I am the pastor of Wolf Creek Community Church of Lacombe, AB. My wife is currently training to be a Registered Nurse. I have four children, all of whom study at Lacombe Christian School. We enjoy camping, gardening, music, cycling and swimming.
Thank you for sharing this Sunday School evaluation tool. It looks very helpful. I will aim to use it this year as we debrief the SS program and dream about the future.
'Appreciate this article on worship planning. I agree that the Church Calendar should be our primary guide for worship planning in the church, and that is what I encourage. But we also keep the "church program" calendar in mind (i.e., Sunday School kick-off; community service Sunday, etc. And we also remember such "greeting card" holidays as Mother's Day and high school graduation. As the Church Calendar is most important to me, I've found it helpful to be proactive and plan my preaching calendar based on it well in advance, which then pulls the worship committee in this direction in terms of their planning. I suspect that if I didn't do that, the church program and "greeting card" calendars would have significantly more influence.
Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking of an evaluation tool for specific ministries of the church. It would be also helpful if the tool could help the team vision for the future, but maybe that's asking too much? :)
Thank you for responding to my request! Yes, I'd be glad to receive an overview/outline of your sermon series on covenants, if it's not too much trouble. My email address is as follows: [email protected].
Thank you so much for the guidance. I look forward to exploring those resources to discern how to best mentor our Sunday School teachers. I'm probably going to suggest that we conduct a workshop early next fall and incorporate some of these ideas. We've also found mentoring to be helpful, although sometimes it is hard to find one teacher for each group, let alone having these teachers mentor others. I really like the idea of developing a vision for teaching (or a philosophy of teaching ministry), and I think we really need to do that.
Again, thank you so much for the guidance. Perhaps I'll be in touch with you with more questions/comments after I review the resources you sent.
Thanks again for your response. I just browsed through the resources you suggested for training Sunday School teachers and the materials for visioning. They all look very helpful, and I will aim to use some of them in the future. I think my next step is to meet with the chairperson of our Education Team and cast a vision for a debriefing meeting this spring to evaluate our year, and a visioning/training session in the early fall, when we're gearing up for the new teaching year.
Thank you for the suggestions. Great idea to consult with Lis VH and to explore resources from Ruth Haley Barton. And I also agree with you about the need to play together. In fact, we're planning on having some fun on the opening night, and then probably ending the evening with worship or at least Scripture and prayer. We've also invited our classis pastor-church relations consultant to lead us in a couple of seminars/workshops on Saturday morning (leadership development). And then we plan to review our mission statement and begin to review our effectiveness (visioning). I'm really looking forward to this spiritual retreat!
God bless you, sister! Have a blessed season of Lent.
In case anyone is wondering, I met with the student and her parents that I mentioned above. Happily, the Lord really blessed this meeting. The family was open and honest with each other. There was understanding, acceptance and tears of joy! We talked about infant baptism and profession of faith, and what they both meant and the connection between them. In the end, I asked the student, "So what do you feel the Lord call is calling you to do this matter?" And she said, "I feel the Lord is calling me to profess my faith and not be baptized again." So we started making plans and set a date in June. I thank the Lord for guiding us all in this matter, and using it to bring a family closer together and teaching us about faith formation and the importance of remembering our baptisms.
Thank you for offering support regarding the visioning process. I'll keep this in mind as we plan the retreat. Regardless of the specifics, I'm thankful my leaders are willing to go on a retreat at all. I trust they will feel renewed and blessed--and want to go on retreat again in the next few years!
May the Lord continue to bless your life and ministry!
Posted in: A Questionnaire for Sunday School Teachers
Hi Jolanda,
Thank you for sharing this Sunday School evaluation tool. It looks very helpful. I will aim to use it this year as we debrief the SS program and dream about the future.
Peace to you!
Leon
Posted in: Which Calendar Do You Follow?
Hi Kevin,
'Appreciate this article on worship planning. I agree that the Church Calendar should be our primary guide for worship planning in the church, and that is what I encourage. But we also keep the "church program" calendar in mind (i.e., Sunday School kick-off; community service Sunday, etc. And we also remember such "greeting card" holidays as Mother's Day and high school graduation. As the Church Calendar is most important to me, I've found it helpful to be proactive and plan my preaching calendar based on it well in advance, which then pulls the worship committee in this direction in terms of their planning. I suspect that if I didn't do that, the church program and "greeting card" calendars would have significantly more influence.
