When travelling, we often need to stop, stretch, take stock, and perhaps check our map or GPS. So in the spiritual journey, it is good to review the directions and renew our sense of just where we are going and why. The Journey exists to help you to do that; it is for those considering vocational ministry, as well as for those already in vocational ministry and desiring to upgrade their skills for even greater effectiveness.
The Journey is an expression of ACTS Seminaries in Langley, offering graduate courses in Edmonton. We are here to provide top-quality ministry equipping and opportunity for replenishing without the need to relocate. This Fall we have three courses coming; both “Managing Volunteers” and “Mentoring, Team-Building and Equipping” are essential learning experiences for anyone who is in leadership and working with people. “Introduction to the Bible” is for anyone who senses God’s call to further ministry but has never studied the Bible in a systematic way.
To register, go to the ACTS website (http://acts.twu.ca/programs/the-journey), but also be sure to let me know you are registering. Tuition at The Journey is $320 per credit hour; the audit rate is $145. per credit hour. Registrations should be in ASAP.
CHM 595 Managing Volunteers, − Oct 10-12 (Wed and Thurs 8:30-4:30; Fri. 8:30-12:00 noon)
Venue: Ellerslie Road Baptist Church, Edmonton
The Managing Volunteers course will help you sharpen skills related to recruiting and serving volunteers in ways that help volunteers live out their calling with excellence and a deep sense of fulfillment while making an important contribution to the ministry or program in which they volunteer. The course will help you understand and utilize key concepts and practices related to managing volunteers. In the course, you will assess the volunteer practices of a ministry, program or organization (preferably the one in which you currently serve). You will explore and discuss books and other materials that describe some of the qualities and common characteristics of volunteers. This information will help you grow in your understanding of what motivates (and releases) people to volunteer. The course will also help you to discover how to recruit outstanding volunteers. The course connects servant leadership with the topic of managing volunteers. How do servant leaders support volunteers within their organization? As a part of providing support, how can servant leaders foster a learning orientation amongst their volunteers and provide training which helps them grow and serve with satisfaction and effectiveness?
Instructor: Randy Wollf, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Leadership Studies, MBBS-Canada. He is also Chair of the M.Div. program at ACTS and His ministry roles have included pioneering house church style church-plants; teaching graduate leadership courses at Trinity Western University; serving short-term in church-planting missions in Thailand; and 15+ years pastoral ministry. He has also ministered in teaching and relief work in the Philippines, the Ukraine and Albania. He has a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia.
BIE 500 Introduction to the Bible − Oct 25-27 (Thurs 5:30-9:30; Fri & Sat 8:30-4:30)
Venue: Ellerslie Road Baptist Church, Edmonton
An introduction to biblical studies in the seminary setting, this course is designed to deepen the student’s overall understanding of the biblical literature and to provide an orientation to the disciplines of graduate-level biblical research. It includes an overview of the documents of Christian Scripture, considering structure, content, major themes, literary forms, chronology, setting, and composition. It also exposes the student to key issues and prominent schools of thought in biblical research, and seeks to enhance the student’s own competence in the skills of biblical study.
The Bible is the greatest literature known to humankind, and utterly unique in that these writings alone ultimately arise from the mind of God. Its text is His revelation in words; its narratives are the definitive account of His workings through human history; and its wisdom and instruction represent the insight we have into His divine mind. As such, the Bible is foundational to both personal spiritual growth and ministry leadership. Indeed, here is the essential content for all ministry.
Instructor: Ed Stuckey, D.Min. is currently the Director of ACTS Seminaries’ The Journey in Edmonton. From 2008-2010 he was interim President of Canadian Baptist Seminary (BGC). Prior to this role, he was pastor of Ellerslie Road Baptist Church, Edmonton (1985-2008) and Grace Bible Church in Dauphin, MB (1980-85). Ed is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario (Hon BA, History), and Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM in Pastoral Ministries and DMin in Preaching and Communication).
CLD 533 Mentoring, Team-Building and Equipping, − Oct 29-31 (Mon 12:30-7:30; Tues and Wed 8:30-4:30) Venue: Mill Woods Pentecostal Assembly, Edmonton
The era of the do-it-all “super-leader” is over. While leading remains a prerequisite to effective oversight of a ministry, equipping, mentoring, and team building are the means by which effective leading occurs. Equipping has to do with ensuring that believers gain capacity and skills commensurate with their calling and tasks; mentoring has to do with showing the way, building relationships that encourage and challenge, and character-building; and team building has to do with relating cooperatively and effectively with others who seek the same goal. The legacy of a leader is largely determined by the degree to which that individual effectively equips, mentors, and builds people into a cohesive team.
Instructor: Jim Lucas is President of Canadian Pentecostal Seminary and Lead Pastor at Christian Life Community Church, Abbotsford that he planted in 1992. His educational background includes a BSc from UBC, a Masters from Regent College and a DMin from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Jim's passion is to help church leaders grow healthy churches that effectively worship God, build up the saints, and reach the lost.
