Life Group Training

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Life Group Training

• Topic Discipleship Apprenticeship
• Passing the Baton!
• Prepared 11/9/05
• Presented 11/13/05

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Be Intentional

• Intentional Shepherding
• Intentional Discipleship
• Intentional Apprenticing
• Intentional Leadership Development

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Church Support (Value of Training)

• Most strategic person in life-change process is
  the small group leader
• Priority of church leadership it to help small
  group leaders succeed through support and
  training.
• Huddles - gatherings with leaders for
  encouragement and accountability
• Skills training - how to training
• Vision casting - purpose and goals
• Oversight from coaches
• 1 Coach to 3 Leaders

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Part1 Values - Leaders Goals

• Ultimate Goal of Leader - Promote Life Change
• Growth in Christ-like character, loving one
  another, giving of self and resources
• Also, must help Groups Grow and eventually
  birth new groups
• By recruiting an apprentice, attending training,
  and planning for the birth

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Leaders Responsibilities

• Build a Leadership Team
• Recruit an Apprentice
• Connect People to Community
• Invite, model, be real and open, have fun
• Develop the Members of Your Group
• Disciple, pray, care for, serve, assist and help
• Multiply the Ministry
• Develop apprentice, plan, pray and vision-cast

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Topics

• Discipleship
• Apprenticeship
• Pass the Baton Commissioning

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DISCIPLESHIP
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Part1 Disciples

• Ultimate purpose for small groups is to move
  people toward greater relationship with Christ
  and transform them into His image.
• What is a Disciple?
• In simplest form, a disciple is an apprentice to
  Jesus

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Part1 Disciples Look Like?

• Participating member of a local body
• Maturing in
• Grace- saved, baptized, sharing Christ
• Growth - active pursuit of life change
• Group - participates in community
• Gifts - seeking to discover, develop and deploy
  their God-given gifts in serving
• Good Stewardship - submitted to Gods lordship
  and give generously and cheerfully

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Part1 Disciples Look Like?

• Pursue Christ-honoring relationships at home,
  work, and within the church
• Committed to pursuing the biblical pattern of
  reconciliation when conflict arises
• Support the leadership of the church and are
  biblically submissive to it
• Affirm and uphold the fundamental truths of
  Scripture as identified in the Statement of
  Faith, and refrain from promoting other doctrines
  in a dissenting fashion

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Mandate Great Commission

• Go Make Disciples, Teach To Obey
• Matt 2819-20
• Directives Go-Make-Teach
• Go - Proactive \ Intentional
• Make - Work \ Time \ Plan and Process
• Teach - Instruction \ Modeling \ Accountability
• Results Disciples
• 2 Tim 22 - Teach them to Teach others

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Mandate Examples

• Moses and Joshua
• Elijah and Elisha
• Jesus and Disciples
• Paul and Timothy

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Steps of Discipleship
LEADERSHIP
BASICS
FOUNDATIONS
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Stages of Growth (1 John 2)

• Child (Be Changed)
• Newly saved, Under developed
• Needs the foundational truths and adoption (a
  family - LG)
• Young Man (Being Changed)
• Knows the Bible and Basics
• Begun to war with strongholds of sin
• Needs accountability, mentoring, and experience
• Father (Bringing Change)
• Reproducing and nurturing
• Intimate relationship with God and Word, and free
  from major strongholds
• Needs support and opportunity

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Methods and Providers
Qualified Sponsor completed course and
approved to sponsor
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Relationship of Discipleship and Leadership

• Leadership is just the natural progression of
  becoming a disciple.
• We pull leaders from the pool of mature
  disciples.
• Thus leadership development naturally includes
  the basic discipleship components.
• The two cannot really be isolated.

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Vision Sponsorship

• We believe that discipleship has as much to do
  with the relationship as it does the curriculum
• We believe that more is caught than taught
• Modeling is key to discipleship\maturity
• Everyone should have spiritual fathers they can
  relate to and fall back on
• Thus - we want to assign each disciple a sponsor

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Vision Pass it on

• 2 Timothy 22 Model
• Paul instructs Timothy to find and teach others
  the Christian life and principles that will in
  turn teach others
• A disciple, by definition, disciples others
• Once discipled and grounded, we expect people to
  disciple another

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Vision Life Groups

• We see Life Groups as spiritual families where
  new borns are
• Birthed or adopted
• Fed and cared for
• Taught and trained
• Challenged and experienced
• Released to ministry
• Discipleship is core to this process, and done
  primarily by these groups.
• These groups are the ideal landing spot for
  those being discipled

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Program Ownership

• Owner Connections Ministry
• Prayer Room connections
• Fellowship One
• Contacts (action forms for assignments)
• Records updates (saved, discipled, sponsored)
• Ultimate responsibility management
• Program\Curriculum
• Qualified Sponsor list management
• Primary Provider Life Groups
• Majority of discipleship takes place

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Program Materials

• FOUNDATIONS
• Knowing God
• Multiplication Ministries resource
• 4 weeks long, covers foundational items in very
  simple but effective format
• EVERYONE starts here ! (so they can lead
  another)
• BASICS
• Arrival Kit
• Touch Ministries resource
• 11 weeks long, in context of small group
• One to One Discipling
• Multiplication Ministries resource
• 9 lessons long, basic Christian theology compiled
  from Campus Crusade, Navigators, MacAuthur, etc.

