We Form Leaders Into Disciple Makers

The ‘Grand Experiment’ at Finkenwalde.

In 1935, a young German pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer watched the church around him collapse. Not from persecution—but compromise. The German church had made peace with the rising Nazi regime, blending Christian language with political ideology until Christianity became unrecognizable and Jesus was forgotten.

Bonhoeffer refused to do nothing.

He launched what he called his "Grand Experiment"—an illegal underground seminary at Finkenwalde where he gathered young pastors and did something radical: he trained them to be disciple-makers by actually following Jesus together. They studied the Gospels. They prayed. They rediscovered Jesus. They shared life as a community of disciples.

He saw it clearly: we had built a religion that uses Jesus to get people into heaven but leaves out his most central call—"Come, follow me." Grace without discipleship. Forgiveness without transformation. Christianity without Christ. Amidst our theological systems, church governance structures, and salvation explanations, we'd lost Jesus himself.

He wrote: "Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ."

The Gestapo shut down Finkenwalde in 1937. Bonhoeffer was executed in April 1945, just weeks before the war ended—hanged for his resistance to evil.

But his Grand Experiment proved something: When pastors and ministry leaders gather to recenter on Jesus—his message, his mission, his model—they can lead movements that push back darkness and transform the world.

We're here to carry on this Grand Experiment.

To be clear: this cohort is not a study of Bonhoeffer's life or theology. Our focus is Jesus and his mission to make disciples. We bear Bonhoeffer's name because we're carrying on what he started at Finkenwalde—gathering pastors and ministry leaders in community to become disciple-making leaders for Jesus.

The Western church faces its own crisis today. We've unknowingly offered people a Christianity that says you can be a Christian without following Christ. Forty million American churchgoers have walked away in the last 25 years—not because Jesus wasn’t enough, but because we’d unknowingly given them religion instead of him.

The Bonhoeffer Project gathers small cohorts of pastors and ministry leaders around the world to do what Bonhoeffer did: rediscover Jesus together. Not in a classroom. In community. Learning to be disciple-making leaders by being disciples together.

We bear Bonhoeffer's name because his conviction is our conviction: The church's renewal won't come from that better program or product. It will come from pastors and leaders who dare to follow Jesus themselves—and then lead others to do the same.

The Grand Experiment continues. Will you join in?

We gather pastors and ministry leaders into year-long cohorts—small communities around the world of 5-12 leaders who spend a year rediscovering Jesus together: his gospel, his mission, and his model of making disciples.

This isn't a conference or a course. It's an intentional leadership community where you'll study Scripture, pray, wrestle with hard questions, rebuild a clear understanding of your why, and craft a customized disciple-making plan for your context.

Over 10 monthly gatherings, you'll:

• Reclaim the Kingdom Gospel that naturally leads to discipleship (not just conversion)

• Learn from Jesus' model—how he actually made disciples and what that means for your leadership

• Build a customized plan that fits your context's size, culture, and resources

• Join a growing network of 1,000+ alumni committed to Jesus-centered disciple-making

You'll leave with three things: theological and missional clarity, a practical plan, and a community of leaders who share your conviction that the church's renewal comes from following Jesus—and leading others to do the same.

The Bonhoeffer Project isn't building an institution. We're catalyzing a movement—a network of leaders who've rediscovered Jesus and His way, and are committed to his mission of making disciples who make disciples.

World revolution through local movements of disciple-making. That's what we're after. And it starts with leaders like you.

*For more information, check out our cohorts page.