What is a D-Group?
A D-Group is a gender based group (men with men and women with women) of 3 to 5 believers (including the leader) who meet together weekly for the purpose of accelerated spiritual transformation. Unlike open groups (Corporate worship, Small Group, Wednesday Night Bible Study etc.) a D-Group is a closed group. This means it is open enrollment and organically grown by direct invitation. This allows the group to form based on common purpose, interest or life stage.
The format of a D-Group is not one of a teacher-student, but a roundtable discussion. In their book The Invested Life, Joel Rosenberg and T.E. Koshy suggest that a discipleship relationship is “more personal, more practical, and more powerful. A teacher shares information, while a discipler shares life; a teacher aims for the head, while a discipler aims for the heart; a teacher measures knowledge, while a discipler measures faith; a teacher is an authority, while a discipler is a servant; and a teacher says, ‘Listen to me,’ while a discipler says, ‘Follow me.’” This blueprint, sketched by Jesus Christ through His personal example, is how discipleship is accomplished in the lives of believers, and, ultimately, within the local church. When this plan is followed, those involved will participate in three dynamics that result in growth in their personal lives, as well as in the Kingdom: community, accountability, and multiplication.