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Programs Flow
1. Prayer Room or Discovered
2. Connections (F1 entry, contact created,
assigned)
3. Life Group or Qualified Sponsor
4. Connect with disciple and complete course
5. Notify Connections (F1 update)
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Summary

• Discipleship is core to our ministry and mission
  as a church
• We must be organized and intentional
• Those who complete discipleship and sponsor
  others are Bringing Change
• We want a church full of disciples
• Ultimately we want discipleship to be organic
  (happens naturally without mgt.)

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Leaders Role in Initiation
One Time
Group 1
Group X
Disciple - Foundation - Basic
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
In first group the Leader needs to model and
train discipleship, then move on to
apprenticeship of the next leader.
Thereafter, the group members should be able to
provide discipleship to newcomers and allow
leader to apprentice mainly.
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Action - Start Discipleship

• Cast the vision for your group and gather
  interests in discipleship
• Find a woman to lead the ladies
• Form 2 groups (mens and womens)
• Start with 2-4 weeks in the Foundations course
  (meet when, where the group can)
• Can do as a group and cover the Leader portion
  and Lesson 1 on Wk 1, and then Weeks 2-4 on the
  second meeting
• Move on to Basics course (Arrival Kit preferably)
• Can do as a group, covering 2 weeks at a time
  (every other wk)
• Commission the finishers to grab someone else and
  do the same, following the guides in the
  materials and only covering 1 lesson per time
• Let us know if you need a review and verbal walk
  thru

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APPRENTICESHIP
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Values - Multiplication Goals

• Success of leadership is ultimately seen in the
  viability of the daughter groups
• Not just birthing, but birthing a healthy group
  that produces life change
• Ultimately birthing new groups

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Values - Why Apprenticeship

• Groups do not exist for themselves
• Resist selfish focus and include others
• Everyone needs community and life change
• THUS
• Must have a strategy for growth and reproduction
• Apprenticeship fosters new leaders and supports
  this strategy

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Apprenticeship - WHY?

• Ministry depends on leadership
• Quality and effectiveness depends on the quality
  of the leader
• Churchs responsibility to identify and develop
  leaders
• Jesus modeled with the disciples
• Paul exhorted Timothy to do the same (2 Tim 22)
• Eph. 412 Concept of mobilization - Equip the
  saints for the work of the ministry
• Small group leader duty and privilege

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Apprenticeship Checklist

• Purpose
• To provide a simple path toward leadership
• To provide tracking form for completion
• To help prospective apprentices count the cost

Note Checklist still in development, but a good
guide.
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Apprenticeship Checklist

• Section
• Discipleship
• Commitment to Leadership
• Apprenticeship
• Review

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Part3 Apprentice Needs

• Understand the job description and developmental
  aspects
• Understand time commitments and development plan
• Assurance that training will be provided
• Understanding of the vision and values of small
  group ministry

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Apprenticing Process

• Jesus and the show how model
• I do, you watch
• I do, you help
• You do, I help
• You do, I watch
• You do, someone else watches
• The last step assures continuity and is most
  often forgotten
• Process is not complete until you train another

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Apprentice Process

• Identify potential leaders
• Invite for special tasks
• Increase request quantity or size
• Approach about being an apprentice
• Review Checklist Willow Creek book
• Gain commitment or start process and gain later
• When committed - track items, review progress,
  encourage, plan next steps
• Include them in ministry
• Expand their role in LG
• Form a birthing team (them, apprentice,
  worship, etc)

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Part3 4 Responsibilities of Apprentice

• Love
• Love and support your leader and people
• Learn
• Watch, note, discuss, read, train
• Lead
• Stepped experience
• Look
• For your apprentice(s)

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Worship Leader Apprenticing

• Gabriel Velasco Coordinating
• Assisting new worship leaders
• Validating experienced ones
• Placement assistance

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Action - Start Apprenticeship

• Identify your likely leaders
• Start including them in parts of the meeting and
  ministry
• Approach about apprenticing
• Share with them the Apprentice Checklist
• Gain commitment and associated paperwork
• Review with your coach and get approval for
  individual
• Formally finalize any outstanding items
• Submit paperwork and schedule a review
• Form a team and start planning

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The Relay Race

• 2 Tim 22
• We all run
• The handoff is the key

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Commissioning - Pass the Baton

• We are counting on you
• You control the quality of this ministry and our
  body in the future
• Find good leaders, apprentice well
• Make a good, clean hand-off
• Help them be successful

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Online Forms for Life Groups

• Forms used for Life Group purposes will be stored
  on the web at
• calvaryaustin.org/lifegroups/leaders/
• Included Items
• Responsibility sign-ups, Contact information,
  Meeting Agenda Template, Leader Checklist,
  Reports, Evaluations, Apprentice Checklist,
  Training Materials