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Leadership Development

Leadership Development

The Northwest Conference is committed to the identification, development, resourcing and supporting of pastoral and lay leadership within local churches. NWC staff is available to assist in the process of leadership development through assessment, education, training, and coaching on the local and district level.

Co-OP

Covenant Pastors have the opportunity to take part in a formal leadership mentoring program facilitated by the ECC and the NWC called Co-OP (Coaching Of Pastors). As a part of this process, a pastor will have a weekly conversation with the assigned mentor for one hour. This formal relationship will last between 12-18 months. Topics to be covered are wide ranging and intended to provide new insights and competencies for participants.

Interested in being coached? Here’s how to get started:

  1. Contact Jon Kramka at the NWC office and CGE to let us know you are interested.
  2. A pastor from the CO-OP Management Team will contact you and help determine if CO-OP is a good fit for you at this time.
  3. Download the Coaching Start-up Kit (here). The kit includes an enrollment agreement, a PowerPoint presentation and a price sheet.
  4. Make a presentation to your church leadership for their blessing and support.
  5. Complete the enrollment agreement and send it along with the initial payment (enrollment fee and first month’s coaching fee) to Church Growth and Evangelism via email or mail (Evangelical Covenant Church, 5101 N. Francisco Ave., Chicago, IL 60625). Registration deadlines are listed on the price sheet.
  6. Upon acceptance into CO-OP, you will receive an access code to take three online assessments though the Midwest Counseling Center.
  7. Soon thereafter, you will have a 30 minute conference call with a counselor (from the Midwest Counseling Center) and your coach. The purpose of this call is to apply the assessment results to your new coaching relationship.
  8. You will receive a personal access code to the CO-OP library (via Ministry Advantage). Download all the modules for free.

Leadership Forum

Several times each year, the NWC sponsors a daylong leadership event in which nationally known speakers present to conference churches. These speakers share their expertise across a variety of topics. These events are open to all NWC church leaders at a minimal cost, and include lunch. Past Leadership Forum speakers have included:

  • Leith Anderson (Wooddale Church)
  • Susan Beaumont (Alban Institute)
  • Gary Walter (Evangelical Covenant Church)
  • Cornelius Plantinga (Calvin Seminary)
  • Lyle Schaller (Church Growth Consultant & Author)
  • Dave Olson (Evangelical Covenant Church)
  • Ray Johnston (Bayside Church)
  • Gene Getz (Author & Pastor)

Adventures in Leadership

Adventures in Leadership (A.I.L.) is an 8-day leadership camp for high school students in June facilitated by the Northwest Conference in partnership with Adventurous Christians/Covenant Wilderness Center to develop and strengthen their personal leadership knowledge and skills. AIL capitalizes on the unique dynamics of a wilderness setting and provides student leaders with a Biblical framework and leadership experiences that help construct an effective model of Christian leadership, unique to their own abilities and giftedness. Past students have found this week to be transformational to their personal and spiritual development.

Visit the AIL page for more details. 

S.A.L.T.

S.A.L.T. stands for Student Action Leadership Training. This one-day training event for high school students is committed to challenge each student in the development of the inner qualities and characteristics of a Christian leader, and to equip them with additional insights and tools to be Christian leaders in their world in the areas of evangelism/outreach, discipleship, fellowship (community building), missions/service and worship. S.A.L.T. generally happens in the Fall of each year and is hosted by one of our churches.

Visit the S.A.L.T. page for more details.

Local Workshops and Leadership Teams

The NWC staff is available to make formal leadership presentations and to facilitate conversations in the areas of leadership development and training. 

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Links:

LeadershipJournal.net from Christianity Today provides articles, news, a free email newsletter, and other resources for leaders.

The Barna Group, founded by church researcher George Barna, provides a variety of resources for church strategy and transformation.

Leadership Network is an organization whose mission is to accelerate the emergence of effective churches through leadership development.

Sustaining Pastoral Excellence is directed through the Evangelical Covenant Church for denominational pastors. SPE provides grants to qualified applicants to help them in areas of character, competence, and constancy in order to help pastors be more effective in their ministry.