seminars

worldview, contextualizing theology and developing a contextualized gospel

In preparation for this seminar, people will have to first do some anthropology homework. (Many workers will already have done this through the normal life experience of interacting with their people group.) This is in order to be able to get deep into the Worldview of the people group so that we can then go deep into the Bible to find Biblical answers for the people group’s felt needs. The aim is to produce concrete tools that can be used and developed after the seminar.

This seminar is suitable for those who have already been on the field for two or three years and are wondering how best to communicate the gospel in their cultural context. It would also be suitable for those who want to go deeper into the culture and the Bible and who are wanting to evaluate their approach to evangelism and discipleship.

Please note: In order to do this seminar you will need to do some anthropology homework. You don't need to write essays but you do need to ask questions of your people group. A good way to do this is to use the Journey Team Learning Group Resource Site. You don't need to follow the whole schedule of blogs. Just explore the different areas and make sure you know the answers to the sections which are marked on the right (of the blog schedule) with an asterix.

Sydney, Australia: July 19th - August 7th, 2010

contextualizing church and preparing a church planting strategy (cross-cultural and multicultural contexts)

This is a development of the IDEA church planting seminar that many have already done. The intention is to come up with a concrete, relevant and do-able church planting strategy that workers can then start putting into practice.

This seminar is most suited to those who have just finished language learning and are about to start ministry; or for anyone about to start a new church planting venture. It could also be helpful for those wanting to evaluate what they are already doing in a church planting ministry.

multicultural theory for church planting in multicultural contexts

Many church planters today are working in cities where many people groups are located within a single geographical area. This is a very complex context in which to work and requires understanding and reflection beyond the dynamics usually encountered when a church planter from one culture attempts to plant a church in another culture. This seminar helps trainees to think through the many issues that are relevant to planning and engaging in multicultural church planting.

reproducible storytelling for evangelism and discipleship

In this seminar we focus on learning to tell stories by telling stories. These stories will include relating Biblical narrative content but also themes from the Bible, as well as contextualising stories into local story forms. We also introduce a simple, reproducible method of Bible exegesis which can be used with new believers.

This seminar is suitable for anyone who would like to learn to story or to experiment with this approach to evangelism and discipleship.

Sydney, Australia: July 5th - 17th, 2010

discipleship and leadership training

This seminar examines models of discipleship and leadership training in the Bible, history and contemporary life and concentrates on helping workers to develop approaches which are contextually appropriate and reproducible. The aim is for workers to develop a reproducible, practical strategy which can be put into practice.

This seminar is suitable only for those who are already discipling new believers. It is about practice. If people are interested in this area but have not yet seen people come to the Lord, it is better to wait until they have a discipling context to reflect on and in which they can put into practice what they are learning about.

Sydney, Australia: August 30th - September 11th, 2010

team building workshop

This is designed to be done face-to-face with a team. It is best done when a team is forming, but can be done at any stage when the team is ready to evaluate its focus, performance, team life and strategies. This can be done at any time in the year and usually requires AT LEAST 3 days full-time, face-to-face. Where possible, we would encourage the Field Leader or local area leader to join in the workshop with the team so that they can follow-up with the team after the workshop.