Because what you're currently doing isn't sustainable—and you know it.

Here's the truth: Most pastors are exhausted because they're running programs that don't produce disciples. You're working harder to keep people engaged in a system that's not designed for transformation. The American church has lost 40 million people in the last 25 years—not because they rejected Jesus, but because we gave them Christianity without discipleship.

This cohort isn't adding one more program to your plate. It's helping you redesign the plate itself.

The time commitment is real: 10 monthly gatherings (2-3 hours each) plus 4-6 hours of reading and homework monthly. That's roughly 6-9 hours per month. But here's what shifts: You're not planning out what you’ll do in addition to your work—you're rethinking what you are meant to do as your work. The cohort becomes your strategic planning, your theological development, your peer supervision, and your reminder of ‘the why’ in one integrated space.

Alumni consistently report that the year feels less like "one more thing" and more like finally getting clarity on the one thing that matters. As Bill Hull says: "The gospel you preach determines the disciples you make." Getting that upstream issue right changes everything downstream.

The tough truth is: If you're too busy to step back and examine whether your ministry is actually making disciples, you're likely too busy to fulfill the Great Commission.

Absolutely. In fact, churches with existing pathways often get more from the cohort, not less.

Here's why:

You'll gain theological depth. Having a program or pathway is different from having clear theological conviction about why discipleship is the non-negotiable center of the gospel. Many churches have pathways that inadvertently communicate discipleship is optional for "serious Christians." The cohort helps you examine and refine the theology underneath your current practice.

You'll evaluate what's actually working. The cohort gives you space to honestly assess: Is your current pathway producing multiplying disciples, or just informed consumers? Is it actually a bridge to deeper church life, or a cul-de-sac? Sometimes the answer is "this part is working great—give it more fuel." Sometimes it's "we need to tweak this." Sometimes it’s “this is trash and we need something different.” Either way, you'll know.

You'll learn from Jesus' model. Session 7 focuses specifically on how Jesus made disciples—his ways and means. Even if your pathway is solid, learning directly from Jesus' methodology will sharpen your leadership and plan. Nothing leaves that session unchanged.

You'll customize it further. During Sessions 4-6, participants work on customizing their approach. If you already have something, you'll spend that time refining it with input from cohort peers and facilitators.

Bottom line: The cohort isn't about adopting some program we’re selling. It's about becoming a disciple-making leader who can steward whatever pathway God has given you with greater clarity and effectiveness.

Some of our most impactful alumni came in with strong existing pathways and left as even sharper disciple-making leaders.

Great question. The market is crowded with discipleship frameworks—3DM, Exponential, Alpha, Rooted, and dozens of others. Here's what makes TBP distinct:

We Start Upstream: The Gospel Itself

Most discipleship programs assume you've got the gospel right and just need better methods. We don't. We start by examining whether the gospel you're preaching naturally leads to following Jesus the King. Sessions 1-2 focus entirely on gospel clarity—because as Bill Hull says, "The gospel you preach determines the disciples you make."

If your gospel in entirety is "Jesus died so you can go to heaven when you die," you'll make converts, not disciples. We help you reclaim the biblical Kingdom Gospel that Jesus actually preached.

No Silver Bullets

We're not selling you a packaged program or sending experts to fix your church. We're inviting you into a year-long cohort of 5-10 peers who learn together, pray together, and build together. This is patterned after Bonhoeffer's Finkenwalde experiment—an illegal seminary where leaders rediscovered Jesus: his message, his model, his mission.

You don't hire us. You don’t ‘buy’ anything we’re selling. You join us.

We Prioritize the Pastor's Soul

Session 9 focuses entirely on you—the leader. Your calling, your sustainability, your own discipleship. We don't just ask "What will you do?" We ask "Who are you becoming?" Many cohort participants say this session alone was worth the entire year.

We Customize, Not Franchise

We don't hand you a pre-built program and say "run this." We equip you to build what fits your context. Each participant crafts a disciple-making plan specific to their church or context’s size, culture, and resources. We provide principles, not products.