Thanks again for writing the interesting article.
--Leon
Posted in: Ministry Evaluation Tools?
Tim,
Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking of an evaluation tool for specific ministries of the church. It would be also helpful if the tool could help the team vision for the future, but maybe that's asking too much? :)
Thank you kindly and God bless,
Leon
Posted in: Ministry Evaluation Tools?
Lis,
Thank you for the recommendation. I checked my resources and I have this tool! So, now I will explore it.
May the Lord continue to empower you for a life of ministry,
Leon
Posted in: Ministry Evaluation Tools?
Ken,
Thank you for the recommendation. I just saved and copied this tool and will explore it further. It looks helpful.
Grace & peace,
Leon
Posted in: Does Anyone Have a Sermon Series on Biblical Covenants That I Could Reference?
Hello Darrin,
Thank you for responding to my request! Yes, I'd be glad to receive an overview/outline of your sermon series on covenants, if it's not too much trouble. My email address is as follows: [email protected].
Thank you kindly!
--Leon
Posted in: Does Anyone Have a Sermon Series on Biblical Covenants That I Could Reference?
Hello Martin,
Thank you for passing on this information re. covenants. I'll keep them in mind as I plan for my sermon series on the topic.
Peace to you!
--Leon
Posted in: How do we train Sunday School teachers for the long-term health of our Sunday School programs?
Hi Jolanda,
Thank you so much for the guidance. I look forward to exploring those resources to discern how to best mentor our Sunday School teachers. I'm probably going to suggest that we conduct a workshop early next fall and incorporate some of these ideas. We've also found mentoring to be helpful, although sometimes it is hard to find one teacher for each group, let alone having these teachers mentor others. I really like the idea of developing a vision for teaching (or a philosophy of teaching ministry), and I think we really need to do that.
Again, thank you so much for the guidance. Perhaps I'll be in touch with you with more questions/comments after I review the resources you sent.
Peace to you!
--Leon
Posted in: How do we train Sunday School teachers for the long-term health of our Sunday School programs?
Hello again, Jolanda:
Thanks again for your response. I just browsed through the resources you suggested for training Sunday School teachers and the materials for visioning. They all look very helpful, and I will aim to use some of them in the future. I think my next step is to meet with the chairperson of our Education Team and cast a vision for a debriefing meeting this spring to evaluate our year, and a visioning/training session in the early fall, when we're gearing up for the new teaching year.
Thanks again for your support and guidance.
Peace of Christ,
Leon
Posted in: Does anyone have a council spiritual retreat program that we could borrow?
Hi Meg,
Thank you for the suggestions. Great idea to consult with Lis VH and to explore resources from Ruth Haley Barton. And I also agree with you about the need to play together. In fact, we're planning on having some fun on the opening night, and then probably ending the evening with worship or at least Scripture and prayer. We've also invited our classis pastor-church relations consultant to lead us in a couple of seminars/workshops on Saturday morning (leadership development). And then we plan to review our mission statement and begin to review our effectiveness (visioning). I'm really looking forward to this spiritual retreat!
God bless you, sister! Have a blessed season of Lent.
--Leon
Posted in: Have you ever had a person ask you to re-baptize her, and how did you respond?
In case anyone is wondering, I met with the student and her parents that I mentioned above. Happily, the Lord really blessed this meeting. The family was open and honest with each other. There was understanding, acceptance and tears of joy! We talked about infant baptism and profession of faith, and what they both meant and the connection between them. In the end, I asked the student, "So what do you feel the Lord call is calling you to do this matter?" And she said, "I feel the Lord is calling me to profess my faith and not be baptized again." So we started making plans and set a date in June. I thank the Lord for guiding us all in this matter, and using it to bring a family closer together and teaching us about faith formation and the importance of remembering our baptisms.
--Leon H. Johnston
Posted in: Does anyone have a council spiritual retreat program that we could borrow?
Hi Lis,
Thank you for offering support regarding the visioning process. I'll keep this in mind as we plan the retreat. Regardless of the specifics, I'm thankful my leaders are willing to go on a retreat at all. I trust they will feel renewed and blessed--and want to go on retreat again in the next few years!
May the Lord continue to bless your life and ministry!
Lis