Church leaders recognize the importance of attending regular training programs to strengthen their ministries.
Sometimes the motivation to attend comes from a need for new ideas and practical help, but other times, it is merely to stay fresh in and excited about their roles.
Whatever the motivation, Alabama Baptists have ample opportunities for church staff and lay leadership training.
Recently more than 900 people attended two Sunday School leadership training weekends at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega, according to Jamie Baldwin, associate in the office of Sunday School for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM).
Tracy Bishop, Sunday School director at Ivalee Baptist Church, Attalla, in Etowah Baptist Association, was one of those Sunday School leaders.
“I wanted to get help for doing a better job in my church and for motivating my teachers about the importance of Sunday School work,” Bishop said, adding he wanted to learn all he could about growing a Sunday School class. “Training encourages me and gives me new ideas.”
Seeing conference leaders demonstrate activities and participating in brainstorming sessions not only benefit the church leader but also bless the church, conference participants noted.
“When the leader returns from a training event or completes a training experience, that training is multiplied into the rest of the congregation as those leaders use their new skills,” said Dwight Moss, minister of education at Clements Baptist Church, Athens, in Limestone Baptist Association. “Training helps the church by developing leaders, broadening the scope of the church’s ministry and giving new insights into outreach.”
Mark Cosby, pastor of First Baptist Church, Cedar Bluff, in Cherokee Baptist Association, pointed out that it makes a difference when the congregation supports training opportunities.
Cosby said his church actively encouraged him to go to a training conference. “When I saw their passion, it fueled my passion.”
And for those churches with lay leaders not interested in attending training conferences, Daniel Edmonds, director of the SBOM office of Sunday School, has found a possible solution to the problem.
He said this challenge can be overcome by enlisting church leaders with a commitment to training. The pastor or staff can make a list of training events and ask church leaders being enlisted to commit to a certain number of events.
Edmonds said pastors and staff should set a personal example by attending training events themselves.
Jay Gordon, pastor of small groups at Westwood Baptist Church, Alabaster, in Shelby Baptist Association, said pastors and staff play the leading role in motivating lay leaders to attend training conferences.
“This is a key role of pastors and staff ministers, and it’s part of our equipping role as described in Ephesians 4,” he said.
In addition to events held at Shocco Springs, churches, associations and Alabama’s Baptist colleges conduct training events. The SBOM also sponsors dozens of conferences across the state.
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