Hear from Everett Fritz, author of the Art of Forming Young Disciples, as he explores what discipleship really means and through the model of small groups we can foster renewal and unlock lifelong followers of Christ, no matter how old they are.
Speaker:
Everett Fritz is a leading expert in small group discipleship and an advocate for quality youth ministry. He is the author of 4 books, including The Art of Forming Young Disciples and One Disciple at a Time.
Everett Fritz founded Andrew Ministries in 2015 after throwing out the program playbook and rebuilding his youth ministry on discipleship small groups, Everett saw a 80% increase in students who stayed Catholic in college. Now he helps ministries all over the country stop spinning their wheels and build ministries that actually work.
This is a recording of a workshop from The Vibrant Parish Series, 14 May 2025.
According to Everett Fritz, we need a new way of thinking about discipleship. What worked in the past isn't effective anymore and we should use the small group discipleship model if we want to create lifelong disciples, posing the question that if we're not creating lifelong disciples, 'then what are we doing?'
Fritz highlights that those in small group discipleship often become lifelong followers, unlike those who were simply evangelised or catechised. He explains discipleship during Jesus' time involved a personal invitation to ‘come and follow me’ coupled with a close, personal sharing of life with the rabbi.
Fritz explains that many well-catechised people left the church because they didn't truly believe. They wanted dialogue and witness in addition to formal teachings. Witnessing lived faith is crucial for understanding and requires seeing it in action.
Fritz then details how small group discipleship works It involves pairing a devout Catholic with a young person to form a meaningful relationship. He talks about the theory of effective formation using Jan Tyranowski’s discipling of Karol Wojtyla aka St. John Paul II. Fritz sums up the result compellingly with 'because Tyranowski worked with a handful of young men, the world changed'.
Fritz says that the ‘secret sauce’ isn't the programs used but the relationships formed through lived example.
What is this challenging in the way we currently think about formation in our parish?
What is one concrete shift does my parish need to do to begin forming lifelong disciples, not just participating in programs?
If formation is “one disciple at a time,” who is the one person God might be inviting me to accompany right now?