We're more Movement than Organization

We're decentralized by design. Our goal isn't to build an institution—it's to catalyze a widespread return to Jesus-centered discipleship across denominations, networks, and regions. Jesus’ disciple-making multiplies, we’re after the same goal.

Bottom Line:

• Other ‘discipleship’ products and frameworks sell something you have to fit into your context.

• The Bonhoeffer Project gives you theological clarity, helps you build customized plan for your context, and offers a community of like-minded leaders—then sends you out to lead a local movement of disciple-making carrying your language, your specific mission to your specific people, drenched in the ways of Jesus.

We're not competing with organizations like Alpha, Rooted, 3DM, Radical Mentoring, etc.. Many TBP churches use them in their pathways. We're after something deeper: helping you become a Jesus-centered, disciple-making pastor who leads a Jesus-centered, disciple-making church.

We have two distinct types of cohorts.

1. TRADITIONAL - The original cohort model where participants gather in person, around a table, on a monthly basis. This experience allows you to learn from each other in real time and make lasting connections.

2. HYBRID - Having participants around the world requires a more flexible model. Some gathering may be in person and some on Zoom. Or, participants will meet in person and some will join online via Zoom for monthly gatherings.

3. VIRTUAL - All participants will meet online via Zoom for each monthly gathering.

No—though lead pastors make up a significant portion of our cohorts.

Who participates:

• Lead/Senior Pastors (the largest group)

• Executive/Teaching Pastors

• Discipleship/Formation Pastors

• Church Planters

• Associate Pastors and Ministry Directors

• Non-profit and Parachurch Leaders who want to build disciple-making into their organizational DNA

• Marketplace Leaders seeking to catalyze disciple-making movements in their workplaces or neighborhoods

• Denominational Leaders and Church Network Directors

• Emerging Leaders being developed for future leadership

The key qualifier isn't your title—it's your conviction and context.

If you want to see a disciple-making movement for Jesus take hold in your sphere of influence—whether that's a church, a non-profit, a neighborhood, a workplace, or a network—this cohort is for you.

The cohort requires you to craft and implement a disciple-making plan specific to your context. That means you need:

• Influence or leadership responsibility in your setting

• The ability to act on what you learn (not just observe)

• A genuine desire to see people become disciples of Jesus who make disciples

Can I just come and learn without a context?

The cohort is designed for those who are leading, shepherding, or shaping culture in a ministry, organization, or missional context. This can be your neighborhood or place of work, but you WILL need a context to do disciple-making for this cohort to be beneficial.

Team Participation:

Some churches or organizations send multiple leaders through together (e.g., lead pastor + discipleship director, or executive director + program lead). This can create powerful shared vision and language across your team. Each person pays separately, but discounts are available in this case.

Bottom line: If you're responsible for leading or shaping disciple-making in any context—church, parachurch, marketplace, neighborhood—and you're ready to build a movement, you should apply for a Bonhoeffer Project cohort.

The question isn't whether your title qualifies you. The question is: Are you ready to lead a disciple-making movement for Jesus in your world?

We've trained 1,000+ pastors and ministry leaders across 150+ cohorts since 2015, representing:

Church Sizes:

• Church plants (under 50)

• Small churches (50-150)

• Mid-sized churches (150-500)

• Large churches (500+)

Contexts:

• Urban, suburban, and rural

• Denominational (Baptist, Free Methodist, Brethren, Presbyterian, non-denominational, Vineyard, Anglican, and others)

• Revitalization and established healthy churches

• Multi-site and single-campus

• Churches, non-profits, neighborhood movements, etc.

What we hear consistently:

• "This gave us a north star when everything else felt like competing priorities"

• "Our staff finally aligned around a common vision"

• "We stopped adding programs and started making disciples"

Want to hear from our alumni? Visit our testimonials page to hear from those who have gone through our cohort.