Three Documents,
One System
A plain-language guide to how BCC's discipleship infrastructure works, what each document is for, and how they connect to move people from first Sunday to fully formed disciple maker.
These documents do not replace relationship. They create the conditions for relationship to produce formation, and they make sure nobody falls through the cracks when it does not happen on its own.
Infrastructure vs. Curriculum
A clarification on what the two pathway documents are, and what they are not.
Two different conversations sit underneath BCC's discipleship work. Keeping them separate keeps the work clean. When they get confused, the team ends up designing classes when what is needed is clarity about roles, or building organizational charts when what is needed is better content.
A curriculum defines the content, classes, resources, studies, and sequence that help someone grow in head, heart, and hands.
Infrastructure defines the system: who is responsible for whom, how the baton moves, where drop points appear, and how communication flows.
Both are necessary. But they are not the same conversation.
Defines the communication cascade, role clarity, baton pass mechanics, shared language, growth metrics, and the annual rhythm of leadership alignment. Staff-facing.
Defines the relational handoff mechanism: the moment a congregation member personally takes ownership of another person's next step. Member and leader-facing.
Neither document tells you what to put in a class. They tell you how the environment is organized so that classes, relationships, and community can actually produce formation. The rooms still need to be furnished. That is the curriculum conversation the team is working through together.
“These two resources are not about what we teach. They are about how we make sure nobody gets lost. The staff page is the plumbing behind the walls. The baton-pass page is when the plumbing does its job. We still need to figure out what goes in the rooms.”
The Discipleship Baton Pass
The relational mechanism at the center of the entire system.
Every person moving through BCC's discipleship pathway needs someone holding the baton for them: a specific, named congregation member who has personally taken ownership of their next step. Not a program. Not a class. Not a staff member. A person.
The baton is always held by a congregation member. This is not a principle to aspire to. It is the irreducible definition of how discipleship works at BCC.
When the baton is held, people move. When the baton drops and no one is personally responsible for a person's next step, that person stops. This is what BCC calls a drop point. The entire system exists to prevent drop points and restore the baton when it falls.
Fully formed discipleship is not just knowledge. It must reach all three dimensions of a person.
Scripture, doctrine, truth. Reads the Bible, attends study, develops conviction over the gospel. Teachable and increasing in understanding.
Surrendered, repentant, prayerful, humble. Affections shifting toward the things of God. Spirit-led and community-minded.
Disciple maker, mission-minded, evangelistic, caring. Experiencing God in all of life. Holding the baton for at least one other person.
The Communication Pathway
How BCC is organized to support the baton, from lead pastor to congregation member.
A vision without a communication structure loses energy at every layer. The pathway document exists to make sure the thematic goal of becoming the most loving people in the Quad Cities travels without distortion from the lead pastor all the way to the congregation member holding the baton for their neighbor.
Become the most loving people in the Quad Cities. One goal every person can name without prompting.
Five stages of BCC's pathway. Not steps, but markers. People move at their own pace with a baton holder beside them.
A congregation member personally takes ownership of another person's next step. Always a person. Never a program.
Where a person stops moving because no one is holding their baton. These must be named and addressed.
One clear, specific, personal invitation toward growth. Never generic. Always tied to where someone actually is.
The transformation framework. Discipleship is not complete at the head. It must reach heart and change hands.
How the Three Documents Work as One System
Each document has a different audience and a different job. Together they form a complete picture.
Audience: The team. Keeps the two most important conversations from colliding. Clarifies what the other two documents are and what they are not.
Audience: Members and leaders. Defines the relational mechanism, what the baton is, who holds it, and how it moves a person through the five Mile Markers.
Audience: Staff. Defines the organizational structure that supports the baton, including roles, cascade, language, metrics, and rhythm.
The system does nothing without the Spirit. But the Spirit works through people, and people need a structure that makes sure no one is left without someone walking beside them. That is all these documents are trying to do.
If that question has a name as its answer, the system is working. If the answer is a program, a class, or silence, that is a drop point. Name it. Restore it. That is the work.