Learning to Lead

Who is the course for?

Learning to Lead is for anyone involved in Christian leadership at any level. Experienced leaders have found it a very helpful reminder of basic principles and many have discovered that on completion of the course their leadership has been revitalised.

Potential or emerging leaders have found it immensely helpful to be introduced in a supportive environment to the range and complexity of leadership issues. Having gained a deeper understanding of some of the concepts and principles of leadership they have experienced a significant uplift both personally and in their ministry.

What will I get out of it?

There are a number of benefits for participants:

• The course which has been continuously revised has been around for more than 20 years, so it is tried and tested. It has been taught in the Far East, Australia, several countries in Africa as well as in the UK. Insights from across the world have been added over the years.
• The teachers have wide experience not only in delivering the course but in actually leading churches and ministries in different parts of the world. While they have an interest in the theory of leadership they are also seasoned practitioners.
• Opportunity will be given to interact with like-minded participants so there will be considerable sharing of experience.
• Insight will be gained not just in terms of leadership principles but in terms of your own preferred style. This knowledge will help to bring about improvement in how you lead which obviously will be of benefit to those you are seeking to serve.
• Access to the course facilitator to discuss particular issues will be possible.

What will I be expected to contribute?

The most important thing is to come with the right attitude. Maximum benefit can be gained from the course by making a commitment to participate fully in all of the prescribed activities. This means:

• That participants would be asked to set aside at least one evening of four hours a week to work on the assignments and participate in the discussions.
• The course runs over a seven-week period (5 study units plus an orientation session and a debriefing session) with a online-conference style discussion on each Thursday evening. We would expect participants to clear their diary to make themselves available on these Thursday evenings.
• Please note that if there is a significant number of people for whom a Thursday evening is difficult we will explore the possibility of providing a second online discussion on another evening.
• While it is possible for individuals to undertake the course on their own, maximum benefit is achieved by working through the material with a mentor and better still, in a small group in the church. We would therefore expect you to link with a mentor and perhaps find others in the church who would have a similar interest in leadership training. This makes the training directly relevant to the local situation.
• We will recommend a number of books and we would expect that you would read from the relevant sections as advised by the course tutor. The main text book is provided as part of the course material.