Once the members of the group confess their faith in Christ, they should be baptized in water, celebrated, and welcomed into the family of God. At this point, the Discover Group should begin being transitioned into a New Testament church. Like with a caterpillar to a butterfly, this is a major transformation. You’re taking something that was designed for unbelievers, a Discover Group, and transforming it into something designed for believers, a Church. This doesn’t—and shouldn’t—happen overnight. Imagine how the new believers would feel if you made the change too fast. Their lives have just been changed through the Discover Group, and now they find out you want to cancel the Group and do something different that they’re not familiar with.

Two things are important to begin the transition process: First, the group should understand that this transition is necessary and part of God’s plan. And second, the right Church Leader must be chosen. The leader is often the same leader that led the Discover Group, but sometimes a new leader has become obvious who is better suited and/or able to lead the new church. The conversation and process of determining who the Church Leader is should be gentle and gracious, not forced or rushed. It may take weeks to finalize the decision. Once the leader is determined, the new church members will know who will be leading them and the coach will know who to coach and mentor going forward. If it is a new leader, we should make sure not to break relationship with the former leader.

Once everyone is aware that a transition process has begun and who the leader is, the Coach will regularly meet with the new Church Leader to guide him or her through the transition. Rather than injecting an extra-biblical strategy, the Coach should continue to use God’s Word as the ministry manual so that the Church Leader’s confidence is in God and not the Coach. Week by week the Coach and Church Leader will meet to discuss the church’s progress and to determine if it is time to make another change.

It could be that the only initial change is the introduction of prayer. Instead of asking what each person is thankful for, the leader could say, “Let’s take time to express what we’re thankful for to God,” and then model what that sounds like. Then, after a couple of weeks, the leader may add a song of praise or worship. And, maybe after a couple of weeks, another song, and then another. As these become comfortable and meaningful, verse-by-verse teaching through a book of the Bible could be introduced. Then, after a time, “Walking with God” discipleship (we’ll talk about that in the next lesson). There is no perfect sequence or introduction schedule. All groups are different, but the point is that the new believers continue to grow spiritually and desire to continue meeting with their brothers and sisters at church.

As with all things, be led by the Holy Spirit, and work closely with the Church Leader to make changes at a good pace.

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