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Deep Discipleship Adults Year 5: Building a Gospel Foundation for the Whole Church

There’s a growing realization happening in many churches right now:

Students aren’t the only ones who need discipleship.

Adults do too.

For years, youth ministries have worked hard to create intentional discipleship pathways for students. But many parents and adults in the church are quietly carrying something they’ve never said out loud:

They never built a strong biblical foundation themselves.

They love Jesus.
They want to lead their families well.
They want to grow spiritually.

But many adults were raised on scattered Bible stories, random topical studies, or a church experience that emphasized attendance more than formation.

That’s one of the reasons we created Deep Discipleship Adults Year 5.

Not just to provide another Bible study.

But to help churches create a discipleship culture across the entire church.

Why Deep Discipleship Adults Matters

One of the biggest challenges in church discipleship today is misalignment.

Students are learning one thing.
Parents are studying something completely different.
Adults are disconnected from the discipleship strategy happening in the next generation ministry.

The result?

Faith conversations rarely continue at home because families don’t share a common framework or language for spiritual growth.

Deep Discipleship Adults changes that.

The Adults curriculum is intentionally built around the same 8 Roots of the Gospel framework used throughout Deep Discipleship Students and Preteens. That means parents and adults can grow in the same foundational truths students are learning every week.

This creates:

  • Stronger conversations at home
  • Better alignment across ministries
  • Clearer discipleship pathways
  • Greater confidence in biblical truth
  • A shared language for spiritual growth

Instead of discipleship being separated by age groups, the church begins growing together.

What Is Deep Discipleship Adults Year 5?

Deep Discipleship Adults Year 5 is a complete year of adult Bible study lessons designed for:

  • Adult small groups
  • Sunday School classes
  • Parent discipleship groups
  • Church-wide discipleship strategies
  • Midweek Bible studies

The goal isn’t just information.

The goal is formation.

Each teaching series is rooted in Scripture and connected to one of the 8 Roots of the Gospel, helping adults build a complete and lasting biblical framework.

The 2026–2027 Scope & Sequence includes year-long teaching designed to help adults grow deeper in their faith while reinforcing the same gospel foundations students are learning.

Series include:

  • Rule-Breaker — Following Jesus over empty traditions
  • The Art of Forgiveness — Understanding biblical forgiveness and grace
  • Origin Story — Creation, the Fall, and God’s rescue plan
  • Arrival — Christ’s first coming and promised return
  • Set Free — The Exodus and freedom from sin through Christ
  • Faith in Action — A practical study through the book of James
  • Practice Makes Perfect — Spiritual disciplines that strengthen faith over time

The curriculum includes leader guides, participant handouts, discussion prompts, and practical applications designed to move discipleship beyond the classroom and into everyday life.

Most Adults Never Received a Strong Biblical Foundation

This is one of the biggest reasons Deep Discipleship Adults exists.

Many adults genuinely love God but struggle to connect the bigger story of Scripture.

They know isolated passages.
They know individual stories.
But they’ve never fully understood:

  • The Kingdom of God
  • Rescue and redemption
  • Worship as a lifestyle
  • Biblical identity
  • Community and outreach
  • Spiritual disciplines
  • Apologetics and truth
  • How all of Scripture connects together

The 8 Roots of the Gospel framework helps adults move from fragmented understanding to a connected biblical worldview.

And when adults begin understanding Scripture more clearly, something powerful happens:

Confidence grows.

Parents begin leading conversations at home.
Volunteers disciple students more intentionally.
Adults stop feeling spiritually stuck.
Churches move from scattered teaching to intentional formation.

That’s the heart behind Deep Discipleship Adults.

Creating a Discipleship Culture at Home

One of the most meaningful outcomes we’ve seen is what happens when parents and students begin learning similar biblical truths at the same time.

Conversations become easier.

Parents no longer feel disconnected from what students are learning at church. Instead, they’re able to reinforce those same gospel foundations throughout the week.

That matters because discipleship was never meant to stay inside a church building.

It was meant to shape everyday life.

Deep Discipleship Adults helps churches bridge the gap between church discipleship and home discipleship by giving families a shared framework for spiritual growth.

A Clear Strategy for Churches

Church leaders don’t need more disconnected content.

They need clarity.

Deep Discipleship Adults works best when it becomes part of a larger discipleship strategy:

  • Students learning the 8 Roots
  • Preteens learning the 8 Roots
  • Adults learning the 8 Roots
  • Parents reinforcing faith at home
  • Volunteers discipling with confidence
  • Churches speaking the same discipleship language

That’s how discipleship culture is built.

Not through random studies.

But through intentional, aligned spiritual formation.

Deep Discipleship Adults Year 5 Is Available Now

If your church is looking for a way to strengthen biblical foundations, align discipleship across ministries, and help adults grow deeper in their faith, Deep Discipleship Adults Year 5 was built for that purpose.

Because discipleship works best when the whole church grows together.

Start your free trial and explore Deep Discipleship Adults Year 5 today.

Doug Franklin

Doug Franklin is the president of LeaderTreks, an innovative leadership development organization focusing on students and youth workers. Doug and his wife, Angie, live in West Chicago, Illinois. They don’t have any kids, but they have 2 dogs that think they are children. Diesel and Penelope are Weimaraners who never leave their side. Doug grew up in Illinois and graduated from Wheaton College with a degree in Christian Education. He started in youth ministry as a adult volunteer, leading a small group of junior high boys. The experience shaped the way Doug thinks about youth ministry and how students learn. After spending six years as a volunteer, Doug become the full-time high school youth pastor at a church in Wheaton, Illinois. He served as a youth pastor for 12 years in various churches. As Doug thought about what was really working in youth ministry, he came to the conclusion that everything becomes more effective when students lead. So in 1994, Doug started LeaderTreks to partner with youth workers to help them develop their students as leaders. In 2003 LeaderTreks added leadership training for youth workers. It started with five youth workers coming to LeaderTreks for intense training and grew into LeaderTreks’ Refuel Retreats. Doug understands that being a youth worker requires us to lead students, adult volunteers, parents, and church leaders. He wants to help youth workers lead well and to see them become more effective for the purpose of helping students love God.

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