Model

• Life Groups are open groups meaning anyone can join at any time.

• D-Groups are closed groups meaning no one can join the group once it has started.

Make-up of the Group

• Life Groups are composed of believers and non-believers.

• D-Groups are composed of believers.

Size

• Our Life Groups average between 10-20 people.

• Our D-Groups have 3-5 people.

Dynamic

• Our Life Groups can be co-ed or gender-specific.

• Our D-Groups are gender-specific meaning men meet with men and women meet with women.

Purpose

• Our Life Groups are a community where people grow in their relationship with God and with others on a weekly basis by studying God’s Word together.

• Our D-Groups provide a place for people to participate in intentional discipleship and spiritual transformation in an effort to make disciples who make disciples.

Time-Frame

• Our Life Groups do not have a time-frame, but are asked to launch new Life Groups over time.

• Our D-Groups meet for approximately 12 months.

Outcome

• Life Groups should multiply biblical community.

• D-Groups should replicate and make disciples who make disciple.

When someone expresses a desire to join a D-Group, we encourage them to start one. Becoming a member of someone else's Discipleship Group happens by invitation only.

Most of our D-Groups begin through relationships formed in Life Groups, in an area of service, or from a existing relationship.

If you are currently in a Life Group and desire to be in a D-Group, see if there is anyone in your Life Group that may be looking to start a group. You can also consider starting one on your own.

You can learn more about starting your own D-Group by picking up a copy of our “How to Start a D-Group?” packet at our Resource Center in our upstairs lobby or you can visit StevensStreet.org/startadgroup.

Great question! You have come to the right place!

We have a page on our website designed just for you. Click here to visit StevensStreet.org/startadgroup to begin your disciple-making journey today!

Check out this chart to see which months are best and which ones aren’t so good to start a new D-Group.

If you are interested in starting a D-Group, we can walk you through the process of how to find people for your D-Group and how to invite them. Learn more about this at StevensStreet.org/startadgroup.

We believe D-Groups are most effective when they have 3-5 people in them.

When groups are larger than five people, it becomes increasingly harder to include everyone in the discipleship process. When more people are involved, it not only requires more time for everyone to share, but it lowers the likelihood of everyone interacting with the group.

Plus, it is easier to teach others how to replicate groups when they know their future group will only have 3-5 people in it.

D-Groups are designed for those who have a relationship with Christ. The purpose of a D-group is to disciple someone so they can disciple others. If someone does not have a relationship with Christ, they could not disciple someone else to be like Christ since they themselves do not know Christ.

We highly recommend that they connect with a Life Group to continue learning more about what it means to have a relationship with Christ and how they can grow in that relationship with God and others while studying God’s Word on a weekly basis.

We recommend that D-Groups meet only once a week for approximately an hour each meeting. Remember, while some people would like to meet more often and meet longer, your goal is to model the discipleship method to others in a way that it can be easily replicated.

D-Groups should stay together for approximately a year. This allows this to go through an entire cycle of the discipleship process and reading plan.

Also, another reason groups should end after roughly a year is because of the original goal and purpose of the group which is to replicate and make more disciples. If there is no end date and the group never separates to start new groups, they are no longer a D-Group, but have become a Bible study.

The great thing about D-Groups is that they can meet anytime, anywhere, on or off our church campus.

We do make our campus available for groups to meet on Sunday nights from 5-6p so members can have access to childcare if needed.

Groups may meet at the church campus during the week if they would like. When registering a group online, the leader will have the option to reserve space on our campus and request a key card for entry if needed as well.

We offer only two reading plans for our D-Groups. They are:

• The Old Testament and New Testmant reading plan

• The New Testament reading plan

These plans are available at our Resource Center in our upstairs lobby.

Our plans cover a specific amount of Bible reading each day, typically 1-2 chapters. While they cover most of the Bible, they do not cover every single verse. This is intentional so we do not turn reading our Bible into just another task. These plans encourage you to take time and reflect on what you are reading instead of being focused on reading 5 to 10 chapters a day.

While some people may want to read more or use a different plan, remember, the goal is not to read the entire Bible, but to make disciples and to make the discipling process easily reproducible. For many people, this may be their first time having a structured Bible reading plan which is another reason our plans generally cover no more than 1-2 chapters a day.

The acronym HEAR in HEAR Journal stands for Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond. Each of these steps helps you engage with God’s Word so you move beyond simply reading it, but understanding it and applying to your life.

D-Group members learn how to use the H.E.A.R. journal method during their first month together as a group.

While it is rare, there are times when it may be best ask someone to leave your D-Group. Some reasons to ask someone to leave are they are not showing up, they are not reading their Bible or journaling, or they are living a lifestyle of unrepentant sin.

When someone is not committed to the group and not being a truly active member, it can be discouraging for other group members and can decrease the likelihood of honesty and vulnerability with each other. It greatly affects the relational aspect and the overall dynamic of the group.

For some people, it may not be the right time for them to be in a group due to their schedule or their phase of life.

Whenever someone should be asked to leave a group, approach it with a prayerful attitude. We want to handle those conversations with grace and care.

We highly recommend that members do not participate in Re|Engage and a D-Group at the same time if the D-Group meets on a Sunday.

If your D-Group meets on another day of the week, your schedule should allow you to participate in both ministries easily.