Personal Timeline Lessons of Ministry Leaders
Gateway Seminary has a course that is required at the beginning of every degree program called P1111 Introduction to Ministry Formation. New students filter through this class as they start seminary to develop a deeper understanding of their calling and how seminary aides them in fulfilling their call to ministry leadership. Students take the class […]
Henrietta Mears and Sunday School Evangelism – An Excerpt
While some had already written off Sunday school as a thing of the past, Mears brought new purpose, rigor, and enthusiasm to the education department of First Presbyterian Church. She paired her education experience with her passion for the Bible as she approached her new ministry assignment. Marked by quality, age-appropriate learning, trained teachers, and […]
Community Dispersed
In the initial days and weeks of shutdowns across the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, churches, ministry leaders, and organizations grappled with how to be the church dispersed. Instantly, ministry leaders had to learn not only how to deliver a sermon digitally but wrestled with how to build needed community when God’s people could […]
Surprising Community
In the past week, our church world has been turned upside down. Church members who have sat in the same pews for decades have had to navigate to Facebook, YouTube, or Zoom to participate in worship. Pastors who are skilled at speaking to a room of congregants have had to become instant tech experts and […]
Connecting Members to Members (and Beyond) in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Online education is not simply watching a video and church shouldn’t be either. Our members need engagement with biblical content and interaction with the church leadership, but they also need one another. The third component of our online education framework, “The Community of Inquiry,” is connecting members to other members, neighbors, friends, and the lost. […]
Connecting Members to Leaders In the COVID-19 Pandemic
As we consider how online education theory can inform ways to create a healthy community at a distance, the next component in our “Community of Inquiry” framework is to facilitate ways for the church leadership to interact with members. Sometimes we forget how important a quick phone call, text, or written note directly from the […]
Connecting Members to Content in the COVID-19 Pandemic
As our church members feel isolated, fearful, anxious, and uncertain, they need the truth of God’s Word. This brings us to our first component of the online education framework called “The Community of Inquiry,” which is the need to connect members to content. During this chaotic time, church leaders must help members engage with Bible […]
Online Education and Church during the COVID-19 Pandemic
As churches move to online platforms, live streams, and other technology solutions in the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak, we wanted to share some tried and true online education principles that can help inform pastors and church leaders in this transition. Online education done well is not simply watching a video, rather it is building […]
Maximizing Prayer Time
Small group prayer can be some of the most meaningful moments of your group’s weekly time together. Prayer builds bonds between members of the group, encourages faith in God’s provision and care, and invites God to interject in our lives in a powerful way. As Bible teachers, you know that prayer requests are an essential […]
How to Get the Most out of Biblical Characters
Some of my favorite Bible studies are studies that go through the life of a biblical character. I love to learn about Abraham’s faith, Joshua’s courage, David’s humility, and Nehemiah’s leadership. The stories are often gripping and application for my life abounds. However, I often see Bible teachers use lessons about our favorite Bible characters […]