Resource Tag: less than $500

Back to Church Sunday/Season of Invitation

This initiative is designed to equip and encourage lay people to invite people to church for specific Sunday services each year. The program includes invitation postcards and posters, usually customized by each diocese. Training videos are available on the Season of Invitation website. Can be done in conjunction with the Spirit of Invitation six-week program.

Book studies

Over a two-year period, a group of six to eight clergy works their way through a series of books on leadership and congregational development. They meet between seven to nine times a year. At each meeting, one person is responsible for an overview of the book and presenting a “critical incident”, in effect a case study that engages some of the insights from the book in question. Group members become a source of support to each other in their ministry as well as developing skills and knowledge in church leadership.

Kootenay School for Ministry

Accessible seminary-level training for locally trained priests and deacons. Over a three-year cycle, participants take nine 21-hour courses. Most participants have completed Education for Ministry prior to taking this program, so courses are focussed on practical ministry concerns, assuming that participants already have a grounding in theology and bible. Courses are hosted by parishes around the diocese, which builds community and support for the program. A separate shorter course is offered for licensed lay ministers.

Natural Church Development

The objective of Natural Church Development (NCD) is to provide space and reliable statistical data for measuring church health and capacity. The concept is to grow health by focussing on those key elements that are most challenged in a parish. Identify strengths and challenges; draw on strengths to develop weaker elements.

Pilgrim Course

Believing that the Christian faith is primarily about relationship, Pilgrim aims to lay a foundation for a lifetime of learning more about God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ and what it means to be his disciple. Assuming little or no knowledge of the Christian faith, Pilgrim can be used at any point on the journey of discipleship and by every tradition.