We will support you to launch in September 2026.  

If you need more time, we can also give you early support toward a September 2027 start. 

The School runs from mid-September to the end of June. It breaks for main school holidays (half-term break is at local discretion).

TIMETABLE: 1-day per week (chosen to suit each hub) typically from 9am-4.30pm, usually combining aspects of devotion, wisdom and mission. Additionally, we recommend one evening a week of corporate prayer/worship/devotion. For example, joining in with a church’s regular prayer rhythms, or offering to facilitate an event for the duration of the School.

Optional:

·  We strongly encourage each hub to arrange an annual ministry trip to a new and stretching location, which could be overseas. Trips could last a few days, or a week or two, depending on location and circumstances.

·  Potential to join with other regional hubs termly for shared training or worship events

We recommend that a church seeking to develop internships will invite their candidates to participate in the Discipleship School, because it will best form their character. Internships can tend to be about developing competencies. The Discipleship School provides foundational character training in devotional life, discipleship to Jesus and developing in missional living, all within a supportive community.

Once a hub has run for more than one year, a pipeline of local missional leaders will begin to form, some of whom may become interns in the future.

St Hild charges an annual fee to each hub. This covers the course oversight, provision of content and curriculum (including media production and hosting), and on-going support and mentoring for the hub leader, by a dedicated part-time staff member.  

Local hubs may wish to charge a fee per participant/per church, at their discretion. This may contribute to the costs of the hub leader, shared food, premises etc.

Those churches offering internships may consider that the local church pays the School costs, as part of their internship package. Local churches may consider offering a bursary to individuals towards fees.

It’s not simple to set up and maintain a life-changing discipleship school. St Hild College can offer a highly experienced team who have established and led in similar schools for over a decade, in the UK and overseas. 

We have dedicated resource to help establish a network of hubs delivering quality discipleship schools across the regions. 

Our experienced School Coordinator will journey alongside your hub from day one. With proven advice on how to launch a hub, everything from people to processes to promotion. During your inaugural year, your Hub Leader will have regular touch-points to discuss progress and a monthly support zoom with other Hub leaders in the UK for mutual learning and encouragement.  

We can offer insights and potentially direct support in a number of optional elements of your Discipleship School, including selecting and delivering (overseas) mission trips. 

Yes. We will work in collaboration with individual churches, or groups of churches in a region, to establish and deliver the School in a hub location. 

The vision is for each Hub to welcome participants from their own church(es), and from other Baptist churches within a geographical region. Not all Baptist churches are ready or able to host a Hub, so we encourage individuals or groups to travel to their nearest location. 

We encourage participants to see their local church and their local life contexts as the best places to live-out their developing discipleship to Jesus. 

Yes, you are free to select your own name for your Discipleship School, and produce your own publicity to suit your circumstances. 

Each Hub is free to choose the right financial model for your circumstances. Typically, Hubs will charge their participants, in order to recoup the costs involved. You may also offer some bursaries, to help make participation in the School more accessible to some people.  Those churches offering internships may consider that the local church covers  the School costs for the intern, as part of the internship package. 

All we ask is that you pay St Hild College an annual fee for the Discipleship School Toolkit, and stick to our agreements relating to the curriculum and other content. 

This is the most important role in launching a successful Discipleship School. Your Hub Leader sets the tone for the School, and will be responsible for administration and delivery, as well as being the ‘go-to’ person for all participants. We believe that discipleship happens best through apprenticeship. Your Hub Leader will set the bar for Christian discipleship, and will pastor and inspire your School participants. They need to be able to deliver some teaching, oversee a small team, facilitate worship and prayer, and be able to act as group leader. 

This could be a good role for an associate minister, or developing leader. An active or retired Minister could also be suitable, if they have 1-2 days per week available. 

No formal qualifications required to take part, and no formal assignments. Teaching is generally aimed at around GCSE standard (Level 2), but can be tailored to each local context. Participants have the opportunity to enroll in specific short-courses with St Hild College alongside the School, which can be academically validated, and offered online, or onsite in Sheffield, Lincoln or Mirfield (West Yorkshire). 

Hubs will be supported by St Hild CBM to develop robust application procedures. 

St Hild College will offer an unaccredited ‘Certificate of Attendance’ at the end of the School to participants who complete. This could be attractive to young adults wishing to evidence their development and transferable skills in the workplace, and could act as a stepping-stone to encourage further theological study.