Frequently Asked Questions

What is the GDI?

The free online Growing Disciples Inventory can help anyone who has made a personal commitment to follow Christ discover their strengths and weaknesses in Christian spiritual growth. Know, to grow.

Who is it for? Are there other versions?

The GDI is available online for children (8-13 years), youth (14-23 years), and adults (24+ years).  A one-age (20-item) youth/adult version can be downloaded and printed for seminar/group activities with limited time and no internet access.  The full-length paper versions for children, youth, and adults are available in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese for regions where internet access is not an option.  The disadvantage of paper versions is that scoring and graphing can be confuse and/or distract from the intended purpose of reflecting on self-assessment of current spiritual growth.  Use the online version whenever possible.

How much time does it take to complete?

Budget 15-20 minutes to thoughtfully select answers.  There are 84 items in the youth and adult versions, and 42 items in the child version.  Each version has six pages.  Responses are saved as you click next.  You can move back and forward.  Your responses are saved even when you exit before clicking submit at the end. You can return to complete it later.

Why do I need to set up an account?

In order to save your personal report so you can access it later or to take the GDI again (waiting 6-12 months is recommended), individuals must set up a username and password. An email is stored to provide a way to send a new password if you lose/forget yours at any time. No personal information is collected or stored at any point.

How do group accounts work?

Group reports are available to Christian educators in home, church and school settings. A group leader enters a group code when setting up a group account. This code can be given to group members for a specific period of time (1-6 months). When individuals create an individual account, they have the option to enter one group code. If such a code is entered, their response set will be aggregated with the data of all other group members to provide the group leader with composite, totally anonymous group reports.

Initially group reports will work the same as individual reports, but provide indicators that group leaders can use to intentionally plan for spiritual growth.  Further refinements allowing group leaders to share access with co-leaders, and manage multiple group codes and reports, is planned.

What makes a good group code?

Choose a mix of 5-8 characters that will be easy for group members to remember, such as a short version of the group's name. In order to be able to compare reports for groups like school grades or Sabbath Schools that mature and change their obvious group name each year, consider using a cohort identifier such as their first or last year of school plus your organization's name abbreviation, e.g. 2020PMC.