CG Leaders' Training 2025
#1 Vision of Discipleship in HTBB
At HTBB, our vision for discipleship is to help everyone take their next step in their walk with Jesus. We believe that discipleship is not a program but a lifelong journey of following Him — becoming more like Jesus and helping others do the same. As Colossians 2:6 reminds us, “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him.”
Our goal is to build clear and supportive pathways that help people connect, grow, go, and multiply, so that everyone can live out their faith in and beyond the church. Discipleship at HTBB is centred around what we call the Three Walks — walking to Christ, walking with Christ, and walking like Christ. These aren’t steps to complete but rhythms to live by. As we discover who Jesus is, we learn to walk with Him daily and eventually walk like Him — serving others, living on mission, and helping more people encounter His love.
This journey happens in three stages:
Connect — where we discover belonging in God and in community. It’s about finding your place and learning who you are in Christ. This could look like joining Alpha, attending Sunday services, becoming part of a Connect Group, or taking the step of baptism.
Grow — where we are formed by God’s Word and Spirit in community. Growth happens when we engage in Connect Groups, serve on teams, or invest in our families through courses like Marriage or Parenting Courses. It’s about deepening our faith and character.
Go & Multiply — where we live out what we’ve received by investing in others. We reach those who don’t yet know Jesus, mentor and teach others in their faith, and release them into leadership and ministry. This is what it means to make disciples who make disciples.
To help people live this out, we frame our discipleship culture around four simple words: Reach & Recruit, Raise, and Release. We reach and recruit others through invitation and inclusion, helping people connect to God and to community. We raise others by walking with them in their growth, teaching, and serving together. And we release others by empowering them to step out in faith, ministry, and leadership.
Five key discipleship ministries that shape the life of our church: Belong, Connect Groups, Pastoral Services, Pastoral Care, and Discipleship Basics & Beyond. Together, they provide spaces for community, care, equipping, and next steps.
— James Chung (Head of Discipleship)
#2 HTBB Culture
In this session, we explored what culture is — the pillars that hold a community together — and these pillars matter as they hold a building together so it doesn’t fall apart. Our culture code derives from the values we’ve caught from Jesus. Culture can only be built together, not alone. It shows up in how we relate to one another, how we live out our values, and how we pass them on.
Five key values that make up the HTBB culture:
Audacity: A willingness to take risks and the boldness to ask God for a vision so big it’s impossible without Him, following the Commission of Jesus (Matthew 28:19).
Unity: Learning from each other, respecting differences, and valuing one another as we function as one body, united with Christ and sharing in the same Spirit. Jesus’ prayer in John 17:20–21 reminds us that our unity points the world to Him.
Generosity: Modelled after the love of Jesus (Galatians 2:20). We give because we love — just as Jesus did — and that includes giving our time, resources, and the gospel.
Humility: Invites us to bow the knee and adopt the attitude of Jesus (Philippians 2:5–8). True humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but thinking of ourselves less.
Tenacity: Calls us to never give up, inspired by the example of Jesus (Hebrews 12:1–3). Just as a river cuts through rock not by power but by perseverance, we don’t give up easily on each other or on the mission. We remain reliant on the Holy Spirit and operate from a place of presence rather than drama.
Many of us agreed that an ideal Connect Group is a place where people feel safe, seen, valued, loved, and challenged to grow. By living out and passing on these values as a community of believers, we can cultivate a community that reflects Christ.
We also looked at the seven culture codes of pastors and CG leaders. Key takeaways: proximity builds trust; leadership is intentional, not intense; we build people through ministry, not the other way around. When challenges arise, we lead as teams, seek to understand, and act as bridges for reconciliation. Finally, we were reminded to replenish our wells by surrounding ourselves with a supportive community.
All in all, this session reminded me that a healthy Connect Group isn’t one that runs smoothly — it’s one where we love, laugh, grow, and stay united, even through the messy parts. These culture codes are meaningful building blocks that help us create that kind of environment and grow together into the likeness of Christ as a community.
— Erina (DJ CG 2)
#3 Understanding Ourselves and Others
This session was enlightening, even though we might think we already know some of these things. It began with a statement from Pope Francis on why we should understand ourselves:
“The Christian life is not a navel-gazing one. It is a life in which one gets out of oneself in order to give oneself to others. It is a gift, it is love — and love does not turn in on itself, it is not selfish, but self-giving.”
Understanding ourselves helps us discern how best to contribute to God’s Kingdom, recognising that each of us carries different gifts. Jacintha also shared a statement from David Benner:
“There is no deep knowing of God without a deep knowing of self, and no deep knowing of self without a deep knowing of God.”
This profound statement suggests that by honestly knowing ourselves in all our imperfections and knowing God in all His perfection, we can cultivate an attitude of tolerance toward ourselves and others, even as we strive to be more Christ-like.
Before the CG training, we were required to complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Test, which outlines four personality characteristics:
Source of Energy: Introversion or Extraversion
Way of Gathering Information: Sensing or Intuition
Decision Making: Thinking or Feeling
How You Relate to the External World: Judging or Perceiving
The test points to 16 possible personality types, which can vary depending on a person’s season in life or current mood. We were reminded not to worry about preferring one type over another and that no personality type is superior to another. We ended by reflecting on how this deeper understanding might shed light on individual and group dynamics within our CGs.
For us, the session was very useful. Understanding different personality types may help us use our talents more effectively to further God’s Kingdom and cultivate greater tolerance and appreciation of each other’s strengths and weaknesses within our communities.
— Larry & Noree Lee (Bukit Bintang CG 2)
#4 HTBB Code of Conduct
I was looking forward to the CG Leader training because I value the experiences and stories of other CG leaders. Last year, the team included sharing of actual CG leader experiences, and I think this year they did a great job refining and streamlining it, making the content clearer and more concise.
One example for me was the clear articulation of the Code of Conduct (CoC), which spells out the principles of how CGs should operate. However, because principles are necessarily compact and straight to the point, they often need further guidance to show how they are applied in real-life scenarios. I was glad that the training didn’t spend much time on simply presenting the CoC principles, but instead devoted more time to a role-playing activity where we acted out a tricky, realistic scenario.
In our small group, we quickly found ourselves dealing with an in-role, complaining CG member who felt something wasn’t done well and insisted the CG leader should “buck up.” Another person acted as the CG leader, addressing this overly negative and unconstructive situation, while others observed the uncomfortable exchange. It quickly became clear to everyone that neatly presented CoC principles are applied in very messy, real-life situations.
The roleplay incorporated many overlapping issues — respect, vulnerability, gossip, discretion — all unfolding in a volatile conversation where the complainer needed to be heard, but the CG leader also had to manage her emotions and maintain grace under pressure. Meanwhile, other CG members were gradually drawn to one side or the other.
Of course, due to the limited time and complexity of the scenario, our group didn’t witness a full resolution. But the real value was seeing how the CoC provides guardrails, and recognising the importance of dealing with tricky CG situations carefully, compassionately, and graciously. The session highlighted that there isn’t always a quick fix — but having these guardrails makes it possible to navigate the mess with care and intentionality.
For me, an essential part of growing in Christ is being in the “miry clay” with fellow Christians — baring our worst while striving to be our best. Generous patience and time are consistently needed as we bear with one another. I left the training session encouraged, knowing that other CG leaders are navigating similar challenges, and reminded that our journeys are meant to be worked out together in grace, rather than neatly resolved through a set of principles. I am grateful that the church leaders in charge of CGs embrace this messiness and intentionally step into it.
— Ken Yeong (Kota Damansara CG 1)
— Gideon Tan (Mand Bukit Bintang CG 4)