Nate Ruch has been lead pastor of Emmanuel Christian Center (Assemblies of God) in Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, for four years, but his connections go back even further.

It was at Emmanuel Christian Center that Nate Ruch had his first taste of ministry as an intern, then as a youth pastor, before finishing his schooling at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri, and taking a position at North Central University in Minneapolis.

But his desire to prepare future leaders and create better pathways for discipleship led him back to Emmanuel, where he serves as just the third pastor in the church’s long history. That desire goes all the way back to a moment as a youth pastor when God spoke clearly to him.

“God said to me, ‘Don’t ask for any more students until you take care of the ones I’ve given you,’” Ruch says. “I thought, How can I take care of everyone by myself?”

He began to recruit and assign leaders to groups of students, with each leader checking in on their students’ spiritual and social growth.

“I had to raise up spiritual leaders who could reproduce what I was doing, instead of just recruiting volunteers to be bouncers for our youth services,” Ruch says.

And the plan worked! Within a short time, the youth group grew to over 800 students.

“Leadership is the mechanism to oversee the work of ministry in the church,” Ruch says.

“Our ultimate goal is to get people into a spiritual community in the context of relationships.”               — Nate Ruch

Ruch has come to realize that, rather than trying to meet the needs of every single member and attendee, true leaders find ways to replicate themselves among the flock to take care of more people on a more personal level.

Ruch decided to institute Connect Groups at Emmanuel to reproduce the results he saw in the student ministry for the whole church. Now, groups meet all over the city, with hosts acting as spiritual leaders. They live life with others, getting to know them and checking in on them spiritually.

Whenever a member needs help, the most natural response is to call his or her Connect Group leader rather than the church office.

The net that’s being cast over Emmanuel doesn’t begin with a Connect Group, though.

“My goal is that everyone who comes to Emmanuel goes through our Starting Point class,” Ruch says.

Starting Point is a three-week rotating class that introduces the theology and mission of the church, helps people find and live out their spiritual gifts and then connects them with a service opportunity. In fact, many times the people who attend a Starting Point class together end up forming their own Connect Group.

Success is only one factor in why Ruch is creating this discipleship pathway. It’s not only effective, but it’s also biblical.

“Our ultimate goal is to get people into a spiritual community in the context of relationships,” Ruch says. “We want to see everyone become a leader. That’s the footsteps of Jesus.”

This article originally appeared in the October/November/December 2017 edition of Influence magazine.