We will make some of our most popular training workshops available for completion online. You can complete the training at your own pace or with others in an online cohort that shares learning through on-line blogs.
Online training provides a mix of video, reading and reflection with the aim of assisting you to think through valuable ministry skills through a theologically grounded lens.
You will need to have an active internet connection to download videos, worksheets and slides to enable you to participate online.
At the conclusion of each sections we have included quizzes and reflections to reinforce learning.
Our four available workshops are:
Coaching Online
The purpose of this workshop is to give those in ministry a framework to understand coaching and the tools to implement it within their ministry context.
It is clear that a major part of a pastor’s work is enabling and equipping people for works of service inside and outside the church environment. This often involves having the ability to coach staff and lay people across the congregation to assist and encourage them to achieve desired outcomes.
This workshop is focussed on equipping pastors and lay workers to support people, as we serve our Lord together. It’s focussed specifically on how to coach people, through ministry tasks whilst also supporting them, as fellow Disciples of Christ.
By ‘coaching’ we mean the act of working with or supporting someone in achieving a specific personal or professional goal. Usually, coaching is done ‘one to one’ but could be done, in a group setting.
As Christian leaders we recognise that any meeting is an opportunity to encourage someone in their faith, and therefore, we assume that Christian coaching will also focus on the discipleship of the person with whom we are meeting.
Coaching is also a critical element of delegation. It can often mean the difference between helpful and unhelpful delegation. Coaching is part of what we do, throughout ‘the delegation of a project or task’ to equip and encourage the person to whom we have delegated.
Given the relationship between coaching and delegation, we recommend you pair these units together. We recommend completing the coaching unit first. Having learned and practised the skills associated with effective coaching by then completing the Delegation Unit you will then apply those skills as you delegate projects or tasks.
At the end of this workshop participants will:
- Have a clear understanding of what good coaching would look like,
- Think about the objective for coaching those you coach,
- Learn a simple approach / methodology for coaching (NB we will look at one approach of which there are many); and
- Experiment and try with the coaching methodology in a safe environment.
Delegation Online
The purpose of this workshop is to give those in ministry a framework to understand delegation and the tools to implement it within their ministry context.
At the end of this unit participants will:
- Explore a biblical context to delegation;
- Understanding the key principles of effective delegation;
- Have a clear understanding of what good delegation looks like;
- Learn a simple approach/methodology for delegation;
- Identify some tasks that are appropriate for delegation in your ministry;
- Build a plan to delegate a real-life task to an identified person, including the selection process and how to best delegate that task;
- Prepare an action plan to demonstrate how delegation will work in your context.
Coaching is also a critical element of delegation. It can often mean the difference between helpful and unhelpful delegation. Coaching is part of what we do, throughout ‘the delegation of a project or task’ to equip and encourage the person to whom we have delegated.
Given the relationship between coaching and delegation, we recommend you pair these units together. We recommend completing the coaching unit first. Having learned and practised the skills associated with effective coaching by then completing the Delegation in Ministry course you will then apply those skills as you delegate projects or tasks.
Leading Staff Online
Many pastors have expressed frustration that they have never been equipped or trained to lead or manage staff. Staffing is one of the more difficult challenges for leaders.
This workshop will focus on some of the key requirements and behaviours to lead staff in a way that reinforces our desire to make disciples. We wish to cover the key issues that are addressed when leading staff and so when delivered live this is a full two day workshop.
As we address staffing we will deal with:
- Considering staffing structures and roles
- Recruiting well
- Engaging staff and establishing good staffing practices
- Developing staff as disciples and in their role
- Dealing with under performance and separation
Participants should expect to engage in pre-work and post-work which will help them to apply the skills or tools discussed into their ministry context
Leading this program will be:
- Jill Fulcher – an experienced Human Relations specialist and consultant who works with CMD as a content expert and supporting female pastors.
- Rev Dr Raj Gupta – an experienced pastor and Rector within the Sydney Anglican Church (Rector of St Paul’s Anglican Church, Carlingford) and works with CMD to develop and support the Developing Rectors Program. Raj is currently the interim Co-Director for CMD.
- Peter Cheel – an experienced Human Resources specialist and Executive Coach who works with CMD as a consultant and supports pastors one to one and in ministry growth clusters.
Strategic Planning Online
Strategic Planning is a systematic process involving people to envision (or re-envision) a desired future orientation and then determining the best way to achieve that using the resources we have available.
For the church, strategic planning involves first understanding God’s great plan for the world and then developing a plan that is faithful to this within the context God has put you in.
CMD’s recent psychometric testing of Sydney pastors indicates that we have a preference for planning but not for implementation. This might suggest that we need to make extra effort in planning to include others in the planning process (to establish a “shared vision”) and to simplify or rationalise our chosen plans to make them more achievable as we implement.
This online workshop focusses on assisting church workers to consider the reasons why we plan and then the key steps in the planning process. We wish to equip attendees to be able to understand and lead key elements of a planning process in the church environment.
At the end of the course we expect participants to have:
- An understanding of the Strategic Process
- Clarity on how it benefits the church
- A few simple tools to guide you in the process
- The basic tools to move into a planning process with others