21 Aug 2026, 13:23Pastor Wil Masih, edited by SM CommunicationsDundee, Dundee City, Scotland, United Kingdom
Making Space for Mission
Discipleship and church planting weekend challenges members to move from attending church to making disciples and creating new spaces for faith.
How do churches make disciples in an increasingly secular and post-Christian society? How can leaders serve faithfully without becoming exhausted? And how might new communities of faith grow naturally from relationships, hospitality and everyday mission?
These questions shaped a special Discipleship and Church Planting Weekend, held from 14–16 August at the Invercarse Hotel in Dundee as part of the Scottish Mission School of Discipleship and Evangelism.
Guest speaker Sylvia Cariotoglou, Director of the Adventist Mission, Evangelism and Church Growth Department at the Trans-European Division, guided participants through a weekend connecting spiritual formation, sustainable leadership, hospitality, mission and church planting. More than 50 people attended the main programme on Saturday.
Rather than treating church planting simply as the launch of a new congregation, the weekend began further upstream: with disciples who are being formed by Christ, learning to live missionally and intentionally creating spaces where others can belong, grow and encounter Him.
The opening evening explored the question, Why Discipleship and Church Planting Now? Participants were encouraged to see discipleship as central to mission, with church planting as one possible fruit of a healthy disciple-making culture.
Cariotoglou’s opening session, Making Space: Five Principles for Welcoming, Discipling and Growing People, focused particularly on those who can easily remain at the edges of church life – people who are new, returning, exploring faith or feeling disconnected.
Table groups were invited to wrestle with a deceptively simple question: Who are we not making enough space for?
That question became one of the recurring themes of the weekend.
Formed Before We Are Sent
Saturday shifted the focus beneath the visible activity of mission to the spiritual life of the disciple.
In Spiritual Formation and the Life of the Disciple, participants reflected on the conviction that before Christians lead in mission, they themselves must continually be formed by Christ. Discipleship was presented not merely as the transfer of biblical information, but as transformation affecting the inner life, character and spiritual rhythms of the believer.
This led naturally into the question of sustainability. A session on avoiding burnout in ministry and mission explored the difference between faithful service and over-functioning, considering rest, prayer, boundaries and shared leadership as essential to sustainable, long-term mission.
Participants were also given space for honest reflection about weariness, responsibility and the burdens they carry.
The emphasis throughout the morning was clear: the goal of mission is not to create increasingly exhausted leaders, but healthier disciples who can contribute to healthier churches.
Storytelling was another important theme. Participants considered how personal testimony can encourage faith and help Christians communicate what God is doing in their lives and communities. Cariotoglou’s willingness to draw openly from her own experiences was particularly appreciated.
One attendee described her as “an amazing facilitator”, while another reflected:
“The weekend was informative, challenging and encouraging. I was especially encouraged by the personal testimonies of the speaker and of others I was able to meet and network with.”
The day’s teaching culminated in a focus on spiritual leadership, exploring what it means for elders, Personal Ministries leaders, Sabbath School leaders, small-group leaders and others to lead spiritually rather than merely organisationally.
Prayer around the tables then turned the teaching outward, as participants prayed for local churches, families, young adults, returning members, weary leaders, new discipleship groups and emerging church-planting opportunities.
From Disciples to Disciple-Makers
For Borys and Mariia, the weekend reinforced the importance of an active and intentional faith, encouraging them not only to grow as disciples but also to help others grow in faith. “We found this meeting very relevant and timely,” they commented, highlighting both the call to become disciple-makers and the reminder to trust God’s presence rather than rely solely on their own strength.
They also expressed a hope that similar training could reach a wider audience in the future, including through local churches.
From Discipleship Culture to Church Planting
Sunday brought the different strands of the weekend together, including the theme of Savour.
The central idea was simple but significant: church planting does not have to begin with a building, a programme or even a formal congregation. New faith communities can emerge from prayer, relationships, mission and local ownership.
