Half of Churches Satisfied with Discipleship, But Strong Agreement Remains Rare

September 1, 2025

A new study on the State of Discipleship by Lifeway Research is shining light on how U.S. Protestant pastors understand discipleship and how they believe it should occur.

Christianity Daily reports that the survey took place between September 10-30, 2024 and included responses from 2,620 Protestant pastors.

Researchers say the responses from 2,176 Baptist pastors were weighted to accurately represent their proportion among Protestant churches.

The responses show that 52 percent of pastors say they are satisfied with discipleship and spiritual formation in their churches, only 8 percent said they strongly agree with this sentiment.

52 percent of responding pastors reported having an intentional plan for discipling individuals and encouraging their spiritual growth.

In describing the core concepts of discipleship, pastors mentioned various elements including, spiritual growth or discipline and Bible study or Scripture memorization.

Some pastors highlighted mentoring or meetings one-on-one, teaching or training, prayer, making disciples, and creating small groups.

According to Christianity Daily, 89 percent of Protestant pastors reported using sermons during weekly worship services as a key method of creating discipleship and promoting spiritual growth.

Many churches said they also offer adult Sunday School classes, small group Bible studies for adults, women’s groups or classes, and pastor-led teaching sessions on Sunday or Wednesday evenings.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said, “Among all Protestant churches, more than a quarter have decentralized discipleship plans for ministries, less than a quarter have a single discipleship plan for their whole church, and around half do not have an intentional discipleship plan.”

Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Terren Hurst