Adoration:
advancing corporate worship
Believers are nurtured as they gather with the church to worship
the Lord.
Corporate worship occurs in the weekly worship service, in
small group gatherings, in youth ministry meetings, and in other
formats and locations where believers are gathered to worship. Emerging
ministers need to develop competency in leading worship
in accordance with their gifting and ministry assignment. What
is common to all worship venues is addressed here.
Essential knowledge
- Understanding the following concerning worship:
- That worship is ministry to the Lord—what
we give,
rather than merely what we receive
- That worship is the ministry (priesthood)
of all believers facilitated by a team of worship
leaders/workers
- The biblical and historic roots of
Christian worship
- The elements of Christian worship including
praise in music and prayer, intercessory prayer, preaching
of and listening to the Word, giving of the offering, communion,
etc.
- The importance of multi-generational worship
Essentials skills
- Able to contribute actively to corporate worship in accordance
with giftedness and ministry assignment
- Able to lead in public prayer
- Able (as appropriate to ministry assignment) to contribute
to the design and coordination of corporate worship gatherings
Equipping toolbox
- Book: Worship, Community & the Triune God of Grace by James B. Torrance
- CCBT study guide; Book 2, issue 7: How Can We Avoid “Worship
Wars”?
- Book: Leadership Handbook of Preaching and Worship, edited
by James Berkley
- Online articles on worship at www.wcg.org/lit/spiritual/worship
- Trinitarian Worship blog
Adoration & Community:
advancing small group ministry
Believers are nurtured in small group settings where there is
a transformative environment of intimacy and accountability.
In such settings believers gather for worship (adoration in various
forms including prayer), for mutual edification and sharing, and
for the study of Scripture. Equippers assist emerging ministers
in gaining competency in organizing and facilitating small
group ministry by focusing on the following:
Essential knowledge
- Understands the following about small group ministry:
- The role of small groups in the
ministry of Jesus and the early church
- Small group organization, relational dynamics
and life-cycle issues
- Small group facilitation/collaborative
discussion processes
- Use of small groups for evangelism, nurturing
believers, and task accomplishment in the local church
- Small group accountability processes, including
the accountability of small group leaders to pastoral supervisors
Essential skills
- Able to launch a small group
- Able to organize a small group leadership team
- Able to facilitate small group meetings
- Able to be accountable within the small group leadership structure
- Able to multiply one small group into two groups
Equipping toolbox
Community: developing relationships
Believers are nurtured through Christ-centered relationships within
the body of Christ. Emerging ministers need to learn to initiate
and develop such relationships by focusing on the following:
Essential knowledge
- Understanding the essential components of relationship building
including the role of the Spirit in building the fellowship (koinonia)
of the church
- Understanding how to engage in relationship initiating and
building activities and conversations
- Understanding how to be sensitive to different types and
personalities of people and relational styles and the ability
to respond appropriately
Essential skills
- Able to build multiple deep, enduring and edifying relationships with
believers, regardless of cultural or generational differences
- These relationships are edifying in that the recipient indicates
that they not only feel loved, but is helped to grow or develop
through the relationship
- Essential relational skills include the following:
- Active listening (reflective listening)
- Empathy (the identification of oneself with
another and the resulting capacity to feel or experience
sensations, emotions, or thought similar to those being experienced
by the other)
- Effective interpersonal communication (able
to lead dialogue where both parties feel affirmed and
cared for)
Equipping toolbox
- CCBT
study guides:
- Book 3, issue 2: How Can Church Leaders Maintain
Authentic Spirituality?
- Book 3, issue 3: How Can Leaders Develop Mature Christlike
Character?
- Book 3, issue 4: How Can Church Leaders
Ensure They are Above Reproach?
- Book 3, issue 5: How Can a Church Leader Be a
Servant Yet Have Authority?
- Book 3, issue 7: How do Church Leaders Care for
the Flock?
- Book 3, issue 8: How Should Church Leaders Protect
the Flock?
- Book: It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian by
Tod E. Bolsinger
- Book: Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian
Tradition by Christine Pohl
- Book: Perils of Power by Richard Exley
- Book: Quick-to-Listen Leaders by Dave Ping and Anne
Clippard
- Online listening skills assessment (focused on relationships
with partners, but appropriate for any listening skills) www.positive-way.com/listenin.htm
- Online resources on developing interpersonal skills: www.managementhelp.org/commskls/listen/listen.htm
- Online article: Empathy www.leadershipproject.net/clientarea/empathyarticle.html
- Online article: The Art of Starting a Conversation www.hodu.com/start.shtml
- Biblical counseling courses from AACC: www.aacc.net/courses/biblical-counseling/
Truth: embracing and teaching
the Faith
Believers are nurtured by being immersed in God’s truth—the
Apostolic Faith which is focused on the Kingdom of God present
in the person of Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Emerging
ministers need to fully embrace this truth for themselves and
faithfully and skillfully teach it to others. Such
teaching will occur in various settings including preaching in
worship services, teaching in small groups, sharing in informal
settings, and the like.