Small groups, house groups, discipleship communities and local initiatives can become places where people encounter Christ and grow together. Over time, some may develop into new worshipping communities.
In this understanding, church planting becomes less an isolated specialist activity and more the natural fruit of a church already making disciples and living missionally.
Participants were also introduced to an interactive approach to Bible study that encourages people to place themselves within a biblical story – considering the perspective of a particular person, reflecting on how they may have felt and discussing those insights together. The approach offered one practical example of how Bible study might become more relational and participatory within small groups and emerging faith communities.
But the weekend was deliberately designed not to end with inspiration alone.
Church, district and ministry groups were asked to identify practical priorities for the following 90 days: a discipleship practice to strengthen, people for whom greater space needs to be created, a local mission opportunity, a possible new faith community and one concrete action to take.
The final session, Commissioned to Make Space, gathered the weekend’s themes together before participants were prayed over and commissioned to return to their local settings with practical next steps.
Making Space for What God May Grow
Across the three days, one progression connected the programme:
Formation. Sustainability. Hospitality. Mission. Church planting. Action.
It offered a reminder that effective mission begins deeper than activity.
Discipleship creates the culture. Spiritual formation helps sustain those who lead. Hospitality creates space for people. Everyday relationships provide opportunities for mission. And where disciples are being made and communities are being formed, new expressions of church may begin to grow.
For the Scottish Mission, the challenge now is to continue building churches in which people are not merely invited to attend, but are given space to belong, grow, serve and become disciples who make other disciples.
As the weekend concluded, Pastor Wil Masih, who leads the Scottish Mission School of Discipleship and Evangelism, reflected:
“I believe the Scottish Mission is on the threshold of changing our culture of church attendance into discipleship and disciple-making where each person who is part of a church community will recognise their calling to be a disciple-maker for Jesus. I want to thank Sylvia Cariotoglou for her excellent thought-provoking presentations throughout the weekend as well as the Inverness singing group and the Ukrainian Adventist Choir for blessing us with their music ministry throughout the weekend.”
Discipleship and church planting weekend challenges members to move from attending church to making disciples and creating new spaces for faith.
How do churches make disciples in an increasingly secular and post-Christian society? How can leaders serve faithfully without becoming exhausted? And how might new communities of faith grow naturally from relationships, hospitality and everyday mission?
These questions shaped a special Discipleship and Church Planting Weekend, held from 14–16 August at the Invercarse Hotel in Dundee as part of the Scottish Mission School of Discipleship and Evangelism.
Guest speaker Sylvia Cariotoglou, Director of the Adventist Mission, Evangelism and Church Growth Department at the Trans-European Division, guided participants through a weekend connecting spiritual formation, sustainable leadership, hospitality, mission and church planting. More than 50 people attended the main programme on Saturday.
Rather than treating church planting simply as the launch of a new congregation, the weekend began further upstream: with disciples who are being formed by Christ, learning to live missionally and intentionally creating spaces where others can belong, grow and encounter Him.
The opening evening explored the question, Why Discipleship and Church Planting Now? Participants were encouraged to see discipleship as central to mission, with church planting as one possible fruit of a healthy disciple-making culture.
Cariotoglou’s opening session, Making Space: Five Principles for Welcoming, Discipling and Growing People, focused particularly on those who can easily remain at the edges of church life – people who are new, returning, exploring faith or feeling disconnected.
Table groups were invited to wrestle with a deceptively simple question: Who are we not making enough space for?
That question became one of the recurring themes of the weekend.
Formed Before We Are Sent
Saturday shifted the focus beneath the visible activity of mission to the spiritual life of the disciple.
In Spiritual Formation and the Life of the Disciple, participants reflected on the conviction that before Christians lead in mission, they themselves must continually be formed by Christ. Discipleship was presented not merely as the transfer of biblical information, but as transformation affecting the inner life, character and spiritual rhythms of the believer.
