Mobilizing Children as Disciple-Makers | Microchurch Guide

Mobilizing Children as Disciple-Makers

A Microchurch Leader's Guide

Microchurches have a unique advantage—we can raise children who see themselves as missionaries and disciple-makers NOW, not just future church members.

This guide helps you identify where to focus to mobilize the children in your microchurch as active participants in God's mission.

Quick Assessment: Where Do We Need to Focus?

Instructions: Read through these seven areas and identify the TWO that need the most attention in your microchurch right now. Then jump directly to those sections below.

  1. Prayer & Worship Leadership - Children leading others into encounters with God
  2. Disciple-Making Relationships - Children discipling peers and younger children
  3. Scripture Discovery - Children discovering and applying God's word themselves
  4. Kingdom Practices - Children initiating and leading spiritual practices
  5. Mission as Lifestyle - Children living as missionaries in their contexts
  6. Family on Mission - Families living as missionary units together
  7. Reproducible Structures - Simple systems children can eventually replicate
Your Two Priority Areas: and

Now jump to your chosen sections below for specific reflection questions and practical ideas.

1 Prayer & Worship Leadership
Are children learning to lead others into encounters with God, not just participating in adult-led worship?

Reflection Questions

  • Do children lead prayer and worship, or just observe?
  • Are children learning to hear God's voice and respond in obedience?
  • Can children facilitate prayer experiences for others?
  • Are we raising children who create space for others to meet God?
  • Do children see and celebrate answers to prayers they've initiated?

Simple Practices to Try

  • Let children plan and lead entire worship segments
  • Teach children to facilitate listening prayer with peers
  • Have children lead prayer walks in their neighborhoods
  • Train children to pray for healing and breakthrough
  • Create child-led prayer stations for the community
  • Commission children as "prayer missionaries" to their schools

One Thing to Start This Week

Ask one child to lead the prayer time at your next gathering—fully lead it, not just pray once.

2 Disciple-Making Relationships
Are children making disciples of other children, or just being discipled?

Reflection Questions

  • Is each child discipling at least one other person (peer or younger)?
  • Are children learning to share their faith stories naturally?
  • Can children identify who they're responsible to disciple?
  • Are older children mentoring younger ones intentionally?
  • Do children know how to help others follow Jesus?

Simple Practices to Try

  • Pair older children with younger ones as discipleship partners
  • Teach children how to share their testimony in 2 minutes
  • Help children identify one friend to pray for and invest in
  • Create opportunities for children to teach what they're learning
  • Start a child-led Bible study for neighborhood kids
  • Train children in basic discipleship skills (how to pray with someone, share scripture, encourage faith)

One Thing to Start This Week

Help each child identify one person they could begin discipling or influencing for Jesus.

3 Scripture Discovery
Can children discover truth from Scripture themselves and teach it to others?

Reflection Questions

  • Are children discovering Biblical truths or just receiving teaching?
  • Can children lead others through scripture discovery?
  • Do children apply Scripture to real-life situations independently?
  • Are children memorizing Scripture they can share with others?
  • Can children articulate the gospel in their own words?

Simple Practices to Try

  • Teach Discovery Bible Study method that children can replicate
  • Let children lead Bible story times using their own words
  • Have children create teachings for younger kids
  • Practice "sword drills" that build scripture navigation skills
  • Help children develop their own Bible reading plans
  • Train children to ask "What is God saying?" and "What will I do about it?"

One Thing to Start This Week

Let a child lead the Bible discussion using simple discovery questions they can remember.

4 Kingdom Practices
Are children initiating kingdom activities, not just joining adult-led ones?

Reflection Questions

  • Do children initiate acts of service without adult prompting?
  • Can children identify and respond to needs around them?
  • Are children learning to give sacrificially from their own resources?
  • Do children lead communion, baptisms, or other sacred practices?
  • Are children developing spiritual disciplines they practice independently?

