Learn how to help others go deeper with Jesus

Registration will open in November for our Spring 2025 Cohorts.

Sign up on our waiting list to get notified.

You’ve been changed by the gospel.

And now, you want to share that transforming experience with others.

Serge’s Discipleship Lab is a group discipleship training program that helps church and ministry leaders grow in their disciple-making skills—combining core theological understanding and practical discipling skills that enable you to help others experience gospel transformation in their lives.

Whether you want to sharpen your discipling skills or learn how to train others in gospel-based discipling, Serge Discipleship Lab will help you:

✓ Clarify key gospel-centered theological concepts that often stay in our heads and not our hearts.

✓ Refine your discipleship posture in order to create healthy discipling relationships

✓ Find new ways to help people see the reality of their sin and Jesus’ love for them without coming off as condemning or judgmental

✓ Gain insight from other’s real-life discipling relationships in a group setting.

✓ Make disciples that are so transformed by their daily relationship with Jesus that they joyfully reach out to love and serve others, particularly those who don’t yet know Jesus.

✓ Equip others in your ministry to make disciples that make more disciples.

“There are a lot of discipleship training programs – but Serge’s Discipleship Lab is uniquely gospel-based, gospel-centered. In my own experience, it has been very good for my ministry and personally for my own renewal.”

- Gary Watanabe, Redeemer City to City/MTW Church Planting Coach

Live, Online, Group Sessions

Over the course of 6 months, you’ll meet every other week with an online group and 2 Serge coaches. Each session will give you the opportunity to gain insight from other real life discipling relationships – from a wide variety of ministry contexts around the world.

Learn from Experienced Coaches

In Discipleship Lab, you won’t be on your own. Dedicated, experienced Serge coaches with over 20 years of experience in cross-cultural discipleship will answer your questions and challenge you to stretch further.

You Keep the Course Materials

We desire for Discipleship Lab to not only help you disciple others but to also equip you to train others in the art of gospel-based discipling. That’s why we make our teaching outlines available to you to train others in your own church or ministry context.

This in-depth course is for anyone who is actively discipling others.

Cohorts may include Serge missionaries serving overseas, missionaries from other agencies, church leaders outside the US, and others serving in a variety of ways within the US –  pastors, elders, church planters, those involved in student ministry or women’s ministry. It includes both “professionals” as well as “ordinary Christians,”  and those new to ministry. 

We consider the diversity of participants to be a great asset and value each voice in the conversation.

What Others are Saying…

“Discipleship Lab is a great way to find and work through heart issues in the bright light of the Gospel. Don't expect a list of rules, but look for fruit of the Spirit growing in bunches from you and the people you're discipling.”

Jim RichieMissionary in Kenya, Serving with World Gospel Mission

“I have been blessed beyond measure by this program and by my cohort. It caused me to explore the deep caverns of my heart. It gave me a better understanding of the core gospel concepts. It equipped me to better serve in my church for the glory of my Savior.”

TerriDiscipling women in her church in Miami

“Recommend is too soft of a word as to how I feel about the discipleship lab! It was an incredibly rich experience. I realized how often I approach relationships with an orphan heart, thinking that it is up to me to get it right and change the person on the other side of the table. But this was a freeing experience as I learned more of what it looks like to come alongside others as a fellow struggler, deeply loved by God and dependent on the Holy Spirit.”

SusanServing with CURE in Uganda

“I loved being in a group with so many perspectives of context, culture, and locations!”

Serge Missionary

“Discipleship Lab helped me remember the God given abilities within me and learn the art of staying curious as I am in relationship with others!”

Former Serge Missionary

“We found Discipleship Lab equally applicable to formal discipling and informal times that happen over coffee or with a neighbor. It would benefit anyone who is willing to risk going deep with others to help them go deeper with Jesus.”

Tom GilliamSerge Team Leader, Serving in Dublin, Ireland

“I am so grateful for this experience. Our instructors were excellent. I think most impactful for me was realizing how much more deeply and intentionally I need to be applying the gospel to my life each day and how sharing that struggle would be helpful to those I am doing life with. I still have much to process but I know this course has made an indelible mark on my life. To God be the Glory!”

PaulaDiscipling women in her church in metro Cincinnati

Registration for Discipleship Lab is Currently Closed

Our next cohort kicks off in Spring 2025. Registration will open in November. Sign up on our waiting list to get notified!

Join the Waiting List

This course will give you…

  • 12 (2-Hour) LIVE  intensive training sessions (over the course of 6 months) led by 2 coaches with over 20 years of discipleship experience.
  • Interactive group discussion with real-life discipling examples
  • Solid Biblical theology (core gospel concepts– sin, faith, and the Holy Spirit, etc…)
  • Practical discipleship skills (listening well, asking good questions, etc…)

And you keep the full course materials so you can equip others in your
ministry  –  so they can make disciples that will
make more disciples.

Your investment for the course is $1000.

Married couples: $1500

 

We do not profit from any fees invested in this program. This subsidized fee covers the cost of our coaches’ time and enables us to keep this program running.

What’s Inside Discipleship Lab?

Each lesson helps clarify KEY GOSPEL-CENTERED THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS that often stay in our heads and not our hearts. And provides the PRACTICAL DISCIPLING SKILLS you need to foster deeper gospel relationships.

