The Exodus 18 Leadership Initiative is an on-line ministry training devoted to equipping leaders (clergy and laity) in local congregations for the development of healthy church systems, practical leadership skills, ministry skills, and personal growth. Participants will be engaged in skill development and hands-on practical applications.
Like the biblical character of Jethro who engaged Moses and helped him find a better way to do ministry (Exodus 18), the Leadership Initiative is dedicated to bringing the experience and expertise of successful leaders to support those seeking to be more effective, vital, and transforming in their ministries.
Each module includes a variety of instructional methodologies through which participants are exposed to practical approaches for ministry development. Modules include training, downloadable handouts, ministry assessment tools, and activities.
Fellowship to Hospitality – 25 Lessons
Description: Imagine a church where people experience authentic relationships, engaging welcome, community connections, and personal connections with unchurched friends, neighbors, and networks of acquaintances. This is all possible with some intentionality built into the way a congregation engages in being the Church. Explore the 4 dimensions of healthy hospitality: Interpersonal, Intentional, Invitational, and Incarnational and build your own amazing intentional hospitality system. -View Module
FIT (Form, Intensity, and Time) – 16 Lessons
Description: FIT engages the participant in a discovery process exploring how God has equipped the individual for effective, rewarding service in the Kingdom work. Built on the idea that God gifts each individual for service through the Holy Spirit, FIT recognizes that this gifting is broader than just spiritual gifts – that God gives us passions, personalities, talents, and life experiences that all equip us to make a Kingdom impact. -View Module
Coaching Foundations – 19 Lessons
Description: Effective ministry leadership isn’t just about being a competent administrator or a decisive decision-maker. It’s about becoming a coaching leader: partnering with those you lead to develop their own potential for leadership. It’s about moving beyond generic encouragement to helping those being coached achieve designated outcomes. Successful coaching is built on a specific set of skills, and the lessons in this module build and refine those skills. Learn to help other people define a way forward by asking good questions, identifying obstacles, developing realistic strategies and celebrating success. -View Module
Congregational Leadership Skills
Missional Alignment – 8 Lessons
Description: It is nearly impossible to reach a destination if you aren’t sure where you want to go. And yet ministries often make decisions with no clear sense of their ultimate goals. Different groups have different priorities, and we end up working in chaos with competing priorities and disjointed outcomes. Successful long-term ministry is the product of a unified vision, developed collaboratively and shared by all stakeholders. Such missional alignment is achieved through an intentional strategy. This module shares the skills and techniques necessary for leaders in the process of developing and unifying your ministry vision. These skills and techniques are applicable to megachurches and boutique ministries. They are straightforward to implement, yet powerful in practice. -View Module
Community Analysis — Coming Soon!
Every successful ministry depends upon an authentic understanding of the community that it serves. In order to thrive, grow, and succeed, a ministry must be tailored to the unique context of the neighborhood in which it is located. An organic understanding of the unique strengths and needs of your community is achieved through a strategic approach that uses both time-honored approaches to community conversation and engagement, but it also requires a grasp of the new tools of technology that give us fresh opportunities to analyze demographics and trends. This module unpacks these strategies to help your leadership team understand the theories and practical processes of community analysis.
Behavioral Covenants — Coming Soon!
It is difficult for congregation members to fulfill their calling to honor God in service to their local congregation if they don’t understand the expectations of membership. In this module, we explain the use of behavioral convenants in ministry teams and congregations. What are their strengths? What is the theology of their use? What are challenges in using them successfully? How can you customize them for your context? Then we walk you through the steps of constructing covenants you can use (with examples and tools).