Simple Practices to Try

  • Let children plan and lead communion
  • Allow children to baptize other children (with appropriate preparation)
  • Give children a portion of church funds to steward for mission
  • Have children identify and lead community service projects
  • Teach children to fast and pray for breakthrough
  • Create child-initiated blessing and healing ministries

One Thing to Start This Week

Ask children: "What need has God shown you that we should address?" Then help them lead the response.

5 Mission as Lifestyle
Are we raising missionaries who happen to be children, or children who might become missionaries someday?

Reflection Questions

  • Do children see themselves as missionaries to their schools/neighborhoods NOW?
  • Are children making disciples among their peers?
  • Can children identify where God is already at work and join Him?
  • Are children sharing faith naturally in daily life?
  • What missionary habits are children developing?
  • Could the children in our microchurch plant their own expression of church?

Simple Practices to Try

  • Commission children as missionaries to specific spheres (school, sports team, neighborhood)
  • Map the child's mission field together (who has God placed in their life?)
  • Start "mission reports" where children share what God is doing in their contexts
  • Teach children to prayer-walk their schools
  • Help children start gospel movements among their friends
  • Train children in simple church-planting principles they can use

One Thing to Start This Week

Commission each child as a missionary to their school/neighborhood with specific prayer and blessing.

6 Family on Mission
Are families functioning as missionary units, or are parents just trying to "get kids through church"?

Reflection Questions

  • Are families living on mission together in their neighborhood?
  • Do parents see themselves as disciple-makers raising disciple-makers?
  • Are families practicing hospitality as mission together?
  • Can families articulate their collective mission as a household?
  • Are parents modeling disciple-making for their children to replicate?

Simple Practices to Try

  • Help families identify their household mission field
  • Create family blessing rhythms for neighborhood engagement
  • Equip families to host seekers and demonstrate kingdom life
  • Develop family discipleship chains (parent → child → child's friend)
  • Organize family mission trips to nearby communities
  • Teach families to do Discovery Bible Studies with neighbors

One Thing to Start This Week

Ask one family: "Who has God placed in your life that you could reach together?"

7 Reproducible Structures
Is everything we do simple enough that teenagers could reproduce it?

Reflection Questions

  • Could a 14-year-old lead what we do with minimal training?
  • Are our practices simple enough to be reproduced in a home or park?
  • Do children understand the "why" behind what we do, not just the "what"?
  • Are we modeling church in a way children could replicate with friends?
  • What would happen if we let children plant their own microchurch?

Simple Practices to Try

  • Simplify your gathering format to 3-4 reproducible elements
  • Let children lead entire gatherings periodically
  • Teach children the DNA of simple church (gather, grow, go)
  • Have teenagers plant a "youth microchurch" with coaching
  • Document your practices in ways children can understand and share
  • Create "church planting training" specifically for children and youth

One Thing to Start This Week

Evaluate your gathering: What would need to change for a teenager to be able to lead it?

Your Action Plan

Now that you've explored your two priority areas:

  1. Choose 2-3 specific practices that will mobilize children as disciple-makers
  2. Start with "One Thing This Week" from each area
  3. Try your new practices for 4-6 weeks
  4. Let children evaluate what's working (they know!)
  5. Adjust based on fruit you see in children's mission engagement
  6. Return to reassess in 3-6 months

Remember:

  • Children are missionaries and disciple-makers NOW
  • Start with simple, reproducible practices
  • Multiplication is the goal, not just participation
  • Children can handle more responsibility than we think
  • Every child is a potential church planter
  • Movement happens through empowerment, not programs
The Multiplication Question:
After 6 months, ask yourself: "Are the children in our microchurch making disciples who make disciples?" If not, return to this guide and recalibrate toward multiplication.

When You're Ready for More:

Once children are actively making disciples in your two initial areas, return and select another area. The goal isn't perfection—it's movement.

We're not raising church attenders; we're raising a generation of disciple-makers who will transform their communities for Christ.

This guide is designed to help you mobilize children as active participants in God's mission.
Trust that children, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can do far more than we imagine.