Leaders and Learners in Faith
The Leaders and Learners in Faith program is also open to persons who wish to enroll in courses of interest, without seeking lay minister certification.
Men and women will gain expertise and skills to provide both visionary and practical leadership in carrying out the Lord's work.
The mission of the Leaders and Learners program is simple: Enter to learn, depart to serve.
Available Mission Leadership Formation Courses
A series of six courses that deal with the formation of mission leaders will be made available by the summer of 2010. The six courses, along with their projected schedule, are (to see a one-page visual presentation of the six courses, along with their respective session headings, click here):
Worldviews
Mission of God
Discipleship
Body Life
Culture Learning
Reactivating the Missionary Church
Course Methodology
Ideally the pastor of a New Jersey District congregation, along with 4-6 lay leaders, will commit themselves to this two-year formation process. However, if the congregation would authorize a gifted lay leader to serve in the place of the pastor that person, along with the pastor and 4-6 lay leaders, would comprise the core team to be formed as mission leaders.
Dr. Anthony Steinbronn will equip the pastor (or a gifted lay leader) and that appointed person will equip the rest of the core team. If the pastor is to be equipped to serve as the equipper, Dr. Steinbronn will equip him on one Thursday per month; if a lay leader is to be equipped, Dr. Steinbronn will offer this training on one Saturday per month.
Rationale for a Mission Leadership Formation Process
The Scriptures ascribe only one intention to God: TO SAVE HUMANKIND. Jesus, in His parting words to His disciples, laid a DOUBLE OBLIGATION upon them and us; that is, the strengthening of present disciples in their already existing discipleship (edification) and reaching out to those who are not yet disciples with the hope that they will become His disciples (evangelism). Therefore EVERY TASK of the Church makes sense, and has a purpose, only as it leads to the mission of making disciples of all nations.
The crisis situation for New Jersey District congregations is that we no longer live in a churched culture (only 18.7% of North Americans attend church on any given Sunday and we are the 3RD LARGEST MISSION FIELD in the world). This state of affairs CHALLENGES and INVITES God's people to become more MISSIONARY in their posture and orientation toward non-Christians AND to possess a proper balance between EDIFICATION (building one another up in the Christian faith and becoming mature in Christ) and EVANGELISM (sharing the Good News about Jesus with those who do not know Him as their Savior), AND fostering a healthy, vibrant ORGANIC BODY LIFE.
For more information, contact Tony Steinbronn, Mission Executive, New Jersey District.