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The most significant Environmental Factor is, of course, the context of the church.  Is the church a "carve out" of an existing church?  Is it made up of mostly new believers and non-believers?  What is its ethnicity?  Its demographic focus?  All of these factors will weigh heavily on the Discipleship programs, especially in the first two years.

Other factors include the following:

• The Launch Team:  What is its spiritual maturity?  Its resources?  Its size and depth?  These factors will help determine the starting point for Discipleship, as well as the need for outside support, e.g. from the Barnabas Ministry and/or the Sponsoring Church.  In the event of heavy outside support, care must be taken to avoid simply lifting programs from another context and expecting them to work for your new church's context.
• The initial MercyMinistries program selected to meet critical needs in the community is another key environmental factor.  This program, assuming it is well selected, designed and delivered, will either engage people in a personal discipleship process or it won't.  As a result this initial ministry offering must be compelling to non-believers, new and mature believers who are open to engaging:  it must be relevant, meaningful and significant enough to produce something concrete over a period of time.  It must also provide for the discipling of the volunteers as they become more engaged and involved.  See Mercy Ministries.
• Facilities may also impact your Discipleship program.  A major building program in the first two years of a church's life can consume most if not all of your church's energy and resources.  This may be more appropriate for a "carve out" church that may be able to continue in the Discipleship programs offered by its Sponsoring Church.  However, a church of largely new and non-believers may struggle with the load of a major building program on top of their own needs to find their faith through Discipleship.  See Facilities.

"We are beginning to see the purpose of the community as cultivating a people of contrasting lifestyle.  To see the kingdom community at the center, and one's own identity as a kingdom person, that's a 180-degree change.  Most people here can accept this in theory, but many would still say, 'This doesn't sound like normal American life to me.'"  From Darrell Guder's chapter in Treasure in Clay Jars, Pattern 7, Pointing Toward the Reign of God.

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