Arresting the Decline
Australian Christianity has been in numerical decline for decades and we believe something needs to change. The answer is not adding more programs. We need to be equipped to make disciples who make disciples, who make disciples.
Discipleship is about the words, the ways and the works of Jesus – becoming more like Jesus and doing the things Jesus did. A healthy discipling culture is the engine for long-term, sustainable mission.
Discover
BDC is a group of experienced church leaders who are passionate about empowering and equipping local church leaders in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Through the Building a Discipling Culture process we will invest in you with tools, practices and skills for imitating the life and ministry of Jesus. These tools are simple, memorable and reproducible, allowing them to be passed along from generation to generation.
The training brings clarity, intentionality and effectiveness to the discipling process. Cultural change is catalysed through the application of key principles and practices in discipleship, leadership and mission.
The two-day BDC Intensives take place every six months and provide space for your leadership team to focus and strategise together.
Intensives offer a tailored environment that enables deeper exploration of concepts, application to your team’s context, cross-team learning, strategic planning and time for waiting on God.
Coaching clusters are an authentic environment to process week-by-week how you are applying and implementing the tools for discipleship and mission. Clusters are comprised of your leadership team of 5-8 people and a BDC Coach, who is a trained practitioner with hands-on experience in the BDC process.
The team journeys together to learn and apply practical skills and strategic insights that equip you to disciple other leaders in your context and release them into mission. Clusters meet for one hour a fortnight and take place via web conferencing.
By moving beyond theory and putting the tools into practice, leaders begin to see transformation in their own lives, ministry and the lives of those they lead.
BDC is comprised of a group of experienced church leaders who are passionate about empowering and equipping local church leaders in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
For the best part of a decade, our journey of discipleship has seen genuine change in our church culture. We have developed principles, processes and practices, relevant to the unique Australian context, to see measurable qualitative and quantitative growth in personal discipleship, leadership development and missional impact. We have started to reframe people’s understanding of mission to release them into creative new expressions of “being and bringing the good news of Jesus” to people in their local neighbourhoods and communities.
Our experience shows that as leaders engage with a life of missional discipleship for themselves, they can then begin to develop and grow disciples around them in their leadership context. This cultural shift to missional discipleship leads to disciples who make disciples who make disciples.
Dale is a gifted preacher and teacher with a high respect for God’s Word, a proactive passion for evangelism and a strong commitment to equipping Christian leaders. Known as an innovative and positive leader, Dale has a heart to build and equip the broader body of Christ. He has a genuine Kingdom of God commitment that transcends denominational boundaries. Dale has been Senior Pastor of Crossway since January 2008 and was previously Senior Pastor at New Peninsula Baptist Church (1996–2007). He is married to Edi and they have four adult children.
Tim serves as our National Training Pastor with an emphasis on equipping churches and leaders in missional discipleship. He has a passion to see leaders living out the words, works and ways of Jesus, making an impact in their communities. Tim served as Discipleship Pastor at Crossway Baptist Church from 2012-2018, making a pivotal contribution to the discipleship journey, and as Creative Ministries and Worship Pastor prior to that. He is a highly authentic and relational leader and is widely recognised as a gifted Bible teacher and communicator. He is married to Sarah and they have four children.
Edi, along with Dale, has been training and equipping pastors and their partners across the denominations nationally for the past five years. She is passionate about the Church and the potential of God at work impacting our nation. Edi joined the staff at Crossway eight years ago overseeing Life Groups and Missional Communities. She has led a number of weekend retreats for people to engage and experience some of the spiritual disciplines and to encourage them to grow spiritually. She has a passion for evangelism and to see the Church as individuals empowered to be on mission wherever God has placed them.
BDC is an initiative of Crossway Baptist Church, being implemented collaboratively with churches and Christian organisations across multiple denominations.
BDC Conference
A healthy discipling culture is the engine for long-term, sustainable mission. Find out how you can bring genuine change to your church and lasting impact in your local community, by attending the Building a Discipling Culture Conference in 2019.
- Biblical discipleship in action
- Cultural change and missional outcomes
- Tools for missional growth
- Specific application to Australian contexts
The conference is for anyone and everyone that is concerned about building a discipling culture in and through their church.
The conference runs over two full days, with both plenary and interactive breakout sessions covering:
BDC and Executive Leadership
Dale Stephenson – Senior Pastor, Crossway
Edi Stephenson – Discipleship Pastor, Crossway
BDC in Generational Ministry
Johnny Russ – Children, Youth & Families Pastor, Crossway
BDC with the Poor
Toby Baxter – Director & Co-Founder, COACH
Mark Mathews – National Training & Technical Manager (Australia), COACH
Multiplying Missional Leaders
Tim Piesse – National Training Pastor, Crossway
Dale Stephenson – Senior Pastor, Crossway
Tim Piesse – National Training Pastor
Edi Stephenson – Discipleship Pastor, Crossway
For further information or enquiries please email info@bdc.org.au and we will contact you as soon as possible.
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