These lessons include:

Lesson 1
How to set a gospel-centered discipling foundation
Lesson 2
How to help others find the root causes behind their sin
Lesson 3
How to draw people out with good listening
Lesson 4
How to ask bold questions that help people engage their hearts
Lesson 5
How to help others stay rooted in their adoption with Christ
Lesson 6
How to help others cultivate a lifestyle of repentance
Lesson 7
How to help other see the height and depth of God's love for them
Lesson 8
How to help others rest in the power of the Holy Spirit
Lesson 9
How to the gospel compels us outward into love and obedience
Lesson 10
How to help others forgive more deeply
Lesson 11
How the gospel moves us beyond ourselves
Lesson 12
How to avoid common traps in discipling others

To sum it up, Discipleship Lab provides a rich context to both hone your discipling abilities and benefit from immediate practical application of the material to your real-life discipling relationships.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does it work?

Discipleship Lab takes place through live, online, group training sessions. Serge coaches will facilitate the conversation and provide key insights for the discussion, but the group learns from each other and everyone contributes.

We ask that you work through content online prior to the cohort meeting, so that much of the conversation can be centered around case studies that each member of the group will present, as you all seek to apply what you’re learning to real-life situations.

You’ll get to know one another and build a sense of community as you pray for one another and think together about important things.

How is Discipleship Lab different from other discipleship courses?

1. A combination of solid Biblical theology (Core Gospel Concepts–for instance, a consideration of sin, faith, and the Holy Spirit) and practical coaching in discipling skills (for instance listening well, and asking good questions).
2. Collaborative learning in community. We learn as we listen to a variety of voices, and as each of us contributes to the conversation.
3. A grounding in the gospel of grace. Our goal in building disciples is not that they would try harder to be different on an external level. It’s rather that they would grow deeper in knowing God’s love for them, and the resources available to them in Christ, so that they may be changed from the inside out as the Holy Spirit delivers the gospel to their hearts.

Who is it for?

Men and women who want to help others grow as followers of Jesus, and who are currently involved with others toward that goal. Cohorts may include Serge workers serving overseas, overseas workers from other agencies, local church leaders outside the US, and others serving in a variety of ways within the US — as pastors, elders, church planters, those involved in student ministry, or women’s ministry, “professionals” as well as “ordinary Christians,” veterans and those new to ministry. We consider the diversity of participants to be a great asset and value each voice in the conversation.

Who are the trainers?

The coaches are staff members of the Serge Renewal Team, a small group of men and women with extensive ministry and life experience. Some have been pastors; all have advanced theological degrees.

Collectively we have mentored hundreds of people through Sonship and have taught and trained all over the world, and have a unique perspective that comes from having worked with people across cultures, different stages of life, and from many different backgrounds.

How much of a time investment will I need to make?

Over the course of six months, your cohort will meet for 12 (2-hour) sessions via video conference every two or three weeks (we’ll give you the schedule upfront).

For each session, you’ll want to budget three or four hours of time for reading, writing, and reflection.

Are there any prerequisites to Discipleship Lab?

No. Anyone is welcome, regardless of prior experience, and the principles you’ll be trained in have wide application.

However, given the significant investment of time and energy that Discipleship Lab requires, many participants are people who have already used other Serge resources and found them valuable.

Some have completed Mentored Sonship, and now desire to grow so that they can lead others through that program – but many others have only been exposed to small group resources such as The Gospel-Centered Life, and their ministry context is informal.

What if I live outside the USA?

We work to set meeting times for an international learning community that lives in many different time zones. If you have a reliable internet connection, you can participate in this course.

If you’re unsure about time differences, go ahead and register — there’s no obligation — and we’ll do our best to find a cohort that will work for you.

What if I can’t make every cohort meeting?

Sometimes you can’t, and that’s okay. Over the course of six months most folks will miss at some point.

But because nurturing community is part of the goal, we don’t allow participants to attend a different cohort’s meeting. If you have to miss multiple meetings, you may want to postpone participation for a future date.

How often does Discipleship Lab happen?

We have two start times every year.

Fall cohorts begin in September and usually conclude by the end of March.

Spring cohorts begin in late January and conclude by the end of June.

The exact dates depend on the cohort.

Is this the same thing as ‘Discipler Training?’

Yes. We changed the name of this course from Discipler Training to Discipleship Lab because we wanted to highlight one of the most important aspects of the course – the group experience and immediate, practical application of the material to real, live discipling relationships.

Why do we charge for Discipleship Lab?

Discipleship Lab is an intensive training program led by 2 coaches with over 20 years of discipleship experience.

We do not profit from any fees invested in this course, but instead, all fees cover our coaches’ time and allow us to continue to provide this program. If you are actively discipling others, we highly believe this course is a valuable investment in your long-term ministry goals.

Are scholarships available?

We don’t usually offer scholarships. Our trainers are missionaries who raise their own support to work with Serge and we only charge what is needed to continue to offer this type of training at a high level.

But sometimes we’re able to help – please write to Marc Davis, Global Learning Program Leader, to inquire: mdavis@serge.org.

More Questions? Email grow@serge.org

Get notified when Discipleship Lab registration opens

Registration will open in November for our Spring 2025 Cohorts. Sign up on our waiting list to get notified!