WHAT IS DY?
New Wine Discipleship Year is all about learning to love Jesus Christ, by being immersed in God’s word, filled with God’s Spirit, and sent out to build God’s kingdom in our cities, towns, and villages. Each week will consist of both teaching (more information in the curriculum section) and practical application in an area of ministry – and over the year, you’ll also head away for two residential trips. The first is a residential based in the UK in the first term, and the second is our Discipleship Year Bible Week in Spain! You will also have opportunities to serve at regional and national New Wine conferences, along with the New Wine in summer.
DY is all about learning to know, love, and serve the Lord Jesus. You were made for a life of purpose & devotion – so dedicate a year to laying the right foundations for it.
New Wine Discipleship Year is delivered by hubs based in churches around the UK – you can check out the closest hub to you below!
- If you’re interested in starting a hub at your church, please get in touch!
- If you would like a DY student to be placed at your church, please see our page on recruiting a DY student.
WHO IS IT FOR?
The Discipleship Year welcomes applications from those aged 18-29 looking to:
- Develop a secure understanding of your identity in Christ
- Grow in reading and understanding God’s word
- Increase in godliness, self-discipline, and joy
- Be equipped to use your spiritual gifts to serve God’s church
- Spend a year in church-based ministry
The application process is simple – just fill out the form, and the hub you’re applying to will be in touch to arrange a further conversation. If you need any advice or help please drop us a message.
WHAT IS TAUGHT ON THE COURSE?
DY has three core elements – local training, local experience, and a national programme of weekends away and serving opportunities
LOCAL TEACHING
Each centre has its own programme, which means that it can make the best use of the specialist knowledge areas in the congregation and leadership teams. However, every hub designs its programme to meet the same five DY hallmarks.
Each curriculum is designed to answer 5 questions:
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How has God uniquely revealed Himself in Scripture?
This includes the big picture story of the bible, and an in depth study of a book of the bible.
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How is God experienced today through the Spirit?
This includes training in how we minister to one another through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and spend time in his presence both individually and collectively.
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How is God calling us to a life of joyfulness and holiness?
This includes understanding our identity in Christ, and how this understanding changes how we live here and now.
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How does God meet us through the spiritual disciplines?
This includes how we put into practice spending time in the presence of God.
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How does God work in and through his church to build his kingdom?
This includes training in how to help someone start following Christ, disciple others through God’s word, and engage in culture.
LOCAL EXPERIENCE
Each DY Student is placed in a local church where they get experience in ministry, and put into practice what they’ve learned about in the teaching programme. These placements provide both excellent experience for a CV, and also a really good basis for going into a full-time church-based ministry role (like a youth worker, administrator, or exploring ordained ministry).
These placements vary between DY Hubs, and you can check out what is available in each hub, but some of the commonly offered placements include:
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Youth
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Children’s
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Worship
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Media and Creative
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Administration & Ops
It may also be the case that if you have a particular interest there will be the capacity to create a placement that allows you to exercise or experience that type of ministry.
All of the hubs give wider opportunities for mission – some through mission trips elsewhere in the country or the world, and others through local mission links.
NATIONAL PROGRAMME
The national DY programme consists of two residential trips, and two conference serving opportunities.
The first residential is based in the UK and covers the core topic of identity in Christ. This is often a life-changing three days for people, where God does a profound work of revealing afresh his love and power in our lives. We spend time in worship together, and the teaching is always working through a book of the Bible, asking God to apply his word by the power of his Spirit. There are also seminars on various topics relating to how we put into practice our call to follow Jesus. This is held in November.
The second residential is based in Spain and covers the topic of kingdom life. This is a five-day trip to allow more time for bible teaching and seminars, hosted in a beautiful location! Similar to the first weekend, there will be plenty of time for worship, practical seminars and workshops, and working through a book of the Bible – with other talks and sessions as well. This is held in February.
There is also the opportunity to serve at two conferences. Everyone serves at New Wine in summer – your team place, catering, camping, and ticket are all included in the year. There is also the chance to serve at another conference run by New Wine – either the New Wine Leadership Conference, one of the Women’s Conferences, or the Worship Tour.
SO WHAT DOES THE TYPICAL WEEK LOOK LIKE?
You’ll start the week on Sunday at church – this will often involve some area of serving alongside your worship and being part of the church family. If the church that you’re based in has multiple services, you might be on a team at one of them, and not at the other(s). During the weekdays, you’ll have a day set aside for intentional training, where you’ll come alongside other DY students based at your hub to study and learn together. This curriculum is outlined above. During that week, you’ll also spend time on placement – serving in an area of church life.
The amount of serving that you do will vary between hubs. Some hubs can alleviate all costs associated with the year, meaning you don’t need to earn alongside it. Others subsidise some part of your living expenses (for example, housing) so that you don’t need to work as many hours to give you more time on DY. Others leave plenty of time for paid work so that you’re able to provide for yourself.
If you need any advice finding a hub, get in touch!
HOW DO I CHOOSE WHAT TO DO?
The best thing to do is to choose in the following order:
- Hub – which hub you’ll be based in
- Placement area – if you particularly want to do a specific area of ministry, chat with the hub about this
- Placement church – once you’ve got clear on your hub and the area of ministry you’d like to be in, then the placement church will likely become apparent
WHAT DOES IT COST?
The Discipleship Year will cost students £1500, which covers all your teaching and training, including the two residential trips. Full fees are due by the course start date, although you should speak to your hub leader if this would be a prohibiting factor. Some hubs can offer bursary-type support and/or housing so that the year is less expensive, or entirely cost-neutral (ie, doesn’t cost you anything to do).
WHEN CAN I START?
The year starts in September 2024 and finishes after New Wine 2025. Please note, that we do not take anyone starting late on the course.