This led naturally into the question of sustainability. A session on avoiding burnout in ministry and mission explored the difference between faithful service and over-functioning, considering rest, prayer, boundaries and shared leadership as essential to sustainable, long-term mission.
Participants were also given space for honest reflection about weariness, responsibility and the burdens they carry.
The emphasis throughout the morning was clear: the goal of mission is not to create increasingly exhausted leaders, but healthier disciples who can contribute to healthier churches.
Storytelling was another important theme. Participants considered how personal testimony can encourage faith and help Christians communicate what God is doing in their lives and communities. Cariotoglou’s willingness to draw openly from her own experiences was particularly appreciated.
One attendee described her as “an amazing facilitator”, while another reflected:
“The weekend was informative, challenging and encouraging. I was especially encouraged by the personal testimonies of the speaker and of others I was able to meet and network with.”
The day’s teaching culminated in a focus on spiritual leadership, exploring what it means for elders, Personal Ministries leaders, Sabbath School leaders, small-group leaders and others to lead spiritually rather than merely organisationally.
Prayer around the tables then turned the teaching outward, as participants prayed for local churches, families, young adults, returning members, weary leaders, new discipleship groups and emerging church-planting opportunities.
From Disciples to Disciple-Makers
For Borys and Mariia, the weekend reinforced the importance of an active and intentional faith, encouraging them not only to grow as disciples but also to help others grow in faith. “We found this meeting very relevant and timely,” they commented, highlighting both the call to become disciple-makers and the reminder to trust God’s presence rather than rely solely on their own strength.
They also expressed a hope that similar training could reach a wider audience in the future, including through local churches.
From Discipleship Culture to Church Planting
Sunday brought the different strands of the weekend together, including the theme of Savour.
The central idea was simple but significant: church planting does not have to begin with a building, a programme or even a formal congregation. New faith communities can emerge from prayer, relationships, mission and local ownership.
Small groups, house groups, discipleship communities and local initiatives can become places where people encounter Christ and grow together. Over time, some may develop into new worshipping communities.
In this understanding, church planting becomes less an isolated specialist activity and more the natural fruit of a church already making disciples and living missionally.
Participants were also introduced to an interactive approach to Bible study that encourages people to place themselves within a biblical story – considering the perspective of a particular person, reflecting on how they may have felt and discussing those insights together. The approach offered one practical example of how Bible study might become more relational and participatory within small groups and emerging faith communities.
But the weekend was deliberately designed not to end with inspiration alone.
Church, district and ministry groups were asked to identify practical priorities for the following 90 days: a discipleship practice to strengthen, people for whom greater space needs to be created, a local mission opportunity, a possible new faith community and one concrete action to take.
The final session, Commissioned to Make Space, gathered the weekend’s themes together before participants were prayed over and commissioned to return to their local settings with practical next steps.
Making Space for What God May Grow
Across the three days, one progression connected the programme:
Formation. Sustainability. Hospitality. Mission. Church planting. Action.
It offered a reminder that effective mission begins deeper than activity.
Discipleship creates the culture. Spiritual formation helps sustain those who lead. Hospitality creates space for people. Everyday relationships provide opportunities for mission. And where disciples are being made and communities are being formed, new expressions of church may begin to grow.
For the Scottish Mission, the challenge now is to continue building churches in which people are not merely invited to attend, but are given space to belong, grow, serve and become disciples who make other disciples.
As the weekend concluded, Pastor Wil Masih, who leads the Scottish Mission School of Discipleship and Evangelism, reflected:
“I believe the Scottish Mission is on the threshold of changing our culture of church attendance into discipleship and disciple-making where each person who is part of a church community will recognise their calling to be a disciple-maker for Jesus. I want to thank Sylvia Cariotoglou for her excellent thought-provoking presentations throughout the weekend as well as the Inverness singing group and the Ukrainian Adventist Choir for blessing us with their music ministry throughout the weekend.”
