Throwing light on the pathway to ministry!

A leadership and ministry training programme is being launched at New Springs to equip existing and aspiring leaders, says Pastor Phil Weaver

Phil, what is LAMP and why are you launching it?
LAMP stands for the Leadership and Ministry Pathway – our tagline is “where Christian education and information is married to inspiration and spirit-filled transformation”.

It’s a unique opportunity for emerging or existing leaders and those interested in ministry in any field to develop their skills and knowledge, whether they’re from Elim or elsewhere.

We’re launching it because we’re doing a lot of church planting at New Springs at the moment, and one bottleneck is good leaders. Timewise, we can’t afford to send someone off to Bible college for two or three years, so we wanted to create an opportunity to learn with a good introductory course.

Has New Springs done anything like this before?
Yes, we’ve run academy modules in-house here at Loughborough before. We did that originally because church is so eclectic, with people who are seekers, new Christians or those who have known Jesus for 40 years but who all want something deeper. Our academy offered them first-year-style Bible college study and helped launch people into various ministries or gave them confidence to step forward for leadership roles in youthwork, social action, children’s work and so on. Now we want to help other churches, ministries and church planters, too.

Why should people sign up for LAMP?
There are lots of benefits! We’ll equip you with tools and knowledge to develop your leadership skills, you’ll gain deeper knowledge of biblical subjects and themes; you’ll learn in an environment where you can debate key concepts and ask questions. There’s no long-term commitment, so it’s very accessible and affordable. It will encourage critical thinking and reflection, and you’ll get to participate in seminars taught by lecturers and prominent church leaders who are experts in their field – it’s been developed in conjunction with various Bible institutions and colleges. From a faith point of view, many people struggle with leadership and ministry but want to serve more effectively and answer the questions non-Christians ask them. LAMP will be ideal because it will strengthen people’s overall faith and relationship with God through knowing the Bible better.

For full prospectus, fees and more details, please contact the administrator at church@newsprings.org.uk.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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