Lifelong Learning

This class is designed to answer three basic questions. First, what is forgiveness? Without a clear definition of forgiveness, it is near impossible to actually practice forgiveness. Second, what are some common misconceptions surrounding forgiveness? Often, forgiveness gets mistaken for mercy or reconciliation. This course will help correct some of these common misconceptions. Finally, the course will give practical tips for learning how to forgive more consistently and effectively. Many of us want to forgive, but simply don’t know how. This course will offer some very practical steps for moving through the process of forgiveness.

Being a member of the Local Church Board may be in your future. This class will provide you with insights, responsibilities of local church boards, and interpersonal suggestions to help you become an effective board member.

An overview of principles, procedures and best practices relating to the leadership and development of the local church board. The course will explore ways to create functionally effective church boards and the personal development of board members. The goal is that every church board will fulfill its fiduciary responsibility and give spiritual leadership.

An exploration of how pastors and church leaders can engage in what God is doing in their local communities through missional engagement. The course will explore how missional engagement includes both discipleship and evangelism and how it forms and shapes faithful disciples.

This course is designed for high school students and recent college graduates.
Ever wonder if God has a special call for your life…. for your job…. for your future? Join me in this short 1-week course to listen to what God may be quietly calling you to do and be.

Did you know the order of services at your church are shaping your people? It isn’t just the content of worship services that matter, the order itself is formational. In this course, we’ll explore the merits of the four-fold pattern of worship for Christian formation and strategies for implementing it in your church. Course will include discussion on the meaning of liturgy, discovery of the four-fold pattern of worship, and shaping our rhythms of worship to tell the Gospel story.

This course will provide the opportunity to review the tenets of a theology of holiness and sanctification, as well as explore some key areas of confusion that can still linger when presenting and preaching the doctrine today. Attention will be given particularly in how to communicate the theology to laity.

An exploratory study of preaching and worship trends for those in ministry, including various methodologies for communicating the gospel in contemporary contexts.

What is the purpose of ministry to and with young persons? What exactly does the Church hope to accomplish? In this course, we will explore a biblical and theological purpose for ministry that will set the trajectory for youth ministry to stem the tide of young people leaving the Church (40-60%) after high school graduation.

Howard Hendricks has written that the ‘effective teacher teaches out of the overflow of a full heart’. I believe the same could be said for the ministry of pastors. In a culture where many pastors are tempted to be discouraged, we want to consider how the ‘growing of our hearts’ can enable us to lean into the call God has placed upon us and experience greater joy, satisfaction, and effectiveness in ministry. During the week we will be assessing those things that stimulate growth in our hearts, expanding our pastoral ‘self-awareness’ and seeking to reenergize our pastoral imagination and dreams.

The small church exists in a consumer culture where many people are influenced to shop for a church that offers the best selection of ministry services. Therefore, a small-church pastor may feel as if his or her church cannot compete in the “church market.” This course encourages small-church minsters to recognize the advantages of small churches and to develop a foundational plan for long-term, sustainable church growth, even in a consumer culture.

This course explores the various personal and spiritual issues that confront Christian leaders in ministry. Topics include strategies for finishing well in life and ministry, managing stress and burnout, addressing sexuality in ministry, re-imagining success in ministry, and developing a healthy life-ministry rhythm.

How does a creation that reveals God shape our preaching? In this class, we will explore the theological and environmental roots of Ecotheology and examine the ways creation reveals the nature of God. This course will culminate in a sermon constructed with these principles in mind.

People in our communities often struggle with emotional, relational, and mental health concerns. These struggles come in a variety of forms such as the loss of a loved one, marital infidelity, addiction, or depression, to name a few. Often the pastor is on the front line, offering support to community members before other support resources are available. In this course, we will discuss foundational skills to assist pastors in this valuable role as pastoral counselors. The course will include an optional live question-and-answer time where we will address specific questions about students’ settings and concerns.

Reading a New Testament letter can be like reading someone else’s mail…. but centuries old! And these letters often deal with issues very different from what we face today. This course will explore how we can read these letters so that they speak in fresh ways in our day. Each offering of this course will examine a different letter.

It is common for local mission to be built around the initiatives of the pastor and staff, as well as the buildings, strategies, programs, plans, and outreach of the local church. However, for the majority of the unchurched, these initiatives, strategies, and programs rarely intersect daily life where they live. Reframing Local Mission invites us to “reframe” local mission around neighbors and neighborhoods.  In this course, you will learn five questions to ask in your neighborhood, and hear stories of people who are engaged in practices that frame life and mission around neighbors and neighborhoods.

The sacraments are God’s gift to creation, that through the Church, God is healing and redeeming creation to be more fully what God created the World to be. Both the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper will be explored, including theological, liturgical and practical issues for ministry.