Forming Disciples, Planting Churches: A Vision for the Inland Northwest

Jeremy Lyerla
Dec 18, 2025
4 min read

Updated: Jan 9

What if every small town in the Inland Northwest—Deer Park, Chattaroy, Colbert, Elk, Loon Lake, Springdale, and beyond—had a faithful church shaped by God’s Word and Sacraments?

What if homes, small groups, and churches weren’t isolated expressions of faith, but woven together into a living tapestry of generational discipleship—faith formed in households, strengthened in community, and passed on to future generations?

This is the vision of Heritage Covenant Church. And it rests on a simple conviction: the healthiest churches plant not only for disciple-making, but from disciple-making.

As Andrew B. Andrews puts it,

“The healthiest churches will plant not only for disciple making, they will plant from disciple making.”

A Vision for a Lasting Heritage of Faith

At Heritage Covenant Church, our mission is to glorify God by forming a community shaped by the faithful ministry of Word and Sacraments. From this foundation, believers are equipped to live faithfully, disciple their families, love their neighbors, and bear witness to Christ in every sphere of life.

This vision is grounded in the historic marks of the church: the faithful preaching of God’s Word, the right administration of the Sacraments, and the shepherding care of Christ’s people through prayer and discipline. These are not outdated traditions or pragmatic tools—they are God’s appointed means for forming disciples and building churches that endure.

We are not interested in quick growth or attractional programming. We want to build something that lasts—churches rooted deeply in Christ, formed patiently over time, and prepared to multiply faithfully.

Discipleship That Leads to Multiplication

At the heart of this vision is The Heritage Way—a four-year, church-centered discipleship journey lived out in small groups and shaped by Scripture, worship, prayer, and shared life.

Rooted in Scripture and shaped by the historic Christian faith, The Heritage Way forms mature believers through gospel clarity, covenant community, and faithful living in everyday life. Each year builds intentionally on the last, preparing disciples not only to participate in the life of the church, but to help strengthen and extend it.

This pace is intentional. We pursue slow growth on purpose—because formation takes time, trust grows gradually, and lasting fruit is rarely rushed.

Covenant Union — Formed in Christ and His Church

The journey begins by grounding believers in their identity in Christ and their place within the covenant community of the church.

Faith is anchored in the gospel, nourished through Word-centered worship, and strengthened through life together. This first year orients believers toward a lifelong pattern of faith shaped by Scripture, prayer, worship, and life together—forming a settled confidence in Christ and a deep appreciation for the life of the church.

Covenant Faithfulness — Living Faithfully in Home and Church

From gospel foundations, disciples grow into faithful living within covenant households and active participation in the local church.

Here, faith takes shape in marriage, parenting, hospitality, and service. Rather than separating faith from everyday responsibilities, disciples learn that God works through ordinary obedience in marriage, parenting, hospitality, and service to build strong households and healthy Congregations. As Joel Beeke often reminds the church, discipleship is the work of spiritual parenting—faith patiently formed in homes and nurtured in covenant community.

Covenant Witness — Faith Lived Out in the World

As disciples mature, they learn to live faithfully before God in their vocations, relationships, and communities—bearing witness to Christ through integrity, hospitality, and quiet confidence in God’s purposes.

Workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities become contexts for gospel witness—not through pressure or programs, but through integrity, hospitality, and faithful love. Evangelism flows naturally from lives shaped by Christ and rooted in everyday faithfulness.

Covenant Expansion — Leadership, Mission, and Multiplication

The final stage attends to the recognition and formation of leaders and a growing vision for multiplication that arises naturally from long-term faithfulness and trust.

Disciples are equipped to lead others, disciple new believers, serve the church, and participate in mission—locally and globally. From these relationships and communities, future congregations begin to emerge—formed from people who have been shaped over time, not gathered around personalities or events.

As Andrews observes,

“The most effective church planters in the future will see their calling to make disciple-making disciples of all people, not just the superstars.”

From Discipleship to Church Planting

This pathway shapes how we approach church planting in the Inland Northwest. Rather than launching services and hoping formation follows, we form disciples first—and allow churches to grow organically from shared faith, trust, and leadership.

This approach:

Moves at the speed of trust
Is relational, not transactional
Holds doctrine and devotion together
Multiplies leaders, not just events
Forms churches, not just worship services

We believe this is how faith endures—and how churches last.

From One Household to Many Churches

Our vision is not simply to fill a building in one town, but to see faith take root across the region—household by household, community by community.

Our small groups are designed to:

Be nourished by God’s Word and prayer
Care for one another through presence and counsel
Share life around meals and hospitality
Raise up leaders and multiply into new communities

Every home becomes a place of formation, where ordinary life is understood and lived under the gracious providence of God.

Every small group becomes a seedbed for leadership.

Every believer becomes part of a generational story.

An Invitation to Join the Work

If you live in the Inland Northwest—whether in Deer Park, Chattaroy, Colbert, Loon Lake, or beyond—there is room for you in this story.

You may be exploring faith, seeking deeper discipleship, or longing to be part of something that will outlast you. Wherever you are, you are invited to walk with us as we build a heritage of faith—rooted in the past, impacting the future.