Ability to teach the truth involves understanding the core doctrines
of the Christian faith, which are summarized here as they are presented
in the GCI Summary
of Our Christian Faith. Each element of this summary
carries with it certain essential issues of knowledge, skill, outcomes
and resources which are addressed in this section.
Overview: Each section below
provides a ‘toolbox’ with recommended resources related
to an individual doctrine. The following resources are recommended
for a systematic overview of Christian doctrine:
The Triune God: We
believe in one holy, loving, all-powerful, and gracious Creator
God who exists in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
Essential knowledge
- Understands
the essential elements of the doctrine of the Trinity (one God
who is eternally three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
Essential skills
- Can skillfully present and defend the doctrine of the trinity
- Refrains from discussions about God that deny the triune nature
of God
Equipping toolbox
The Holy Scriptures: We
believe that the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of
God, fully authoritative for all matters of faith and practice.
Essential knowledge
- Has a thorough grasp of the Bible and of the Christian doctrine
of the Holy Scriptures including the veracity of the Bible and
the primacy in Scripture of the Gospel of grace
- Can defend against myths and errors associated with this doctrine
Essential skills
- Evidence that the Word of God is the compass that guides the
emerging minister’s life
- Working knowledge of the entire Bible’s use in the spiritual
formation of believers
- Ability to understand and teach Scripture using sound exegetical
and expository principles that avoid ‘proof-texting’ and
related pitfalls
- Ability to use Scripture in ways that are Christ-centered and
gospel-focused
Equipping toolbox
Jesus Christ: We
believe that Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, fully God
and fully human, is both Lord and Savior. That he suffered
and died on the cross for human sin, that he was raised bodily
on the third day, and that he ascended to heaven and sits at
the right hand of God the Father. That he will come again to
judge the living and the dead and to reign over all things.
Essential knowledge
- Can articulate the essential elements of the doctrine of Jesus
Christ, including:
- Knowledge of the nature of Jesus as both fully God and fully
human
- Knowledge of Jesus as Lord and Savior
- Knowledge that Jesus suffered and died for human sin
- Knowledge that he was resurrected on the third day
- Knowledge that he ascended bodily to heaven and sits at the right
hand of the Father
- Knowledge that Jesus will come again in glory to judge the
living and the dead
- Knowledge that Jesus will reign over all things
Essential skills
- Can skillfully present and defend the doctrine of Jesus Christ
Equipping toolbox
Holy Spirit: We
believe in the Holy Spirit, who brings sinners to repentance,
who gives eternal life to believers, and who lives in them
to conform them to the image of Jesus Christ.
Essential knowledge
- Can articulate the following essential elements of the doctrine
of the Holy Spirit:
- Knowledge that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity
- Knowledge that the Holy Spirit brings sinners to repentance:
convicting them concerning sin and righteousness
- Knowledge that the Holy Spirit gives eternal life by regenerating
believers
- Knowledge that the Holy Spirit lives in believers for the purpose
of conforming them to the image of Jesus Christ, providing
counsel and comfort
Essential skills
- Can skillfully and scripturally defend the doctrine of the
Holy Spirit
Equipping toolbox
The Church and the Christian life: We
believe that Christians should gather in regular fellowship
and live lives of faith that make evident the good news that
humans enter the kingdom of God by putting their trust in Jesus
Christ. We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Essential knowledge
- Can articulate the following essential elements of this doctrine:
- Knowledge that the Church involves membership in both the universal
church and local church
- Knowledge that there is no single ‘true’ church
organization (denomination), but a spiritual family of born
again believers that constitutes the one, holy, universal
church
- Knowledge that the Holy Spirit binds together all believers
in spiritual union even as they find ongoing fellowship and focus
on mission through active membership in a local congregation
and affiliation with a regional/national/global denomination
- Knowledge that active involvement in local church is of great
importance to the mission of the universal church and to the
believers who constitute the body of Christ
- Knowledge that God places the believer in the body of Christ,
within a local congregation in accordance with his purpose
and will
- Knowledge that believers are those who have repented and
have faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior
- Knowledge that believers should live lives of faith that
give evidence of the truth of the gospel and of the present
reality of the Kingdom in their lives
- Knowledge that the Christian life is a stewardship of God’s
grace in its many forms
- Knowledge that gifts are given to the believer for the benefit
of the body, not the distinction of the believer
Essential skills
- Can skillfully present and defend the doctrine of the church
and the Christian life
Equipping toolbox
- CCBT
study guides:
- Book 1, issue 9: Why Should We Love God’s New
Community?
