THE PROCESS
To help churches embrace the freedom of this paradigm, Equipping Leader Ministries will facilitate a process that includes the following components…
ASSESS
Equipping Leader Ministries (ELM) will offer a series of steps to evaluate the church’s present ministry status. The assessment will focus on congregation’s present practice of disciple-making and equipping as well as its readiness for change.
- Key Components:
- Emphasize prayer
- Disciple-making engagement survey of leaders
- Interviews with relevant staff members and some elders
- Staff giftedness inventory
- Change readiness analysis.
- Time Line: 2-3 months
- Outcome: An over-arching perspective of the church’s present commitment and focus on disciple-making and equipping. It will include recommendations and cautions. This will aid the church as they move from evaluation to the next stage – designing a plan for greater effectiveness.
DESIGN
ELM will partner with key leaders to identify a plan to align the church’s orientation towards becoming an equipping hub.
- Key Components:
- System Design (What do we want our church’s disciple-making ministry to look like? The Equipping Leader Pathway will serve as a guide.)
- Strategic Plan (What are the initiatives we need to implement in order to achieve the system design?)
- Communication Schematic (How are we going to communicate this change?)
- Implementation Infrastructure Blueprint (How are we going to change our structures – including ongoing assessment – to facilitate this change?)
- Spiritual Preparation Outline (focusing on prayer and fasting.)
- Timeline: 2-3 months
- Outcome: A written plan with agreed-upon targets and support systems (encouragement, training and accountability) built in. This will include ongoing ELM involvement.
IMPLEMENTATION
ELM will provide and resource implementation providing real-time coaching, training modules, and hands-on equipping (both as model and to provide staff bandwidth).
- Key components:
- On-going coaching
- Training modules (coaching, disciple-making, leadership development)
- On-site ministry presence as needs arise (including inevitable points of conflict management).
- Timeline: 6-18 months
- Outcomes: New Christians, greater giving, deepened spiritual maturity, vitality and excitement about God’s work
MULTIPLICATION
ELM will launch processes to aid churches to identify, train and release emerging leaders.
- Key components:
- “Call to Ministry” events intensive
- Leadership development and equipping experiences (internships)
- Multiplication training modules
- On-going mentoring
- Timeline: 6-12 months
- Outcomes: An ever growing pool of emerging leaders stepping into equipping roles
ANCHOR CHANGE
ELM will help the church usher in the systemic processes for continuing growth in equipping disciple-makers
- Key components:
- Organizational Integrity Evaluation
- Deepen leaderships ability to “abide” (retreats, prayer and service events, spiritual enrichment practices)
- Re-engage several components of the assessment step (building assessment into the culture of the church)
- Timeline: 3-6 months.
- Outcomes: A church infrastructure that will maintain a focus on disciple-making, equipping and releasing emerging leaders.
Much of this process will be built into the design stage
It should be noted that every phase will focus on using equipping as the method of accomplishing the initiatives in each one, as well as concentrating “equipping” as the message.