"I want to encourage you to grab six to ten of your ministry friends to engage in a purposeful discussion from some of the great books about how we be more effective in ministry."

Pastors Helping Teachers Double

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Virtual.Seminary

I want to help see the church in America double in the number of God-worshippers between now and the year 2020. To do so is simple.  All we have to do is rethink everything about the way we do church. The Virtual.Seminary is a core part of how we can do this.

An important component of this goal is to augment the education process in place for pastors and staff.  Way too much of our training is top-down, lecture oriented.  I believe God changes lives through a combination of top-down lecture oriented approaches and peer-to-peer discussions. This is how it works in the local church with Sunday School (or homes groups) and sermons.  I believe a major problem is that pastors don't attend "Sunday School." In this context, I mean Sunday School at a metaphor.  My meaning is that pastors do not routinely get together with one another to engage in purposeful, intentional conversations about how we can be more effective in ministry.  I want to encourage you to do so. 

I want to encourage you to grab six to ten of your pastor friends and study some of the classic books on ministry.  I will be providing Good Questions on some of these books, and I invite you to use these outlines.  I have in mind for you to get together for 6 - 10 weeks in the Spring and another study in the fall.  I will try to provide at least two studies a year, maybe more.  If you would like to suggest books that have impacted your life, I would be interested in hearing from you.

My prayer is that God will empower Southern Baptist to reach 20 million in Sunday School attendance by the year 2020.  I pray that God will help all other groups of His children to similar growth.

• The Purpose Driven Church, by Rick Warren
• The 21 Irrifutable Laws of Leadership, by John Maxwell
• You Can Double Your Church in Five Years or Less, by Josh Hunt
• Developing the Leaders Around You, by John Maxwell
• Check out Bert's new church-building, small group ministry:
  Bold Assurance -- Building Speaking Confidence with God-given Principles.  A 10-week audio, video and workbook course through church small groups to improve your leadership and communication skills. Go to the web site or call 888-988-2653 for a free video.