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Pinnacle Forum believes discipleship is central to Christian leadership and spiritual formation. This document explains how we define discipleship, how it is cultivated within a Forum, and how it complements the work of the local church as leaders grow in Christ and make disciples who make disciples.

A Note from Connor Hillard, CEO

Dear Partners and Friends,

After our National Conference this spring, we made a commitment to you.

We shared that one of the important next steps in strengthening Pinnacle Forum would be to clearly define what we mean by discipleship, for our ministry, our Partners, and within the unique context of a Pinnacle Forum.

We committed to articulating what discipleship looks like, how it is cultivated in a Forum, how it complements the local church, and what we ask of one another as Partners pursuing Christ together.

Today, we are grateful to deliver on that promise. Attached is “What is a Disciple – Pinnacle Forum“.

This document represents months of prayer, discussion, refinement, and careful consideration by our Senior Leadership Team. While it is not intended to be an exhaustive theology of discipleship, it is meant to provide a clear and shared understanding of the Biblical convictions that shape our ministry and the expectations we hold as a community of Christian leaders.

As Pinnacle Forum continues to grow, clarity matters. Shared language produces shared vision, and shared vision produces greater unity, intentionality, and Kingdom impact. Our hope is that this document will help every Partner better understand what we do in a Forum, why we do it, and how God uses these relationships to form leaders who increasingly reflect Christ and are radically committed to going into the world to make disciples who make disciples—bringing eternal cultural impact.

Over the coming months, this definition will become increasingly integrated into our Forums, Facilitator development, Partner onboarding, and ministry resources. It will help ensure that wherever Pinnacle Forum exists, we are pursuing the same Biblical vision of spiritual formation and disciple-making together.

When you have an opportunity, I encourage you to read through the document thoughtfully and pray/reflect on it. Consider how the Lord is continuing to disciple you, and how He might use you more intentionally to disciple others.

Thank you for trusting us, encouraging us, and walking alongside us as we continue building a ministry that is increasingly faithful to Christ and increasingly fruitful for His Kingdom.

A Note from Connor Hillard, CEO

The conference was special. So much could be said, and so much will be said, about the Lord’s goodness and provision in bringing so many of us together in Phoenix. For those unable to attend, I truly hope you’ll make it a can’t-miss when we gather again in 2028.

And while we enjoyed it – while we delighted in God’s orchestration and felt a real fire ignited, we know something important:

Our faith, and this ministry, are not about a powerful two-day experience.

This is about you, and your lifelong journey with Him.

Your faith isn’t forged in moments like that alone. It’s forged week in and week out, when, as Ann Graham Lotz shared, you begin “returning to your first love in Christ.” It’s forged in the hard decisions, the quiet prayers, the vulnerability, the honesty, and the love experienced in your Forum… in the Body of Christ… in your home, your church, and your place of work.

It’s the daily. The seemingly mundane. That’s where formation and transformation truly happen.

And so, we press on in the mission the Lord has entrusted to us for nearly 30 years:

To Encourage and Equip high-capacity leaders through confidential Forums, strengthened by a national network, so they may Engage their calling and Execute with courage in personal, spiritual, and cultural transformation that exalts Jesus Christ.

This mission is not about sustaining a conference “high”, it’s about strengthening what God stirred through it. The relationships. The conviction. The real work of transformation and sanctification.

As we look ahead, building on what the Lord has done, several key priorities have come into focus for the remainder of the year. These are still taking shape, but they represent the next mountains we believe we’re called to summit:

1) A World-Class Facilitator Certification Program
We aim to launch a beta version (with a limited group for feedback) by the end of 2026, with a full rollout in 2027.

Our Facilitators are among Pinnacle Forum’s greatest strengths — men and women who love Jesus and faithfully lead others in transformation. We want to come alongside them — helping them grow, anticipate needs, and lead even more meaningful, Spirit-filled conversations. Current Facilitators will be grandfathered into this process and invited in.

2) Clarifying and Championing Discipleship
If we want to see culture transformed, it will happen through disciples who make disciples. Especially through influential, high-capacity leaders!

This will be a long-term, intentional focus. We want to clearly define what discipleship looks like within a Pinnacle Forum, equip Partners to step into it, and build rhythms of accountability around it. This integration of discipleship will not happen all at once, but will be done faithfully over time.

3) Conference Content for Ongoing Formation
We’ll be uploading each of our National Conference speakers into Circle, along with accompanying Forum discussion content. This unfortunately isn’t as easy as getting the files and hitting upload, so bear with us as we edit these and get them up to par!

These messages were for you, and we want them to continue serving you. As they are released, we’ll tie Forum discussion content, centered on the message, directly to our Four E’s: Encourage, Equip, Engage, Execute, and the four pillars emphasized in Forged for Influence: Spiritual Growth, Christlike Character, Relational Maturity, and Influence & Engagement.

4) Cultural Engagement Self Assessment (CESA)
Many of you have taken this before. Moving forward, we’ll be using it more intentionally— both ministry-wide (through an annual survey) and within Forums on a recurring basis.

