| May
2004 |
|
Free Online Training Designed Especially
for Church Volunteers |
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When we speak, teach, or preach about
evangelism, serving, giving, or praying—we fully expect
those we taught to get out there and do it!
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But let’s be painfully honest: For
the most part—it’s not happening—and it’s
time we quit pretending and admit it!
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Ever wonder why—and what you might
be able to do about it? Read on!
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This picture was taken from the archives of the
Red Cross—and it shows how the Red Cross used to train people
to swim. The Red Cross no longer teaches people to swim in this
manner. They discovered that if someone wants to learn how to swim,
it is best to first put her into the water—and to do the training
in the water!
While this sounds fairly basic, the truth of the matter is that
much of the speaking, teaching, and preaching in the church is like
teaching people to swim without letting them get wet! We simply
hope like crazy people will walk out of church and jump in the water
on their own. We preach a sermon on evangelism, serving, giving,
or praying, and we fully expect those we taught to get out there
and do it! Let’s be painfully frank: For the most part—it’s
not happening—and it’s time to quit pretending and admit
it! This is why we need to keep speaking, teaching, and preaching—but
follow up that instruction with authentic, hands-on training.
Why So Little Authentic Training
in the Church?
Why is there so much speaking, teaching, and preaching, but so little
authentic training in our churches? One reason is because we tend
to mindlessly mimic the American higher educational system. For
the most part, we in the church have patterned our “training”
approach—not after Jesus The Master Trainer—but after
the world (I’m tempted to say “god’) of higher
education. Having been “trained” in four different colleges,
universities, and institutes, I highly value learning on the college
level—but question the method in which most
higher education is conducted.
Taught to Swim by Dry People
For example, as a certified teacher for the state of Illinois, I
sat through hours upon hours of college classroom lectures in a
university that had the reputation for being one of the best teacher
training colleges in the United States. Ironically, I was often
lectured to by people who had not taught in a public school classroom
in years—and in some cases my professors had never taught
in a public school classroom. I was being trained to “swim”
by dry people. (Think here of the woman on the chair being taught
to swim without getting into the water.) While I valued the classroom
instruction of my professors, I knew deep in my heart that it could
be quite possible to pass all the classroom tests, become a certified
teacher, and yet still not really be able to teach effectively in
a real school situation. (Getting certified by the state doesn’t
really mean one can actually teach. It means you are an OK test
taker.) To become a REAL teacher, I needed to get in the water alongside
of some wet swimming instructors and learn to swim with the sharks.
Trained to Swim by Dripping
Wet Swimming Instructors
By far the greatest authentic training and equipping I received
during my under graduate experience happened that one semester I
student taught in a real school under the skillful guidance of veteran
teachers. Why? One reason was because they used all of my foibles
as teachable moments! When they saw me falling—which was often—they
caught me and redirected me. I fell—but they made sure the
falls were not fatal! And because I felt the need to learn (a natural
byproduct when you know you are failing)—I listened to my
trainers and immediately applied what they said! Indeed, when the
student is ready, the teacher appears. (Before I did student teaching,
I thought I knew everything I needed to know about teaching because
I sat in all those college classes about teaching! I had twenty-five
keys to success in teaching. After about a week into my student
teaching adventure, I had about one hundred and twenty-five challenging
students—and NO keys to teaching success!) Furthermore, when
my veteran trainers observed something good—they affirmed
me and then taught me how to do it better. The instruction and teaching
I got in the college classroom to be a teacher was, for the most
part, good and foundational. But nothing beat the training I got
from actually teaching under the wise supervision of skillful veteran
trainers who loved, invested, and did everything they could to make
me wildly successful as a teacher.
The Classroom AND Real Life
As much as we in the church would like to believe differently, the
reality is we can’t effectively train people to “swim”
solely in a classroom. In The Lost Art of Disciple Making,
respected trainer and disciplemaker, Leroy Eims, candidly confesses
his failures in his classroom-only approach to training:
I have tried to train men by gathering them together in a quiet
basement once a week to discuss the Christian life and then supplement
this with occasional seminars or special meetings. It didn’t
work. But men who have ministered with me in the push and shove
of life, out where we face victory and defeat daily, out in the
world of real living, are today productive for Christ.
If we truly want to train people to swim as disciples of Jesus,
we must dare to do what Jesus did—get them into the water
with us! (This assumes WE are in the waters of discipleship—not
behind the safety of the lectern.) One of the beauties of training
is that it includes the classroom—but it also transcends the
classroom and flows into the river of real life and ministry. Speaking,
teaching, and preaching are all critically important. However, when
speaking, teaching, and preaching are reinforced by real life training
experiences, the person being trained goes to a wh
ole new level of effectiveness.
The Dire Need of the Hour
in Most of Our Churches: Training
This is precisely why I believe that the dire need of the hour in
most of our churches is not more speaking, teaching, and preaching.
(Please keep in mind this is being written by someone who is a full-time
speaker, teacher, and preacher.) Most of our churches are crying—and
many are dying—for a “cadre” of people who are
trained to train others to do the work of the ministry. We desperately
need a Jesus-like on-the-job process that might start in a classroom
but for sure ends with the aspiring ministry swimmers in the waters
of ministry moving their arms and legs while being encouraged, equipped,
and coached by someone who knows how to swim a little AND is in
the water with them.
Cadre Ministries: Your Wet
Swimming Coaches Cheering You On!
