Published on: 25/11/2025
One of the most enjoyable parts of my job is visiting churches across our Diocese and speaking to members of the communities there. I love hearing about people’s stories of faith and how their local church has nurtured them on their journey.
However, I often hear from leaders that there are various barriers to people going deeper on their journey of discipleship. In this blog post I’d like to address some of the most common hurdles people come across when trying to encourage levels of discipleship in their churches.
Language
Sometimes the language used around discipleship can be a barrier to people’s understanding. It isn’t that people aren’t living as Christian disciples, but rather that they are not used to hearing this term being applied to them. Of course, it depends on people’s experience of different church traditions. In some churches, the term ‘discipleship’ is used often, but in others people think it only applies to the apostles of Jesus in the Bible. Part of my role is to help people understand that this word applies to them, too – that being a disciple simply means to follow someone in order to learn from them.
This is partly why we in the Diocese of Sheffield use the language of being ‘lights for Christ’ to describe discipleship. Our hope is that regardless of church tradition or background, lots of people will be able to identify with this language because it is biblical and also references our baptismal promises. When someone is baptised and/or confirmed in the Church of England, the priest says to them: ‘You have received the light of Christ; walk in this light all the days of your life.’ Then the congregation adds, ‘Shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father.’
Ultimately, there are lots of ways we can convey the idea of being disciples of Jesus. Church leaders might use the language of being ‘followers’ or ‘apprentices’ of Jesus, or they might prefer ‘Lights for Christ’ or ‘pilgrims’. The important thing is that church leaders think about what sort of language will resonate with their community and use that on a regular basis.
Confidence
Like Beth mentioned in her blog about hurdles in Lay Ministry, lack of confidence can also be a hurdle to people moving forward in their journey of discipleship. Sometimes people say to me, ‘I don’t feel like a Light for Christ’. I try to reassure people that it isn’t their own light that they need to shine – rather, their calling is to be like a mirror – receiving Christ’s light and reflecting it to other people.
Where to start?
Often people have a sense of wanting to go deeper in their faith but they aren’t sure where to start. Our resources on Personal Rule of Life offer a simple framework to help individuals structure their journey of discipleship around three key elements:
- Receiving Christ’s lights (being with Jesus)
- Walking in Christ’s light (becoming more like Jesus)
- Reflecting Christ’s light (sharing Jesus with others)
We also have Family Rhythm of Life resource designed to help families find a pattern of habits and practices that allows them to live out their faith in everyday life.
Opportunities
Churches can help their members to grow in discipleship by offering lots of opportunities for them to learn about their faith and the Bible. This starts with intentional, well-planned preaching on Sunday mornings – do our sermons encourage people to apply what they hear from the Bible to their everyday life?
Churches can foster a culture of growing discipleship by offering people a variety of learning opportunities throughout the year. As well as regular small groups, churches might consider offering:
- a study group or course during Lent and Advent
- quiet days or retreat days for personal reflection
- joining in with diocesan, national or global initiatives such as ‘Wear Your Faith Fortnight’ or ‘Thy Kingdom Come’
When offering these opportunities, it’s important to consider that people are at different stages in their faith journey and that not everyone finds traditional discipleship courses accessible.
If you’re a church leader and would like some support to develop a culture of discipleship in your community, please do get in touch with me – I’d be happy to help!
This week’s blog post has been written by Hannah Sandoval, Lights for Christ Enabler