Church Consultant & Facilitator Training
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Have you ever considered serving as a guide and encourager for a congregation in a role other than pastor or staff member? Are you looking for a different way to utilize your previous education, training and ministry experience to positively impact congregations? Do you believe that you would find consulting a meaningful ministry? If you can answer “Yes” to these questions, then you should consider training to become a church consultant. Click on Church Consultant to see the list of recent graduates.
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Scroll down to view upcoming classes
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WHAT DO CHURCH CONSULTANTS DO?
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WHO PROVIDES THE TRAINING?
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Congregations are looking for assistance in meeting the increasingly complex challenges of mission, ministry and congregational life. The programmatic, cookie-cutter answers once offered by denominations are now often viewed as inadequate to meet these challenges. The need is growing for church consultants who can provide more personalized, context-specific help to congregations in need. Church consultants help congregations with challenges like:
- Identity clarification
- Discerning vision and strategic planning
- Leadership development and team building
- Decision-making and discernment about leadership structures, buildings, worship style, mission and ministry priorities
- Conflict management
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To meet this growing need for qualified church consultants, the Interim Ministry Network, in partnership with The Center for Congregational Health®, is offering a process to train and develop church consultants. Through this partnership, we hope to help others discover this important ministry and equip them to offer their services as church consultants to congregations.
The Center has been providing direct consultation to churches and training for church consultants since 1992. Utilizing their “radically congregational” approach, they train consultants to elicit and utilize the resources, skills and gifts for ministry already present in a congregation. The Center’s model for church consultation is built upon the example of the Apostle Paul and early, itinerant Christian teachers like James. The training seeks to integrate and utilize the best of biblical wisdom, spiritual insight, and healthy group dynamics in order to help congregations and church leaders enhance their effectiveness in ministry.
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WHO WOULD WANT TO UNDERTAKE THIS TRAINING?
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WHO ARE THE FACULTY?
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Intentional Interim Pastors who would like to deepen their skills as transition specialists and expand the scope of their work.
Therapists who are committed to the ministry of the local church and want to expand their services beyond one-on-one and group counseling to consulting with congregations and other organizations.
Ministers who have a desire to expand their current ministry into consulting.
Denominational (judicatory) executives and staff members who wish to sharpen their skills in assisting congregations.
Lay Christians committed to the local church who seek an opportunity to utilize their skills and gifts for ministry but do not feel a call to ordination or to a professional, ministerial position in an individual church.
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Dr. Chris Gambill holds a Ph.D. in organizational psychology and is an ordained minister with more than twenty-five years of combined ministry experience as a pastor, missionary, campus minister, consultant, and leadership development specialist. He is currently a Senior Consultant at the Center for Congregational Health® and has worked with the Center since it’s beginning in 1992. Chris has extensive experience in the areas of conflict management, emotional intelligence, strategic planning, staff development, and leadership coaching.
Rev. Beth Kennett is an ordained United Church of Christ minister with more than twenty years experience in ministry. Beth has experience in serving as pastor, educator, denomination staff, conflict management facilitator, and church consultant. She has worked in the areas of Faith and Vocation and leadership development training. Beth has worked with churches in transition for the past nine years, as a regional minister for the Eastern North Carolina Association of the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ, and as church consultant for the Center for Congregational Health. She currently serves on the Board for the Office of General Ministries for the national setting of the United Church of Christ and as Co-Pastor of Hillsborough UCC.
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HOW CAN I REGISTER FOR CHURCH CONSULTANT TRAINING?
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To receive an application click here and contact Robin Danner at the Center for Congregational Health (congreg@wfubmc.edu or 336-716-9722) or Ellen Goudy at the Interim Ministry Network(Ellen@imnedu.org or 800-235-8414). Print class details.
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WHAT IS THE TRAINING DESIGN?
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WHEN, WHERE, AND HOW MUCH IS THE TRAINING?
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A team of experienced consultants has designed a two-tiered approach to consultant training. The basic level of training is focused on developing and enhancing skills for working with congregations. The second level of training involves a fieldwork project in which the skills are practiced and refined.
The Residential Lab
The residential lab is a five-day learning experience that serves as the foundation of consultant training. The lab will focus on the following:
- Learning consulting models
- Understanding and differentiating key roles in consultation
- Proposing consulting work
- Delivering consulting services
- Assessing consulting skills
- Developing leadership teams
- Facilitating strategic planning
- Facilitating staff development
- Managing conflict
The Fieldwork Experience
Those who wish to deepen their learning and be listed in the Interim Ministry Network’s consultant registry must also complete an additional fieldwork experience. During the fieldwork experience, participants will begin to practice the consulting skills they have learned and improve them through peer learning conferences. The fieldwork experience will consist of a series of group sessions conducted by telephone and facilitated by one of the Center’s staff. Each participant is responsible for presenting a case study at one of the sessions.
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The dates for the Residential Lab are October 14-18, 2013. The lab will begin at 2:00 p.m. Monday afternoon and conclude Friday at noon. The residential lab portion of the training will be held on the campus of the Baptist Children’s Home in Thomasville, North Carolina.
Specific dates and times for the fieldwork telephone conferences will be scheduled during the Residential Lab.
Residential Lab:
- AIIM and IMN members: $1455
- Non-members: $1555
The above costs include tuition, materials, room and board during the event.
Fieldwork:
- $300 for all participants
The minimum number of learners required for the residential lab experience is 10 participants. The minimum number of learners required for the fieldwork experience is 5.
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CAN I GET CEU CREDITS FOR THE TRAINING?
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The Northwest Area Health Education Center (of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and a part of the North Carolina AHEC Program) is recognized by the National Board of Certified Counselor as Provider # 5456. Northwest AHEC abides by all NBCC Continuing Education Guidelines. Participants must attend all sessions and complete all assigned work in order to receive a certificate of completion and full CEU credits.
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