Training Under Shepherds

Within the Bible Teachers International Churches, Mary Banks Global Training Centers (schools), Lifesaver Clinics, Bible Theater Productions, Academies and local Auxiliary Boards, the Word is being ministered. Therefore, these ministries are individual platforms for spiritual and ministerial development. In each of these entities, there is a senior leader and other subordinate leaders or under-shepherds. Keep in mind that when subordinate leadership is appointed or assigned, it is the responsibility of the senior leader to train those who are appointed to help him or her serve. Training must be deliberate and not left to chance.

An individual is not being properly trained when they are allowed to only observe or watch the person in charge. At some point, they must be allowed to function. Otherwise, they may never conquer their fears or anxieties. Proper training should bring them to a place of confidence before they are thrust into a situation that they have never done any more than observe.

Training also provides leaders with confidence in their people. There is nothing better than knowing you have developed someone in ministry and brought them to a place where they can successfully serve the Lord in the space or place He has provided. Training is the process of teaching or improving a skill. Bishops must train their pastors, pastors must train their under-shepherds and presidents must train their board members. This means you must take them through a process that develops their skills. This training will be effectual if you approach it with specific objectives in mind.

Preparation

Teach your people to plan. Insist they put something together in advance. If you are providing a platform for them to minister even snippets of the Word, require them to put their thoughts and illustrations in writing first. This allows you to know that they are on the right track or have a good working knowledge of what they are about to say or do. This places a responsibility on you, as their leader, to review this material beforehand.

• Preparation puts the trainees in a state of readiness and relieves some of their nervousness.
• Preparation provides them with substance. When you have studied, you have acquired the information to be delivered.
• Preparation creates study time.

Guidance

Training allows you to lead and direct, counsel and give advice. Guidance requires you to supervise the development of their skills. It forces you to manage the method by which they prepare themselves to perform. Guidance promotes dialogue and interaction that puts you directly in the lives of those you lead.

Guidance also allows you to bond with the people of God. It is an opportunity to put your love and care for the people of God on display. In raising leaders in the past, I would often have them at my home or in my office informally, with the intent to discuss methodologies they were attempting to work with or a message I might have recently ministered. These informal discussions served well as part of their training for ministry. Once some of the leaders and I were having lunch at a cafeteria in Fort Lauderdale. This lunch followed a morning session of ministry at one of our conferences. During the meal, I began to discuss the depths of the message and the methodologies involved with implementing it into our daily walk with God. There were about 20 or more of us at this gathering and though we were all sitting together, two of the newer members of the ministry were engaged in their own conversation at the far end of the table. Pastor Mike got up, walked over to the two young men, and said, “Whenever the Apostle is speaking to us, there is an impartation taking place that is for our development. We all need to be attentive.” Guidance takes time, but it is time well spent.

Educate

• Give systematic, disciplined instruction.
• Make sure your resources and the things you are going to train your under-shepherds in have been prepared in advance by you.
• Organize your training methods in a manner that will promote progressive learning.

Once you have embraced these principles for training, you can install a training program in your church, ministry or auxiliary.

Tanya Thomas, pastor of the Fort Lauderdale church has a very good program in place for training her under-shepherds. This program is a good starting point for all bishops, pastors, directors and auxiliary presidents.

Under-Shepherd Training Program

Most of the content of what we preach is contained in the study guides written mainly by our Apostles. These study guides are even as the epistles Peter, James, John and Paul wrote to their churches.

• The trainees are directed to the lesson ministered on a particular service by a senior leader. (When there are several under-shepherds involved, they are rotated in this.)
• They are instructed to study and write out the principles or focal points of the lesson.
• A copy of these points should then be given to the senior leader for review, thus enabling the senior leader to give assurance to the trainee that they are indeed on the right track. This is comforting and nerve-settling.
• The trainee is then instructed to give a concise recap of the lesson at the next service; working from their approved notes.
• The recap is to be no more than five minutes.
• They are encouraged to be articulate, to the point, and to make eye contact with their audience.
• They are also instructed to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s direction during the recap.

The purpose of this training is to:

• Teach them how to share the Word of God
• Make them comfortable with ministering before an audience
• Teach them to trust, hear from and be directed by the Holy Spirit during their study time and while ministering.

This program is working in Fort Lauderdale and I encourage each location and those in leadership to adopt it. Likewise, if the Lord has given you a training program you feel will work throughout the ministry; do not keep it to yourself. Share it with the rest of us. This is corporate ministry.