Church, I have to tell you about the number that made my day.
At the Fall Town Hall we asked a question I was nervous about: “In the last six months, how many people have you discipled who didn’t already know Jesus?”
My first look at the results was the wrong one. I saw a lot of “one or two people” and thought, is that all? And then I caught myself. Forget that.
Nearly two of every three of you are discipling someone who didn’t know Jesus.
Here’s what the 53 people who answered told us:
- 1–2 people: 40%
- 3–5 people: 8%
- 6 or more people: 17%
- None in the last six months: 36%
Add up everyone who answered one or more and you get 64%: 34 of the 53 people who answered. In the last six months they’ve helped someone who didn’t know Jesus take real steps toward following Him, much of it through digital spaces.
Y’all, that’s the win. That’s the celebration point.
And here’s what amazed me: that number is about the same in North America and everywhere else. Different countries, different platforms, different risks, same fruit. I wrote more about that here: Same Fruit, Different Soil.
Why “one or two” is a big deal
For years the loudest argument against digital ministry was that it makes consumers, not disciples. People watch, they scroll, they leave.
This survey says something different. Half of the people who took it describe themselves as digital missionaries, and across everyone who answered, most of you aren’t just broadcasting. You’re walking with real people, one or two at a time, in Discord servers and WhatsApp threads, on Zoom, in games, in DMs.
One or two people is exactly how Jesus started. It’s not a small number. It’s the right one.
The other 36%
More than a third of you haven’t discipled someone new in the last six months. That’s not a verdict on you. Seasons are real. Some of you are building, some are recovering, some are serving people who already follow Jesus.
But if that’s you, and you want it to change, two things help:
- Make it personal and specific. Who’s one person in your digital world who doesn’t know Jesus yet? Pray for them by name this week.
- Get a rhythm you can invite someone into. That’s exactly what discipleship on the digital edge is about: one small, repeatable practice that someone else can join.
What this survey is for
I want to ask this question every three to six months and watch the trend. Are we getting more confident? More sensitive to the Spirit? Building more community and teamwork around the people doing this?
And if you want somewhere to start this fall, there’s one open to everyone: Scattered, a daily devotional and an asynchronous Bible study through 1 Peter, read by the whole digital church at its own pace. It’s built for exactly this, a rhythm you can bring someone into: https://thechurch.digital/scattered/signup/
What discipling online actually looks like
When we asked where your ministry happens, the most common answer wasn’t on our list at all: 41% picked “Other.” After that came YouTube, Discord, Zoom, WhatsApp, Twitch, Facebook and Substack, and one each in Roblox, VRChat, TikTok, Reddit and Signal.
That spread tells you something. Discipleship is happening wherever people already are. It looks like:
- A Discord DM after someone posts something honest in a channel at 1am.
- A WhatsApp thread that reads a passage together every morning and asks one question.
- A Zoom call with two or three people who’ve never met in person and now pray for each other by name.
- A game night where the real conversation happens between rounds.
None of that shows up as an attendance number. All of it is discipleship.
Three questions to ask yourself this week
- Who’s the one person? Name someone in your digital world who doesn’t know Jesus yet.
- What’s the next step for them? Not the whole journey, just the next conversation.
- What rhythm could they join? A reading plan, a weekly call, a channel, a devotional. Something small they can actually keep.
Why we’ll keep asking
A single survey is a snapshot. What matters is the trend. Over the next year I want to know: Is the number of people discipling someone new going up? Are the “one or two” growing into “three to five”? Are the people who said “none” finding a way in?
We’ll ask again, and we’ll show you what changes, good or bad.
All the results are here: https://thechurch.digital/townhall/results/
