What makes YDisciple work for young people?

At its core, the tenants of YDisciple are designed to address the basic desires God has written on every person’s heart. YDisciple:

  • Unites families in the faith by facilitating meaningful partnership with parents
  • Provides content that can spark authentic conversations
  • Builds lasting mentor relationships between group members and faithful adults
  • Allows for flexibility in both content and structure to meet the needs of each unique group of individuals
  • Fosters an environment of security and trust among single-gender groups. 

Take a look at that list.  With a little finesse, all of these concepts could be applied to any age-group, not just teens. 

While YDisciple is specifically designed with teenagers in mind, the concept of Discipleship Groups is not bound by age. Whether you are eight or 88, Jesus calls you to be a disciple.   

Seeing this need for life-long discipleship, Andy and Coreen Wagenbach of North Saint Paul, Minnesota, are working to create discipleship groups at every age level, starting after First Communion. The Wagenbachs are a married couple who work as co-Faith Formation directors in their community. After receiving training from YDisciple, they gleaned six essential elements for a discipleship group to work regardless of the age of participants.  With these six elements, which fit under the YDisciple structure of Connect, Discuss, and Commit, leaders can fit solid faith formation content for any age within a thriving discipleship group. 

The Components of a Great Discipleship Group Gathering 

CONNECT 

1. Enjoy: Enjoy a fun game or activity together and sit down over a meal or snacks. You are building a community, so doing things together that are enjoyable will help group members feel safe, loved, and will make them want to come back. In addition to group discussion, this portion is essential for fostering an environment where authentic, meaningful relationships can grow.

2. Pray: As disciples it is essential that we actually take time to connect with the Lord himself.  As disciple-makers it is essential that we take time to teach and model prayer.  Consider asking each member to share 1 petition.  Not only does this cause them to reflect on who or what needs prayer, but it informs the leader what is going in their group members’ lives. 

3. Check-In: Ask the group: What has God been doing in your life? What difficulties are you having living out the faith? How did the challenge/commitment we gave last time go for you? You must demonstrate at every turn that you care about what is going on in their lives as well as help them recognize God’s hand at work. 

DISCUSS

4. Share & Discuss the Content: Whether you are using a YDisciple video or some other content more appropriate to the age of your group, be sure to allow ample time to dialogue about the teaching.  People are more likely to retain information that they have discussed than information they have passively heard. 

COMMIT

5. Challenge: Discipleship connects teaching with real life.  To help connect what you discussed with their lives outside of your group, give them a challenge to complete before the next time you meet. 

6. Pray Again: Committing the content to heart involves not only action, but bringing it into the light of a relationship with the Lord.  Take time to do Lectio Divina with a scripture related to the content, pray a rosary or chaplet of Divine Mercy together, or go to Adoration.   

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