Cadre Ministries exists to assist local churches in becoming the
greatest volunteer training organizations in the world. It is not
our desire to simply do a training workshop at your church. We don’t
want to swim for you. We’d rather get in the water next to
you and help you to swim—so you can help others to swim. In
the spirit and mode of operation of Jesus Christ, Cadre wants to
help you create a movement of hands on ministry training in your
church. We not only train volunteers in the church through on site
training, but we also train key trainers in local churches and certify
them so they can continue the training ministry within their local
churches without a fulltime Cadre staff person. That’s right.
We understand very clearly that Cadre exists ONLY for the health
and well-being of the local church—not for Cadre! Our goal
is to work ourselves out of a job by training outstanding trainers
in local churches all over the world—so that we are no longer
needed! If you are interested in Cadre’s trainer certification
process, please contact:
info@cadreministries.com
Conclusion: Speaking, Teaching,
Preaching—AND Training
I did not write this article to slam speaking, teaching, and preaching.
Clearly the Bible heralds their importance. And I do not want to
take anything away from all the excellent speaking, teaching, and
preaching in our churches today where it exists. I applaud it—and
I am passionate about seeing the church become a place of dynamic,
Holy-Spirit-empowered, Bible communication! However, the Bible also
very clearly accentuates the critical importance of training. (Get
your concordance out and look up the verses.) Yet, authentic Jesus-like
training is rare—if it exists at all—in the church of
Jesus Christ. While speaking, teaching, and preaching have enjoyed
a huge spotlight, God’s heart for training
disciples has become the missing jewel in most of our churches today.
I challenge you to not forget the importance of the ministry of
training people like Jesus modeled.
Indeed, we can’t make authentic disciples of Jesus Christ
by speaking, teaching, and preaching alone—we must also commit
to an authentic Jesus-like training approach to making disciples.
Are you going to keep doing ministry activities whether or not they
actually accomplish the task of making disciples because that’s
what you’ve always done? Or are you going to have the guts
to follow Jesus’ approach to ministry—and move from
speaking, teaching and preaching to speaking, teaching, preaching,
AND training? Be very careful how
Application: So What Are YOU
Going to Do About Training in Your Church?
1. Is your current STP approach to ministry producing a “cadre”
of faithful people who are able to teach others also? Take out a
piece of paper and pen and, by name, list those in your church who
are faithfully, intentio nally, and systematically passing on to
others what you are passing on to them.
2. How, exactly, is all the speaking, teaching, and preaching populating
your church with a “cadre” of spiritually qualified
workers? Be specific. Share stories of specific people in your church.
3. Would you rather have a small “cadre” of disciples
who are equipped to do the work of the ministry, or one hundred
or more people who show up only to listen to you speak, teach, or
preach?
4. How do you think Jesus would have answered these questions about
his ministry? How would Jesus’ answers compare and contrast
to yours?
To respond to this article, please send e-mail to:
bill@cadreministries.com
Plan
NOW for Fall Teacher, Leadership, and Ministry Training at YOUR
Church
Bringing a certified Cadre trainer to your church this fall is easier
than you might think! If we can serve you by brining on site training
to your church, please contact us at our e-mail below.
For the specific kinds of training we can bring to you, your leaders,
and volunteers, check out:
http://www.cadreinternational.com/training
* Interested in participating in a training workshop and need more
details? Contact us at info@cadreministries.com
 Meet
Patty Gunger >>
An Awesome Volunteer at Park Community Church
in Chicago, IL:
According to Christine Holt, Children's Director of
Park Community Church, "Patty Gunger is a faithful K-1st Sunday
school teacher at Park Community Church in Chicago, IL. She displays
remarkable concern for the hearts of each child in her class, she
puts significant thought and effort into teaching her lessons, and
routinely seeks the Holy Spirit's guidance and gets it! Sunday after
Sunday she comes to me saying, "Guess what! God gave me an
idea!"...and she uses these ideas to enhance her teaching.
She accepted the role of lead volunteer some time ago, and shepherds
the 5 other teachers in our grade school department. She pursues
God's leading and growth in her life, shows Christ-like love and
humility to everyone she meets, and frequently encourages me as
a leader. I refer to her as a "professional volunteer",
because she gives 110% to her ministry."
WAY TO GO GOD, PATTY, CHRISTINE, AND PARK COMMUNITY CHURCH
Resources
You Can Use This Summer:
Strange But True
Stories...
Missed the strange but true Allison stories? If so, click
below for a new story:
http://homepage.mac.com/billc323/Personal7.html
For more information hosting or participating in
a Cadre training workshop, contact info@cadreministries.com
For Cadre training resources, visit: http://www.cadreministries.com/store
The Cadre team. From left
to right: Bill, Rennie, Dave, Laura, and Doug... here to serve
and bless volunteers like YOU!
In the spirit of Ephesians 4:11-12, it is Cadre's passion to
bring glory to God by assisting local churches in becoming the best
volunteer training "cadres" in the world.
Cadre is a not-for-profit ministry [501(c)(3)] that exists
to make you wildly successful at becoming what God has called you
to become as you serve others in your local church and community.
We serve as support-based, God-dependent missionaries to come alongside
volunteers and those who care for volunteers in the church (globally)
to help accomplish their God-given mission. Eph. 4:10-17
We provide free monthly online training for volunteers in the
church (Cadre Connection), for volunteer Jr. High Youthworkers (Batteries
Included), and for Student Leaders (Spiritual Caffeine). Visit www.cadreministries.com
to preview our recent free training or to sign up to receive training
in your email-box monthly.
For more information about bringing a certified Cadre trainer
to coach and train the volunteer teachers, leaders, and youth workers
in your church, contact info@cadreministries.com
For Cadre training sources visit http://www.cadreministries.com/store
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