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Thank you for partnering with us. We’re grateful you’ve chosen to invest in your people through intentional, relationship-driven discipleship, and we’re excited to walk alongside you. This page will guide you through four simple phases: Review and Consideration, where you and your leadership team explore the program and discern whether Connextions is the right fit for your church; Prelaunch, where you prayerfully select your Administrator and Mentors and they complete the self-paced, nine-session mentor training; Church Communication, where you share the vision with your congregation and invite them to sign up for courses; and Launch, where mentors and participants begin meeting and the real work of discipleship gets underway. To get the most out of the process, take your time with each phase, involve your leadership team early, and choose mentors who are ready to listen, guide, and walk faithfully with others. Most of all, remember that you’re not doing this alone. The Connextions team is here to help at every step, so please reach out anytime with questions. We can’t wait to see how God uses Connextions to deepen faith and strengthen connection in your church and community.

Getting Started With Connextions

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Phase 1: Review and Consideration

Schedule

A Conversation with the Connextions Team

Schedule a conversation with our team to discover how Connextions can partner with your church to make discipleship personal. We’ll listen to your vision, answer your questions, and show you how mentoring can help your people build intentional, faith-growing relationships. Together, we’ll explore how your church can grow deeper disciples, equip leaders, and reach your community, one meaningful connection at a time.

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Explore

Your New Account

Connextions will set up a free account for you and your leadership team, giving you full access to every course and lesson. Take time to explore the material, try out the action steps, and experience firsthand how Connextions helps your people grow in faith through intentional, life-giving relationships. As you explore, how mentoring could fit into the life and rhythm of your church.

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Share

With Your Leadership Team

Invite a few key leaders, such as elders, staff, or ministry leaders, to review Connextions alongside you and share their questions and input. Just send us their names and email addresses, and we'll give them full access to the courses. We're here to help every step of the way and are glad to answer any questions you or your team may have.

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Connextions

Can Help

When you're ready to present Connextions to your board, council, elders, or ministry leaders, you don't have to do it alone. We're glad to join your meeting via Zoom to walk your team through the program, and answer any questions they may have. Our goal is to help your leadership feel informed, confident, and excited about the difference mentoring can make in your church.

Phase 2: Prelaunch

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Choose

Administrator(s)

Select one or two people to serve as your church's Administrator(s). They'll be the main contact for your congregation and the liaison with our team: approving participants, assigning mentors, and tracking progress. Your administrator(s) will also send us the names and email addresses of all pastors, administrators, and mentors, so everyone obtains full access to the courses.

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Select

Your Charter Mentors

Identify spiritually mature members who are ready to invest in others. Look for trusted leaders who live out their faith consistently and can step into the role with minimal training. Be sure to include at least one man and one woman so every participant can be paired well. A personal invitation from you communicates how much you value their faith and gifts, and it often makes the difference between someone saying “maybe” and saying “yes.”

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Develop

More Mentors

Have your mentors complete the Connextions Mentor Training Program and become familiar with the courses they would like to lead. Training is flexible and can be done one-on-one with a mentor, peer to peer, or as a small group, whichever works best for your church. Along the way, mentors will build skills in active listening, asking effective questions, and guiding rather than fixing, so they are ready to walk confidently alongside others.

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Learn

From One Another

Every mentor brings a unique story, distinct gifts, and a personal walk with God to the table, which means every mentor also has something valuable to offer other mentors. That’s why we encourage your mentors to take a course as a participant. Sitting on the other side of the conversation allows them to receive from another mentor’s wisdom and experience, deepen their own faith, and understand firsthand what it feels like to be mentored.

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Phase 3: Church Communication

Sharing

Connextions with Your Congregation

Introduce Connextions to your congregation and let your enthusiasm set the tone. Share why intentional relationships matter and how this program will help your people grow in faith together. Build excitement by casting a vision for what God could do when every member has someone walking alongside them, and let people know something new and meaningful is starting.

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Make

Sign Up Simple

Offer an easy way to join, such as a sign-up table on Sunday or a request form on your church website where people can choose a course. Consider adding a QR code to your bulletin, slides, or signage so people can register right from their phones. Keep the process short and welcoming so the only step people have to take is saying yes.

