Become a Hub Church

Welcome

New Wine Discipleship Year (NWDY) has been helping local churches invest in young people and release them into the next season of their lives, on fire with love for Christ, since 2012. It’s an enormous joy to see the programme continuing to grow and adapt as we support, celebrate, and pray for local churches changing nations.

At the heart of the Discipleship Year are our incredible Hub Churches – a national network of churches committed to leading the way in training and releasing young people in their region. These young people are a huge blessing to their Hub Churches, and in turn, the Hubs are a vital support to the wider network of Placement Churches they serve.

In all of this, our prayer is simple: that God would be glorified in the lives of young people, and that they would come fully alive in the only One who truly satisfies: Jesus Christ. 

As you consider joining this work,

I want to honour your heart to see a generation ignited with love for Jesus. It’s a vision I share—and I hope this page helps you discern whether launching a Hub to serve your region is part of the call God is placing on your church.  

Yours,
Brogan Hume
Discipleship Year Ministry Lead 

Terminology

A church that acts as the central base for a regional Hub. It hosts and delivers the Discipleship Year teaching and employs and oversees the Hub Leader. This is typically a church with a significant local ministry to young people (e.g. youth and/or university students). 

A church that hosts one or more DY students for their practical placement. Placement Churches provide students with meaningful opportunities to serve and learn under a capable leader. All Hub Churches also function as Placement Churches. 

A designated role with two key responsibilities: 

  1. Overseeing and managing the delivery of the Hub’s existing training and placements 
  2. Expanding and growing the Hub by forming new partnerships with local churches 

You will receive updates, invitations, and next steps as the network develops, including information about Festival, online connection, and future regional opportunities.

A senior leader who provides oversight and support to a group of Hub Leaders within a geographic region. This is a strategic leadership role focused on coaching, communication flow, and ensuring alignment across multiple Hubs. 

A DY student is a young adult enrolled in the Discipleship Year. DY students receive teaching through a Hub Church and volunteer with a Placement Church to gain hands-on ministry experience and develop leadership skills. 

A formal agreement between New Wine and a Hub Church that outlines the roles, responsibilities, expectations, and commitments of each party in delivering the Discipleship Year programme. The SLA ensures clarity, accountability, and a shared vision for how the Hub will operate, including safeguarding, training delivery, student support, and reporting. 

Become a Hub Church

How to Use This Info 

This page is designed to guide you through three clear stages: Exploration, Application, and Implementation. Whether you’re just starting to dream about becoming a Hub Church or already preparing to take the next step, you’ll find everything you need to move forward with clarity and confidence. 

Wherever you are in the journey, we’re here to walk with you. 

Key Deadlines & Ideal Timeframes 

Starting a Hub well takes time—both for planning and for meaningful conversations with potential students. To recruit your own students for your Hub, the ideal scenario is to begin engaging with young people in Term 1 of their final year (e.g. Year 13 or the third year of an undergraduate degree). If your primary pool of students is already in full-time work, the time pressure may be less intense. 

This applies also to your Placement Churches. Part of your job as a Hub will be helping Placement Churches identify their pool of students and work out how and when best to invite them to be part of New Wine Discipleship Year. 

Phase Ideal Completion Date / Deadline Purpose
Exploration June (preceding year, 2026) must be before November (preceding year) Discernment, conversations with New Wine.
Application October (preceding year, 2026) must be before February (same year, 2027) Application submitted, application approved, Hub Leader advertised, planning underway.
Implementation February–March (same year, 2027) Allows time for recruitment of Hub Leader, training, onboarding, and student recruitment.

Things to consider

Launching a Hub is an exciting and rewarding journey—but it’s important to know where the energy really goes. As you can imagine, the majority of the work isn’t paperwork or admin (though we’ll support you with that); it’s relational. Based on our experience of starting and running Hubs, we expect that initially about two-thirds of your effort will go into recruiting students for the year ahead and building relationships with Placement Churches. New Wine does not recruit students centrally and then ‘send’ them to Hubs – they nearly all come through the existing ministries of local churches changing their cities, towns, and villages. 

As the Hub matures the curriculum will evolve in a manageable way from year to year – sometimes with only small changes – and therefore a Hub leader will focus almost exclusively on recruiting students, recruiting Placement Churches, and caring for the current cohort. 

You’re not alone in this work. Student recruitment isn’t just about finding individuals, it also means building strong relationships with Placement Churches who may already have young people discerning a call to ministry. Being part of New Wine is a huge benefit in this regard, as you’ll have opportunities through the year to connect with churches around you that share the same convictions. Often, your best pipeline of students will be through churches that already trust you and want to send someone your way. 

There are multiple opportunities throughout the year to invite potential Placement Churches to DY Recruitment Webinars, led by a DY Ministry Lead, offering support and training in how to do this well. 

Beyond that, you’ll spend time finding the right Hub Leader, preparing the placement churches, and your church, to host and support students, and a relatively small portion on documentation and compliance. The investment is front-loaded, but the fruit is lasting.