IAC is growing! And like all living things, our structures need to grow to support that increased life. Over the next few weeks, we’re publishing updates from our All-Church Gathering about how our structures are growing in several key areas: Generosity, Facility, Staffing, the Discipleship Pathway, and Conflict Response. We hope these give you insight into how our structures are strengthening: and how you can help!
From Pastor Ken:
“How does your church make disciples?”
It’s an important question, but also a confusing one. Because people mean lots of things by the word “disciple.”
Some people view discipleship as the development of spiritual practices, such as a daily time in Scripture or prayer. Others view it mainly as being the hands and feet of Jesus in the world, on mission with him.
When it comes to making disciples, some traditions emphasize the Sunday morning service as the primary disciple-making environment: just come to church and you’ll get discipled! Others emphasize small group Bible studies, while others picture a specific type of 1-on-1 mentoring.
There’s truth to each of these perspectives, but they also miss something when left by themselves.
Discipleship, at its heart, is becoming like Jesus. Disciples of Christ experience an ongoing inner transformation by the power of the Spirit that takes them all the way from being separated from Christ to enabling them to live like Jesus in the world.
The inner transformation, of course, is outside our direct control: it is the Spirit’s work to call us into relationship with Christ, form us in the character of Christ, and to give us gifts that serve others and the world. The Church’s most fundamental task is to preach the good news of Christ through word and sacrament so his life can be received afresh within us, over and over again. This ongoing receiving of the gospel is the front door that the Spirit enters through in our lives, taking up residence over time in every nook and cranny of our lives.
But churches can - and must! - create opportunities for people to practice this new life in Christ. Churches create environments where we can practice becoming like Christ, inviting us to not only receive his life, but to do the kinds of things he did.
This is how IAC’s Discipleship Pathway originated.
As IAC’s leaders looked in the gospels, we saw Jesus doing several key things in his ministry of making disciples.
Befriending: Jesus befriended those far from God, or far from his circle of discipleship. He was constantly reaching beyond the expected boundaries to connect with new friends.
Calling: Jesus revealed himself to those he met - in lots of different ways - and then invited them to trust and follow him.
Forming: For those who came into Jesus’ circle, he poured into them through presence, teaching, training, and more.
Sending: However, the school of Christ wasn’t just a place to take notes or have a private spiritual experience. Jesus sent his disciples into the world to bear witness to his kingdom, both in word and in deed. He also called his disciples to serve one another within the community.
We realized that if our ministries at IAC didn’t represent this full range of Jesus’ work, we’d be leaving behind some important opportunities to practice our discipleship together. To put it more bluntly, if we left any of these things behind we’d be ignoring some of the work Jesus wants to do in us and through us.
Once we identified these priorities for our discipleship at IAC, we still needed to discern how to build them into our ministries.
Many churches structure themselves by “Age & Stage.” In other words, there are young adult ministries, men’s ministries, women’s ministries, senior’s ministries, and more. IAC absolutely sees the value in those kinds of ministries: for example, our Kid and Student ministries are organized this way!
But unless you’re really careful, something happens within those different age & stage ministries. At best, the purpose of the ministry gets reduced to only one component of the Pathway based on the passion or capacity of the leaders. At worst, the ministry becomes a place simply to hang out and be together. Hanging out and doing only one thing are not bad things, of course! But they are less than the fullness of discipleship to Jesus.
That’s why we decided to structure our ministries according to the Discipleship Pathway.
In the Pathway:
Every single offering at IAC has a direct discipleship purpose.
Every part of the Pathway is accessible to every single person.
Every part of the Pathway is a place of community and being known.
Every part of our Church’s structure fosters discipleship intentionally, not just accidentally!
The age & stage ministries we do have at IAC are committed to reflecting the full breadth of the Pathway. For example, our Kid & Student ministries do a fantastic job of Befriending, Calling, Forming, AND Sending.
We also have “Ministry Life” ministries that support the overall work of the church (like Finance or HR) and that help people get connected to the Pathway (like our Welcome and Belonging ministries). We call these ministries “Ministry Life.” These ministries are also crucial to our flourishing, because they make the intentionality of the Discipleship Pathway possible!
We realize that this kind of structure is different than what most people have experienced. As a result, people naturally have questions or misconceptions.
For example, sometimes people lament that there are no age & stage opportunities at IAC: but that isn’t true! There are always options for age & stage specific opportunities within different areas of the pathway: for example, a women’s Life Group or a class for parents of young kids. You can have age & stage focus right alongside discipleship intentionality! We have also launched Connecting Groups, which give people of similar experiences a chance to connect with each other - and to discover relevant opportunities along the Pathway - three times a year. Current Connecting Groups include Seniors, Fathers of Young Kids, International IAC’ers, Infertility, and Young Professionals, and we expect more to be added over time. Be watching for them in IAC Notes!
