For a conventional church to be effective, there are eight paths that its leaders must navigate well. (Sometimes these paths are called “processes” or “systems,” but the word “paths” seems more biblical and less impersonal.) Each path should function simultaneously and consistently.

The paths of a church are:

• Outreach - How does the church get people to attend for the first time?

• Hospitality - How does the church treat guests from the moment they arrive on the church campus until they become members?

• Worship - How does the church help worshipers experience God in a church-wide setting?

• Small Groups - How does the church help members and attenders build healthy, Christian relationships?

• Ministry - How does the church equip leaders for ministry?

• Stewardship - How does the church receive donations and fund ministry?

• Pastoral Leadership - How does the church develop pastors and deacons to do their ministry well?

• Strategic Planning - How is the church structured, and how do its leaders plan for the future?

If the leaders of a church will devote themselves to evaluating and improving these processes on a regular basis, the church will function well.

However, there is one other path that most churches unintentionally neglect. We can ignore it and travel down the other eight paths, thinking everything is fine. But this final path is perhaps the most important of all, for Jesus gave us a clear command to do it.

The forgotten path is Disciple-Making - How does the church bring people from unbelief to becoming devoted followers of Jesus who reproduce this process with others?