Prayer
Prayer partner
- Pray for one missionary or project every week for three months
- Write to them once to say you have been
3 months · 412 members hold this
Growing up in this
Learn it by doing it
Discipleship here works like a good club rather than a course. There are levels you move through, badges you earn by actually doing the thing, and a separate track for people who end up leading. It is meant to be enjoyable.
Nothing is scored against anyone else. There are no points, no streaks and no league table — you are measured against the requirement, and the requirement does not move.
Today
Bible quiz bee
PlayRegular games and the weekly roundKids and adults have separate questions and separate clocks. Play as often as you like, or take the one round that counts.ChampionshipThe champion ladderWin your week and your seat at the monthly play-off is held. Monthly winners contest the quarter, then the half year, then the year.
The path
Five levels. Each one asks for something you cannot fake, and every one of them keeps you inside a group where somebody would notice if you disappeared.
1Welcomed
1,840 members here
You are here, and someone knows your name.
- Join the hub and introduce yourself
- Pray for one person on this site
2Rooted
760 members here
You have a group, a habit, and someone who would notice if you stopped.
- Earn any two badges
- Belong to one group for three months
- Have one person who prays for you by name
3Serving
305 members here
You carry a share of the work rather than only receiving it.
- Earn four badges across at least two categories
- Take a regular responsibility somebody depends on
4Trusted
118 members here
People bring you things. You are steady enough to hold them.
- Earn seven badges across at least three categories
- Be vouched for by two members who have worked alongside you
- Have kept one commitment for a full year
5Sending
41 members here
Your job is now other people's growth rather than your own.
- Hold the Shepherd award
- Have brought two people to Rooted or beyond
- Still be in a group where you are not the leader
Badges
Earned by doing, over months rather than an afternoon. Most of them require you to bring somebody else along, because that is the part that turns a skill into a ministry.
Prayer
Hour keeper
- Hold the same hour in the 24/7 room every week for three months
- Cover someone else's hour at least twice
3 months · 96 members hold this
Prayer
Prayer circle leader
- Start or take over a prayer group and run it for six months
- Bring two people into it who were not praying with anyone
- Hand it over cleanly if you stop
6 months · 38 members hold this
The Word
Reader
- Read a gospel end to end with at least one other person
- Keep a note of the questions you could not answer
8 weeks · 501 members hold this
The Word
Study host
- Host a study group for eight weeks — the room, the time, the tea
- Make sure the quietest person speaks at least once each week
8 weeks · 143 members hold this
The Word
Study leader
- Lead a group through a whole book of the Bible
- Prepare each week rather than improvising
- Be taught yourself by someone who has done it before
3–6 months · 67 members hold this
The Word
Teacher
- Hold the Study leader badge
- Train two other people to lead a study
- Sit in on their first session and say nothing
6 months · 21 members hold this
Music and worship
Music team
- Serve in a music team for six months
- Learn one instrument or part you did not play before
6 months · 128 members hold this
Music and worship
Worship leader
- Lead worship twelve times
- Plan the set around the gathering rather than your own preferences
- Bring a new musician onto the team and teach them the songs
6–12 months · 44 members hold this
Music and worship
Songwriter
- Write a song your community can actually sing
- Let it be sung and honestly ask whether it worked
- Translate or adapt one song into another language
Open ended · 12 members hold this
Helping people
Helper
- Give twenty hours to practical work someone else organised
- Do at least some of it that nobody will see
20 hours · 386 members hold this
Helping people
Neighbour
- Stay with one person or family through a hard season
- Keep showing up after the crisis stops being interesting
6 months · 154 members hold this
Helping people
Skill on offer
- Put a real trade or profession at the community's disposal
- Complete one piece of work for a project that needed it
- Teach someone local enough to carry on without you
Varies · 73 members hold this
Leading
Group leader
- Lead any group — prayer, study, music, service — for six months
- Know the name and situation of everyone in it
6 months · 89 members hold this
Leading
Ministry leader
- Carry responsibility for a ministry for one year
- Build a second leader who could replace you
- Report honestly, including the parts that did not work
1 year · 31 members hold this
Going and sending
Goer
- Serve on the field for a season, short or long
- Learn enough of the language to apologise properly
- Come back and tell the truth about it
Varies · 58 members hold this
Going and sending
Sender
- Support a worker or family for a full year
- Keep in touch through the dull middle, not just the departure
- Be there when they come home
1 year · 207 members hold this
If you end up leading
A separate track, taken alongside the path rather than after it. Every stage is gated on teaching somebody else, because a leader who cannot be replaced is a problem rather than an achievement.
Stage 1
Helper's award
You can be relied on to assist someone else's group well.
- Assist a group leader for six months
- Run three sessions on your own while they watch
- Complete the safeguarding and duty-of-care module
152 hold this
Stage 2
Shepherd's award
You can be trusted with a group of your own.
- Hold the Helper's award
- Lead a group for a full year
- Be mentored throughout by an existing Shepherd
- Study one book of the Bible to teaching depth
- Handle one genuine pastoral difficulty with your mentor
64 hold this
Stage 3
Mentor's award
You make leaders, and you are accountable for the ones you make.
- Hold the Shepherd's award for two years
- Take two people through the Shepherd's award yourself
- Teach at a gathering outside your own country or region
- Be reviewed by two Mentors who did not train you
19 hold this
Recognition
Levels and awards are given publicly, at a gathering, by someone who watched you earn them. Members whose identity is protected are recognised privately by name within their own group, and appear publicly only under their letter.