The goal is simple: clarity. What is the baseline of our entire ministry? Where do we need to pour more fully into Forums?
Where are we growing? Where is the Lord calling us to step out?

5) Cultural Impact Plan (CIP)
We’re also reworking the CIP entirely.

For some, it’s been powerful. For others, it’s felt like something completed once and forgotten. We want to change that.

Our aim is to make it life-giving, not homework. Something you want to revisit. Something that truly spurs you on toward love, good deeds, and real cultural impact for Christ, with a strong emphasis on discipleship.

These are the core areas that emerged – from your feedback, from our speakers, and from what we sensed the Lord doing among us. As I said, this ministry is about you in Christ, so our duty is to always pour into, resource, and strengthen your Forum experience.

We are deeply grateful for each of you, and expectant for what He will continue to do.

As we celebrate Christmas and near the end of the year, I want to pause and look back with gratitude and ahead with great expectation.

This has been an extraordinary year for Pinnacle Forum. God has been moving among us in unmistakable ways. Lives are being transformed!

Leaders are rediscovering joy in their walk with Christ. Forums that were once routine are coming alive with vulnerability, truth, and spiritual fire.

What makes this season different is not growth in numbers or new programs. It is maturity. God is shaping us into a ministry marked by depth, excellence, and focus.

We have renewed our commitment to the Forum experience as a pathway of transformation, where leaders grow spiritually, personally, relationally, and vocationally. We have invested deeply in Facilitator development, so Forums are places where real shepherding and disciple-making happen.

The Lord has also provided a strong footing for the future, allowing us to move forward with clarity and confidence, grounded in Christ alone.

As we look ahead to 2026, we do so with anticipation. We will gather as a Pinnacle Forum family in Phoenix this April, and we will continue seeking the Lord as He refines and shapes us for the work ahead.

At the center of everything is the gospel. Our vision is to partner with God in transforming leaders who magnify Christ in their spheres of influence. When leaders are transformed from the inside out, culture begins to change.

Christmas reminds us why this matters. The Son of God stepped into our world to bring light, hope, and redemption. Emmanuel means God with us. That same God is still near, still at work, and still moving through this community of leaders.

On behalf of our entire team, thank you for your partnership, your prayers, and your trust in what God is doing through Pinnacle Forum.

May the peace and presence of Christ fill your hearts and homes as we enter the new year together.

A Note from Connor Hillard, CEO

We’re thrilled to announce the theme for our 2026 National Conference:
Forged for Influence.

This powerful theme reflects the very heart of Pinnacle Forum. Just as metal is shaped in the fire, leaders in our Forums are being refined by Christ, awakened to their divine purpose, and sent out to transform culture with courage.

At its core, Pinnacle Forum is a sacred space where transformation happens. Our 2026 National Conference will be an extension of that experience.

Through inspiring messages, peer engagement, and intentional moments of reflection, our National Conference will be inextricably tied to the Pinnacle Forum experience, highlighting three key subthemes.

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1. Formed by Flame: Refined by Christ

The conference will begin, as every Pinnacle Forum does, with personal spiritual renewal.

This theme reflects the first movement of the Forum journey: being made new in Christ.

You’ll be invited into honest reflection and connection with fellow leaders and partners. You’ll hear powerful speakers who confront the parts of us still being refined. Just as Forums create space for transparency and transformation, our opening sessions will stir your soul and invite the Spirit to do His refining work. 

2. Tempered for Purpose: Living with an Eternal Call

Next, we focus on identity and calling.

In a Pinnacle Forum, Partners come to see that God has uniquely equipped them to lead with purpose.

At the conference, we will explore what it means to discern and live out an eternal calling in the practical, everyday spaces of influence. Through stories, breakout discussions, and tools for discernment, you will gain clarity on the eternal purpose for which you’ve been tempered and how to steward it with excellence.

3. Standing Firm in the Heat: Influencing Culture with Courage

Finally, just like in our Forums, we turn outward.

The conference will culminate in a bold challenge to courageously influence the culture around you.

You’ll hear from leaders who are doing just that. Standing firm in the heat of the cultural moment, armed not with fear, but with conviction, grace, and Truth. Together, we will commission one another to live out our calling and impact our spheres of influence with unwavering faith.

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This conference will be a Pinnacle Forum experience at scale. You’ll be encouraged and equipped to engage and execute, just as our Forum model is designed to do.

This is our collective forge. And from it, God is raising up a generation of courageous, Christ-centered influencers.

This theme is a call to action. It’s a banner over our movement. And it’s just the beginning!More to come, but for now,  Forged for Influence is our declaration in Him!

There are seasons that feel like fire.

Sometimes it’s personal. Sometimes it’s the world around us. We keep showing up, carrying responsibilities, leading where God has placed us,  and still the weight can feel heavy, even overwhelming.

 In Isaiah 48:10, God says: “I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.”

Even in affliction, His purpose is not destruction but refinement. God doesn’t waste the fire. He uses it to shape His people for what lies ahead.

If you feel that heat in your own life or leadership right now, remember this: you are not abandoned. The same God who allows the refining also walks with His people through it. And He is shaping a kind of courage and influence that can only be formed in the fire.