Marshall and Payne encourage a change in ministry mindset: shift the focus from maintaining structures (trellis) and to training people (vine). This will not only bring about genuine growth, they explain, it will also augment the breadth of the gospel as each new disciple is trained to become a disciple-maker thus perpetuating the cycle. While hardly a revolutionary idea, it is too seldom practiced, and this book serves as a solid reminder of ministry’s true purpose.

The commission is not fundamentally about mission out there somewhere else in another country. It’s a commission that makes disciple-making the normal agenda and priority of every church and every Christian disciple. [13]

The two fundamental activities of Christian ministry are proclaiming (speaking the word) and praying (calling upon God to pour out his Spirit to make the word effective in people’s hearts). [41]

Training is inescapably relational. It cannot be done in a classroom via the supposedly neutral transfer of information. The trainer is calling upon the trainee to adopt not only his teaching, but also the way of life the necessarily flows from that teaching. [75]

Evangelism is at the heart of pastoral ministry. Ministry is not about just dealing with immediate crises or problems, or about building numbers, or about reforming structures. It is fundamentally about preparing souls for death. [107]

The goal of all Christian ministry, in all its forms, is disciple-making. The sermon on Sunday should aim to make disciples, as should the small group that meets on Tuesday night, the men’s breakfast that happens once a month, and the informal gathering of Christian friends that happens on Saturday afternoons. [153]

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