere to run with them inside the church. If you’re not a clear fit for existing structures, you can end up on the outside looking in.
We’re in a highly creative context, so instead of forcing people into boxes, we’re trying to build something for them.
We created an incubator called Canvas in partnership with Missional Labs. The goal is to discern, develop, and deploy Kingdom ideas in our city.
Some early examples:
A volleyball ministry
Music festival evangelism
A community art gallery with free supplies
A home for unhoused creatives learning to monetize their work
Free medical care in underserved areas
What would it look like to create space for people to bring beauty from brokenness in your city?
5. Normalize sending your best
If someone is a strong leader and teacher, send them to plant.
If someone is faithfully serving, giving, and leading, encourage them to go with a plant.
Lots of gospel hellos and gospel goodbyes.
This doesn’t mean everyone leaves. But it does mean everyone sees themselves as potentially sent.
Instead of assuming people will stay unless called to go, what if we flipped it? What if we assumed we are a sending people unless called to stay?
That shift changes everything.
Because the goal isn’t just participation. It’s multiplication.
The end of formation isn’t checking boxes. It’s being sent.
I recently had a call with a church planting leader who said we’re in a season of innovation for what the church can look like. New models are emerging, and we get to be part of it.
So instead of just running the old play and producing great volunteers, what if we pushed further?
What if we built churches that form robust apprentices of Jesus?