Every year in congregations, the nominating committees seek to discern from among active members who God is calling to serve as ruling elders and deacons. And because we value and depend on well-trained leaders to serve in the ordered ministries of the church, it is session’s responsibility to ensure the slate of nominees-elect receive good, quality training prior to sustaining their election and installing them into service. We value ruling elders and deacons who have a firm grasp of their role, their responsibilities, and their call from God.
Yet, in our ever-increasingly busy lives, setting aside time for the proper training of new leaders, developing the necessary training materials, and coordinating packed schedules to accomplish this training can be difficult. As a result, sometimes the training doesn’t get done or the training feels rushed, and these newly elected church leaders sometimes enter into service feeling unprepared, unequipped, and uninformed. This doesn’t need to be the case.
As a connectional church, we are encouraged to partner together and share our resources, to support one another and help one another, to learn from one another and share valuable insights. We are all in this together.
In this spirit, I have created a series of training slide shows using Canva, an online graphic design platform that allows users to create and share visual content that is free for nonprofits like the church. And I have made them available for anyone to use, edit, and customize for free. You can find the links on my website www.revba.org. Not only are there links to a PowerPoint presentation and a PDF document containing all of the slides, but there is also a link to the original presentation file created on Canva that will allow you to open it, make a copy for your own account, and then freely edit the presentation to better fit your needs and context. You can personalize it and make it your own.
There are several ways these slideshows can be used:
- You can use them to put together a workshop or training session aimed at current and newly elected church leaders, to enhance their knowledge base.
- You can use them as continuing education during regular meetings of the session or the board of deacons.
- You can adapt the slides for an online course or webinar.
- You can put them on your website to make them accessible to a wider audience beyond church leadership.
- Leaders can use the slides as reference tools or training during committee meetings.
- You can use several of them over a weekend as a part of a church officer training retreat or as elements of an annual joint-officer meeting.
- On Canva, you can convert them into a training video using your computer’s camera to capture your voice teaching the slides as you walk through the information.
- You can make a video and put it on your website for church officers to watch as part of their at-home study.
The possibilities are great and I am available to meet with you if you would like to chat or would like assistance learning how you can incorporate them into your ministry. Good quality training equips and enhances church leadership and makes a lasting positive impact in our congregations. Let’s work together to empower our leaders and build stronger communities of faith!
– Rev. Brent Anderson is interim pastor of River Glen Presbyterian Church in Naperville, Illinois.
