A complete discipleship system for leading intentional preteen and youth ministry
Congratulations! You just subscribed to Deep Discipleship.
First of all—thank you. It is an honor that you’ve trusted us to partner with your church in making disciples. Whether you’re leading preteens, students, or adults, our goal is simple: help you spend less time creating curriculum and more investing in people.
After working with churches of every size and serving in local church ministry myself, I’ve noticed that the churches who get the most out of Deep Discipleship aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the largest teams. They’re the ones who start with a plan.
Here are my favorite tips for getting the most out of your new subscription.
This is probably the most overlooked tip—and one of the most important.
Instead of creating your account with a personal email address, consider using a shared ministry email like:
Why?
Ministry staff and volunteers change. When your subscription is tied to a shared ministry email, your church maintains access regardless of staffing transitions. It also allows us to communicate important updates, new resources, and renewal information with your ministry team instead of just one individual.
Think of it as protecting your church’s investment for years to come.
One of my favorite things about Deep Discipleship is that you don’t have to teach every series in order. Sure we give you a suggested scope and sequence, but this is your permission slip to change it up!
Maybe your church takes a break during the summer. Maybe you pause programming in December. Maybe your ministry calendar only allows for nine or ten months of teaching each year.
That’s okay!
Rather than trying to fit everything in, invite your students into the conversation.
Ask questions like:
Not only will this help you build a scope and sequence that fits your calendar, but your students will have ownership in what they’re learning. When students help shape the plan, they’re often more engaged when it’s time to study.
Every lesson includes leader notes and a teacher prep video for a reason.
Before you teach, spend a few minutes reading through the overview, marks of a disciple, discussion questions, and watching the prep video. It doesn’t take long, but it makes a huge difference.
The goal isn’t just to know what you’ll teach—it’s to understand why you’re teaching it.
The more prepared you are, the more naturally you can guide conversation instead of simply reading from a page.
One of the biggest misconceptions in student ministry is that you need a formal student leadership team before you can develop leaders.
You don’t.
Every student has leadership potential because every student has influence. Leadership isn’t just about holding a title—it’s about using the gifts God has given each person to serve others.
As you use Deep Discipleship, look for opportunities to hand ownership to your students. Invite them to welcome new students, lead an icebreaker, read Scripture aloud, facilitate a discussion question, share their testimony, help plan a service project, run tech, or pray over the group.
When students move from simply attending to actively contributing, something changes. They become more invested in the ministry, grow in confidence, and begin taking ownership of their own faith.
Don’t wait until you have a leadership program to start developing leaders. Start with the students God has already placed in your ministry. Give them meaningful responsibilities, coach them along the way, and watch them grow into the leaders God is shaping them to be.
Deep Discipleship is a tool—not a script.
If an illustration doesn’t connect with your students, change it.
If your group needs more time for discussion, spend it there.
If your church has a special event or mission trip, adjust the schedule.
The curriculum is designed to serve your ministry, not the other way around. Don’t be afraid to make it your own.
Here’s a simple tip that can save you time later: mark your Deep Discipleship renewal date on your calendar as soon as you subscribe.
Your subscription automatically renews one year from your purchase date. While that may seem like a long way off, renewal dates have a way of sneaking up on busy ministry leaders! While you will get reminders from us, it’s best to just write it down!
Before your renewal, take a few minutes to download any resources from your current year that you’d like to keep on hand or revisit later. If there are leader guides, volunteer trainings, parent resources, or lessons you know you’ll want to reference after you’ve moved into the next year of content, download them before your renewal date.
And don’t worry if you forget.
If you ever need to access a previous year of Deep Discipleship that your church has already purchased, just reach out to our team. We’d be happy to help you get the resources you need.
We’re here to partner with you, not make things complicated!
It’s easy to feel pressure to complete every activity or discussion question.
Don’t.
If a student opens up about something happening in their life, pause the lesson.
If your group spends twenty extra minutes talking about what God is teaching them, that’s not getting behind—that’s discipleship happening.
Deep Discipleship was never designed to help you “get through curriculum.”
It was designed to help you make deeper disciples.
So celebrate the conversations. Pray with your students. Listen well. Be flexible.
Those are often the moments they’ll remember long after they’ve forgotten what page they were on.
We’re so excited to partner with your church.
Our prayer is that Deep Discipleship becomes more than curriculum—it becomes a tool that helps students, leaders, and families grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus.
We’re cheering you on every step of the way.
You’ve got this—and we’re here to help.
The best place to start is by creating a simple plan for your ministry year. Review the available series, think through your church calendar, and decide which studies best fit your students or adults. Don’t feel like you have to teach every series in order. Deep Discipleship is designed to be flexible so you can build a discipleship pathway that fits your ministry.
Absolutely. Deep Discipleship is designed to be a ministry tool, not a script. You can adjust the teaching schedule, swap illustrations, spend more time on discussion, or align lessons with retreats, mission trips, or special events. The goal is to serve your ministry—not force your ministry into a rigid curriculum plan.
Yes. Every student has leadership potential. Deep Discipleship encourages ministry leaders to involve students by giving them meaningful responsibilities like leading discussions, welcoming new students, serving on tech teams, praying for others, or helping plan ministry events. These opportunities help students grow from participants into disciple-makers.
That’s okay. Deep Discipleship isn’t about completing every page of curriculum—it’s about helping people grow as disciples of Jesus. If a meaningful discussion or prayer time takes your group in a different direction, those moments are often where the greatest spiritual growth happens.
Deep Discipleship Students is a complete curriculum and system with everything you need for ministry to junior high and high school students.
