Welcome to Leadership Academy. During these next few days, you will be learning the DiscipleNEXT Framework. Within this framework, you will gain the knowledge to start new faith communities for today's pandemic-informed world. This framework differs from other programs and curriculums because we are not teaching how to plant churches. We are teaching you how to start a community movement of care and compassion that incorporates the DNA of the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ). In Disciples polity, the CCDOC Church primarily expresses itself through congregations, but within this framework, those communities have freedom of expression.