Another misconception is that each IAC’er should walk through the pathway sequentially. Please know that no one is tracking your individual involvement, and the next portion of the pathway may not be your next best step! This isn’t a guide to personal spiritual maturity, with one part of the Pathway being the “end goal.” We trust that at every season there will be some part of the Pathway that is meaningful in your journey following Jesus, and we encourage you to discern that for your own journey.
Similarly, we would never expect (or advise!) every person to be engaging with every portion of the pathway at once. In the different spheres of your life, we hope you are indeed befriending, calling, being formed, and being sent. But no one needs to do all that together within IAC’s particular ministries. Our ministries are often a catalyst to people living out this discipleship in other spheres of life, and we give thanks for that!
The Pathway is the way that we give IAC congregants opportunities to practice the full range of Jesus’ way of life. It also holds IAC’s leadership accountable to offering a full-spectrum discipleship in our ministries.
To use a gardening analogy, it’s our way of creating a “trellis” that can support the breadth of our life with Jesus together as a church!
We are grateful for the fruit that is already emerging from this way of structuring our ministries.
For example, our ministries have already broadened through this structuring. A decade ago, IAC was a church that concentrated heavily on the “Form” aspect of the Christian life through retreats and intensives. As a result, adult baptisms were rare, local mission was sporadic, and our Life Groups lacked a shared focus. At that time, most of our attendees found us because they had been walking with Jesus for many years and were seeking more depth in their life with Christ. This - of course! - wasn’t bad. It was just incomplete.
Since moving to a Pathway-based structure, we are now confidently offering ministry opportunities that could reasonably meet almost any person in Colorado Springs right where they are. And unsurprisingly, a larger cross-section of Colorado Springs is joining us! We now consistently see adults being baptized, our investment in the community is wide and deep, and we are regularly connecting with people who aren’t ready to walk in our doors for worship.
We don’t want to be a church that someone has to be “ready” for, and we don’t want to be a church that someone “outgrows.” And praise God, he is doing that among us!
There’s more work to do, however. There is a continuing need to build up some of the newer ministry areas at IAC: the Befriend, Call, and Send spaces. We will be intentionally focusing on Befriending this summer: be on the lookout for more information on that! We are also rebuilding our Call team and Alpha leadership, and exploring ways to invite even more people into the joy of being sent by Jesus into Colorado Springs and the world.
We are also deepening our commitments in our Form ministries by growing Life Groups (we’ve gone from 20 to 30 already in 2026) and strengthening our ministries of Catechesis, Prayer, Spiritual Formation, and Rwandan relationship. Each of these teams is relatively new or is in the process of re-formation, and we are thrilled at the passion on display. As just one example, over 30 people have considered being a part of our Spiritual Formation team (which leads retreats and intensives) over the last month. Wow! Great things are ahead.
We are also working to connect each part of the Pathway more intentionally through clear Next Steps. Perhaps you’ve noticed the arrows in the Pathway diagram: that’s because each area of the Pathway flows from the prior area, and towards the next. While there is no expectation that someone progresses through the Pathway in straight line, there should be clear possibilities to take a next step!. For example:
We still have lots of room to grow in confidently communicating these next steps in ways that are clear and accessible.
But perhaps the greatest need is simply helping YOU find YOUR place on the Pathway! We know there’s a lot that’s going on at IAC, and we don’t expect anyone to do all of it. But there are two main ways you can find your place and get connected.
The first is IAC Notes, our twice-weekly newsletter (sign up here). In each IAC Notes, we have started organizing our offerings by their place in the Pathway. We hope this allows you to focus on the aspects of discipleship that are particularly intriguing to you in your season of life. We also hope skimming the other sections gives the Spirit opportunity to awaken new (and perhaps unfamiliar) desires to follow Christ in new ways!
If you have Kids or Students, don’t miss the additional Kid Note and Student Note that gets delivered straight to your inbox (email bonnie@springsiac.org to get signed up). They give you the same kinds of Pathway opportunities in Kid & Student Ministry.
The other opportunity is the Together Survey (fill it out here). This Survey comes out three times a year: in May, August, and January. The Together Survey is the most comprehensive guide to all that IAC offers in each portion of the Pathway, and it is designed to spark a question with you:
What is God inviting me into right now?
When you check a box on the Together Survey, you’re not committing to anything. You’re simply saying, “I’m curious to know more, because I think the Spirit might be stirring up something in this area.” When you fill out the Survey, ministry leaders in each area will be in touch with more information.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed when scanning the Survey: but don’t be! Use these Together Survey seasons as an opportunity to discern what’s stirring up inside you. Trust that as you reach out, God will connect you in just the right places, to just the right people.
As we follow Jesus together, may we glory in the breadth of the discipleship Jesus is inviting us into: we will never get bored on this journey! But may we also rest in the specific, personal invitations he gives us to follow him - right where we are, right as we are.
In expectancy,
Pastor Ken