Pastor, Do you remember the passion you had when God called you into the ministry? It was a passion to lead a body of believers to be all that God had called them to be, fully equipped for ministry. That goal must continue to be your passion and the School of Ministry is designed to help you realize that objective.

Perfecting the Saints

Critical Need for Christian Education
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). In the next verse Paul continues, giving Timothy the ultimate goal of life: "that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The goal is clear: as Christians we are to become mature in the faith, thoroughly equipped for every good work. The problem is that the church has not done a very effective job of passing on the faith. "A Search Institute study found that only 11 percent of churchgoing teenagers have a well-developed faith. The figure rises to only 32 percent for churchgoing adults, and to 39 percent for Christian education teachers" (Schultz, 1994:20). Two prominent research organizations, the Princeton Religion Research Center and the Barna Research Group, among others, have conclusively documented the woeful lack of basic knowledge of the fundamentals of Christianity among self-professed, church-going Christians today.

"If our people aren't learning, they're not growing in their faith" (Schultz, 1994:10). If they are not growing in the faith, then the individual Christian and the Church is losing.

References:
Barna, George, Generation Next, Regal Books, 1995.
Religion in America, Princeton Religion Research Center, Princeton, NJ., 1996.
Schultz, Thom & Joani, Why Nobody Learns Much of Anything At Church: and How To Fix It, Group Publishing, 1994.

Equipping the Saints School of Ministry

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11, 12).

According to this verse, it is the responsibility of the pastor and spiritual leadership of the local church to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

What is an Equipping the Saints School of Ministry?
Equipping the Saints School of Ministry is a syllabus developed for training the laity and leadership of the local church. It includes teaching materials from a variety of sources, which focus on the basic areas of Christian life essential to preparing believers for service in God's kingdom. It is available on three levels:

Basic Level
training for all believers in the local church giving a solid foundation for the Christian life with courses in the area of:

• Basic Christian Beliefs
  
• Spiritual Disciplines
• Getting to Know Your Bible - Bible Survey
  
• Lifestyle Evangelism
  
• Marriage & the Family
  
• You and Your Ministry
  

Leadership Level
training for all leaders in the local church with courses in the areas of:

• Leadership Development
• God's Plan for the Church
  
• Power Ministry
  
• Body Life
  
• Intercession/Spiritual Warfare
  
• Specialty courses introducing professional ministry opportunities in Pastoral Ministry and Church Education Ministries

Conference Level - training for those pursuing ministerial credentials and continuing education for ministers and other leaders. All courses required for Minister's License and Ordination are offered.

Philosophy of Ministry

• Equipping the saints is a basic requirement of spiritual leadership
  
• The end-time harvest is upon us and laborers must be raised up and trained for the task (Matthew 9:36-38).
  
• The Church is the only institution that Jesus promised to build (Matthew 16:18). He wants to equip and use the Church as His agent of redemption in the world. We recognize that denominational, para-church and other institutions of ministry are also important in God's plan.
  
• The early church, as indicated in the church at Jerusalem, Antioch and Ephesus (Acts 15:22,23; 11:19-21; 13:1; 19:9), was an evangelistic center, a ministry center, and a training school. God is restoring the original model to the church today.
  
• The mind and the spirit must both be trained for a balanced ministry. Thus we are committed to strong academic study (head or sense knowledge) and spiritual formation (heart or revelation knowledge). Both head and heart must be trained.
  
• The training process is not complete until we are "doing the work of the ministry." This "doing" is not to be separated from the training of the head and the heart, so on-the-job training is a vital dimension of this program.
  

The training involves three areas, all of which are needed for the training to be complete:

• Training the Mind. The mind is to be disciplined in the things of God until we have the "mind of Christ." Sound academic study is important if we are to gain understanding.
  
• Training the Spirit. Spiritual formation is the key to ministry. Impartation of Spirit-life must be transferred from the teacher to the student as both need to be ministers as a flame of fire, (Hebrews 1:7).
  
• Training in Ministry. Jesus and Paul both gave on-the-job training so the disciples could learn by doing. "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put into practice..." (Philippians 4: 9 NIV).
  

GETTING STARTED

Schools of Ministry are designed to operate on a flexible schedule to accommodate the largest number of students possible. Each course requires a total of 12 sessions of 45 minutes each. A student must be present for at least nine of the sessions to receive a passing grade.

The following are optional scheduling models for the Equipping the Saints School of Ministry.

Local Church Level

• Model #1 - Basic Level taught during the Sunday School hour and Leadership Level taught on Wednesday evenings.
  
• Model #2 - Weekend Seminars offering (12 sessions of 45 minutes each) training on Friday evening and all day Saturday.
  
• Model #3 - One or two 45-minute sessions per week on Sunday evening.
  
• Model #4 - One or two 45-minute sessions per week on Wednesday evening.
  
• Model #5 - Five nights of training one week every other month, alternating between Basic and Leadership levels.
  
• Model #6 - One week of training each quarter.
  
• Model #7 - Special speaker once per month or quarter, Sunday through Tuesday. This model emphasizes the use of guest teachers and the high visibility of launching each course on Sunday morning with a special message to motivate the people to participate.
  

How to Begin a School of Ministry

I. Pastor or conference superintendent will notify CEM in Oklahoma City of the desire to start a school.

II. A packet of information will be sent giving policies and procedures for starting and operating a local church or conference school:

• A. Appoint a director and establish the administrative structure
  
• B. Establish policies, schedule, course offerings, fees, etc.
  
• C. Decide on your first class and dates
  
• D. Order materials *
  
• E. Promote
  
• F. After all students are enrolled in each class, order course certificates from CEM to be awarded at the end of the course.
  

III. School will be registered by completing all requested information and operating according to established policies.

Last update on 5/12/2010
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