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Encourage

Your Mentors to Enlist People to Take a Course

Encourage your mentors to pray about who in their lives is ready to take a next step in faith. A personal invitation from someone they know and trust carries far more weight than any announcement from the pulpit or bulletin. When mentors invite with intention and you champion their efforts, Connextions can multiply naturally, one genuine relationship at a time.

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Follow-Up

And Welcome

Your Administrator(s) will reach out personally to everyone who signs up or expresses interest. A quick call, a text, or a conversation after service lets each person know someone is genuinely glad they’re taking this step. That simple personal touch builds trust from the very beginning and helps participants feel welcomed, seen, and ready to be matched with the right mentor.

Phase 4: Launch

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Match

Mentors and Participants

Your Administrator(s) will thoughtfully and prayerfully match each participant with the mentor best suited to their needs, personality, and season of life, setting the stage for a meaningful experience. Once pairings are set, the Administrator will send the Connextions team each participant’s name and email so we can open their course access. From there, mentors can reach out to their participants, schedule their first meeting, and begin the journey together.

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Begin

The Journey

Participants work through their course at their own pace, put the action steps into practice, and meet with their mentor at least once a month. These regular conversations are where faith moves from information to transformation, where questions are welcomed, and where real, lasting growth takes root. Over time, the trust built between mentor and participant often becomes one of the most meaningful relationships in a person’s walk with God.

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Count

On Ongoing Support

Connextions will stay in close contact with your Administrator(s) throughout the entire process, offering guidance, encouragement, and support along the way. Whenever questions or needs arise, we’re just a call or email away. Our goal is to make sure your church feels fully equipped and never alone as you invest in the lives of your people. We also welcome your feedback, because what you learn along the way helps us continue to strengthen Connextions for your church and others.

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Keep

Growing

Keep the momentum going by recruiting new mentors and inviting more participants, especially those who complete a course and feel ready to mentor others. Each person who steps from participant to mentor extends the reach of discipleship in your church and multiplies its impact. Over time, Connextions helps build a culture where intentional relationships and spiritual growth become a natural part of your church’s everyday life.

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We’re With You
Every Step of the Way

Starting something new in your church can feel like a big step, but you won’t be taking it alone. From your first conversations about whether Connextions is the right fit, through training your mentors, sharing the vision with your congregation, and launching your first courses, the Connextions team is here to support you. If you have a question, hit a roadblock, or simply want to talk through what’s next, please reach out. No question is too small, and we’re always glad to hear from you. We count it a privilege to partner with you as you invest in your people, and we’re praying with you for the lives God will touch through the connections formed in your church and community.

Contact Connextions

Best Practices

  • Many churches assume the courses are the heart of Connextions. The courses matter, but they are intentionally designed with an open, flexible feel. They are a starting point, not the destination. The real power of Connextions comes from two things: taking action and meaningful connection.

    Taking Action
    Every course includes a TAKE ACTION section, and this is where real growth begins. Here, participants move beyond reading and start wrestling with the ideas behind the course, applying them to their own lives, and putting their faith into practice. Information alone rarely changes a life; action does.

    Purposeful Connection
    Every participant is intentionally paired with a mentor. This connects people with people over a shared topic, whether it's growing in faith, navigating the first year of marriage, or walking through grief. That relationship creates a safe space where participants can talk openly, share their doubts and struggles, and celebrate what God is doing in their lives. It is often in these conversations, not in the lesson itself, that the deepest growth happens.

    Connextions is not simply a library of courses. It is a way for your church to help people grow by doing life together, one conversation and one step at a time.

  • Connextions has three membership levels. Each one carries different access and responsibilities, so it's worth choosing carefully who fills each role in your church.

    Administrators
    Administrators have full access to the website and oversee how Connextions runs in your church. We recommend appointing at least two administrators so the responsibility is shared and no single person carries the whole load. This also ensures that requests keep moving when one administrator is unavailable.

    Mentors
    Mentors have access to every course so they can walk alongside participants in whatever study they are taking. Your church decides who is authorized to serve as a mentor. Your first two mentors are appointed directly to get the program started. Every mentor after that should complete the mentor training on the website alongside an experienced mentor, so that each new mentor is prepared, supported, and consistent with the heart of the program.