- issue
10: Sanctification—How Can We be Holy in a Sinful
World?
- Book 2, issue 1: Why is the Church so Special to God?
issue
2: What is the Significance of the Church in God’s
Overall Plan?
issue
3: What on Earth is the Church?
issue
4: How Can Church Members Complement
Each Other?
issue
5: How Can You Build Relationships in Your Church?
issue
6: What are Church Leaders to Be and Do?
issue
8: How Do We Maintain Purity in the Church?
- Book: Body Life by Ray Stedman (available online at http://www.pbc.org/library/series/10274)
- Book: Stop Dating the Church by Josh Harnett
- Online articles about the church and serving in the church: www.wcg.org/lit/church/ministry/
- Online scriptures concerning Christian conduct www.wcg.org/lit/aboutus/beliefs/conduct.htm
Salvation by grace: We
believe that salvation comes not by works, but only by God’s
grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Essential knowledge
- Can articulate the following essential elements of this doctrine:
- Knowledge that the life and work of Jesus, who is embraced through repentance and faith, is sufficient for salvation
- Knowledge that works are a by-product of salvation (grace),
not a cause or means to maintain it
- Knowledge of the breadth and depth of the grace extended to
us by our Savior which includes all aspects of our salvation:
justification, sanctification and glorification
Essential skills
- Can skillfully teach and defend the doctrine of salvation by
grace
- Can teach all doctrinal/Biblical topics in ways that are grace-based
and gospel-focused (rather than legalistic)
- Can appropriately teach the role of works in a Christian’s
life…not as a means to salvation, but an appropriate
result of and response to the grace extended to us
Equipping toolbox
The life to come: We
believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life
of the world to come.
Essential knowledge
- Can articulate the following essential elements of this doctrine:
- Knowledge of the future general resurrection of the dead
- Knowledge of life following glorification of the body in the
resurrection
- Knowledge of the major eschatological views accepted within
orthodox Christianity
Essential skills
- Can skillfully present and defend the doctrine of the life
to come
Equipping toolbox
Truth: teaching effectively
For believers to be nurtured in God’s truth, it is vital
that ministers be effective in teaching that truth to believers
and non-believers alike. Thus emerging ministers need to become
competent teachers. That competency involves the following issues
which a mentor will help their protégés address.
Essential knowledge
- Can articulate the essential components of effective public
speaking/teaching/preaching, including:
- Knowledge of how to prepare a presentation/teaching lesson
- Knowledge of the essential elements of an effective presentation:
introduction, thesis statement, body and conclusion
- Knowledge of principles of audience analysis—what does
this particular audience need from this presentation?
- Knowledge of mechanics of an effective oral presentation:
eye contact, vocal variety, use of gestures, cadence or pacing,
volume variation, use of multi-media aids, etc.
Essential skills
- Can provide tangible evidence of applied knowledge on how to
deliver an effective presentation
- Can effectively present God’s Word: the Apostolic
testimony to the Living Word Jesus which is the central focus
of Scripture
Equipping Toolbox
Serving: encouraging whole-life
stewardship
Believers grow as they become faithful and consistent stewards
of their entire lives, including their time, talent (natural and
spiritual gifts) and treasure (financial resources). Emerging ministers
need to be equipped to model and teach others whole-life stewardship.
In that equipping process the following issues are essential.
Essential knowledge
- Can articulate the following essential elements of a
Christian's stewardship of their whole lives:
- All
of our resources belong to God—he is the provider
and owner and we are the stewards
- The foundation of Christian stewardship in the grace of
God—faithful
and generous stewardship is our grateful response to God’s
undeserved gifts: Generous God; generous people
- Stewardship involves being stewards of God’s grace
in all of
its forms
- Able to accurately identify spiritual gifts and understand
how they are given for the building up of the church, not
for personal gratification
Essential skills
- Able to budget time, talent and treasure so that the person
has ‘margin’ sufficient for planned and spontaneous
generosity
- Able to model and teach whole-life stewardship to other believers
- Able to minister out of spiritual giftedness while also serving
in other areas of need—able to help other believers minister
in the same way
- Able to be resilient—living the life of a steward in
good times and in bad, moving forward in faith in God’s
provision, despite obstacles such as lack of time, or other resources
Equipping toolbox:
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