    Participants
    Participants are the people requesting and taking courses. They set their own pace within each course, moving as quickly or slowly as their season of life allows. However, we recommend that administrators approve only one course at a time. When several courses are approved at once, participants tend to lose focus and give less attention to the course in front of them. Finishing one course well builds momentum and deeper growth for the next.

     -Participant - The participant is the one requesting and taking individual courses. While they can go determine how fast to go through an individual course, it is recommended to not approve many at one time. If multiple courses are approved at once, the participant tends to lose focus and do the work on the course they working on.

  • Administrators keep Connextions running smoothly behind the scenes. They approve courses, manage participant records, and, most importantly, connect each participant with the right mentor. Because every mentoring relationship begins with their decision, choosing the right administrators is one of the most important steps in launching Connextions well.

    Look for good judgment in people. Matching participants with mentors requires discernment. The best administrators know your congregation well, understand people's personalities and life experiences, and can sense which mentor will be a good fit for each participant.

    Choose people who are trustworthy. Administrators have access to everything on the website, including personal information about participants and the courses they are taking. They must be people who handle sensitive information with discretion and care.

    Choose people who are organized and responsive. When someone requests a course, a quick response keeps their interest alive. Administrators should be dependable, attentive to details, and able to follow through promptly on requests and changes.

    Appoint at least two. Having a couple of administrators ensures no single person carries the full load and that the work keeps moving when someone is traveling, busy, or unavailable. It also allows administrators to talk through difficult matching decisions together, which often leads to better matches.

    Divide the work clearly. Decide how your administrators will share responsibilities, such as who responds to new requests, who handles mentor matching, or how to alternate weeks. Clear roles prevent requests from falling through the cracks or being handled twice.

    Consider a mix of perspectives. When possible, include both a man and a woman on your administrator team. This helps when matching participants with same-gender mentors and brings a fuller understanding of the people being served.

    Great administrators rarely get noticed, but their faithful work makes every connection possible.

  • The right mentor depends on the course, because a mentor's role is not to teach from a distance but to walk alongside the participant through the process. A few guiding principles apply to every match:

    Men mentor men, and women mentor women. Same-gender pairing creates an environment where participants can speak openly and honestly, protects the integrity of both mentor and participant, and reflects the biblical pattern of mature believers investing in those who follow behind them (Titus 2:2–8).

    Couples mentor couples. For courses designed for couples, such as First Year of Marriage, the mentors should be a married couple who have been in a healthy, stable marriage for a meaningful length of time. They should be able to model what they teach, share honestly about the challenges they have faced, and show how they have worked through them together.

    Experience matters for specialized courses. For courses that address a particular life circumstance, such as Dealing with Grief, the mentor should have walked that road personally and have had time to heal and grow from it. A mentor who has been there brings understanding that cannot be learned from a curriculum, and can offer others the same comfort they received (2 Corinthians 1:3–4).

    The goal is companionship, not just instruction. Whatever the course, look for mentors who are spiritually mature, trustworthy, good listeners, and committed to the time it takes. The mentor's calling is to come alongside the participant, share the burden (Galatians 6:2), and help them grow in faith every step of the way.

  • Your first mentors set the tone for everything that follows, so choose them carefully. Look for spiritually mature members who are ready to invest in others: people whose faith is evident in how they live, who listen well, and who can be trusted with the honest conversations participants will bring to them.

    Choose leaders you already know and trust, who can step into the role with minimal training. Then invite them personally. A face-to-face invitation communicates that you see their gifts and believe in what God can do through them, and it is far more effective than a general announcement.

    Starting with proven, trusted leaders gives your church a strong and fast start. These first mentors will also become the experienced guides who help train the mentors who come after them, so the investment you make now will multiply over time.

  • Have your mentors sign up for a course and experience being mentored by someone else before they lead. Going through the process as a participant gives them hands-on practice and a real feel for what their participants will experience. It also keeps mentoring grounded in humility, reminding everyone that we're all learners walking alongside one another rather than climbing a ladder of hierarchy.