Teaching syllabus

1) Academic training

CORE DOCTRINE

• God – Is it reasonable to believe in God?
• God – What is God like?
• God – How do we know God?
  
• God – Why is God known as the Trinity?

• Vision and leadership
• Biblical passages on leadership
• Oganising yourself
  

• The gospel – what is sin?
• The gospel – what is God's answer to the sin problem?
• The gospel – What are the benefits of being a Christian?
• The gospel – How do I become a Christian?

• Leading people to faith  

• Jesus – Is Jesus fact or fiction?

• Defining and defending Christianity

• Resurrection – Did the resurrection really happen?
• Resurrection – What is the importance of the resurrection?

• The Craft of Leadership

• Second coming – Will Christ come again?
• Second coming – What will happen when Christ returns?

• How to preach a sermon

• Holy Spirit - Who is the Holy Spirit?
  
• Holy Spirit – What does it mean to be “filled with the Spirit”?
• Holy Spirit - What are the fruit of the Spirit?

• Vision
• Growth and planning

• Holy Spirit – What are the gifts of the Spirit?
• Holy Spirit – What is praying in tongues?
• Holy Spirit – How do we pray to be renewed by God's Spirit?

• The place of intercessors and prophets

• Faith – What is faith?
• Faith – How do I get faith?

• Know your gifts (SHAPE questionnaire)
• Spotting a new leader
• Finding your key leaders
• Church planting – Get the motive right

• Bible – What's in it and how did it get there?
• Bible – How special is it?
• Bible – Is all the Bible true?

• Leading small groups, Part 1: (Introduction)

• Bible – What is the best way to read it?
• Exegesis – Discovering the meaning of Scripture.

• Leading small groups, Part 2: (Components of a good meeting)

• Know God's Promises

• Leading small groups, Part 3: (Teaching and ministry)
• Servant leadership

• Hell – Does hell exist?
• Hell – Is God fair allowing the existence of hell?

• Leading small groups, Part 4: (Handling problems)
• Counselling and pastoral care

• Devil – Does the Devil exist?
• Devil – What is our authority over the Devil?

• Deliverance ministry

• Heaven – Does heaven exist?
• Heaven – What is heaven like?
• Heaven – What happens to those who die?

• Growing as a leader
• Paradigm shifts to help us finish well

• Prayer – Why pray?
• Prayer – How do I pray?
• Prayer – What things should I pray for?
• Prayer – What makes effective prayer?

• Be shepherds of the flock
• Servant leadership that empowers

• Quiet time – How can I organise my quiet time with God?
• Quiet time – What should I do in a quiet time?

• Disciplines of a Functional Church
• Jesus said, “follow ...and I will make you”
• Church planting – Develop a Kingdom mindset

• Fasting – Is fasting a good idea?
• Meditation – Why meditate?

• Worship leading

• Worship – Why worship God?
• Worship – How do we worship?
• Worship – What can help me worship God?

• Building a great workplace

• Giving – How much money does God expect me to give?

• Myers Briggs personality appraisal

• Persecution – How should we handle persecution?
• Baptism
• Leadership teaching

• Level 5 leadership

• Church – What is God's idea of church?
• Church – Do I have to be part of it?
• Church – What was the New Testament church like?
• Church – How can church not be religious or boring?

• Guiding values that determine leadership style.  
• Leadership style: Be open and consultative

• Love – What is real love?
• Love – How should we love?

• Ministry with Children

• Forgiveness – Why forgive?
• Forgiveness – Dealing with anger

• Effective churches
• The shape of today's effective church

• Guidance – How does God guide us?
• Guidance – The five finger check list for guidance
• God's will for my life

• How to plant a church

• Living – How should we live?
• Language – What should we not say?
• Language – How should we speak?

• Leadership
• Growing church attendance

• Parents – What should parents' attitude to children be?
• Parents – What influences and role models exist for me?
• Parents – What about discipline and obedience?
• Parents – How can encourage faith and maturity in children?
• Parents – How do children leave and become an adult?

• The easy and hard bits of leadership

• Sex – What should be our attitude to sex?
• Sex – What about sex outside of marriage?
• Sex – Masturbation and pornography.
• Sex – A special talk to men

• Four essentials of leadership

• Homosexuality – What is the cause of homosexuality?
• Homosexuality – What does the Bible say?
• Homosexuality – The Christian attitude to the homosexual

• The nature of effective Christian leadership

• Marriage – What is sacred about marriage?
• Marriage – What makes a successful marriage?

• Why marriages fail

• Evangelism – Why evangelise?
• Evangelism – How to evangelise

• Training people for outreach
• Evangelism and seeker services

• Healing – Does God heal today?
• Healing – How do you pray for someone to be healed?

• Pastoral care when visiting hospitals

• Leadership – Who is called to leadership?
• Leadership – The job of leadership

• Bringing change to a culture

• Prophecy – What is prophecy?
• Prophecy – How do I know if I have the gift of prophecy?
• Prophecy – How do you know if prophecy is true?

• Essentials of church development
• Church Planting - The subversive power of being small

• Temptation – Why is fighting temptation so hard?
• Temptation – How can I resist temptation?

• Spiritual burnout and self pity
• Leadership, mental wellness and addiction

• RESIDENTIAL WEEK IN ADELAIDE

• Self image – Does God care about me?
• Self image – Why do I have a poor self image?
• Self image – How should I think about myself?

• Emotional intelligence and leadership

• Grief – What is grief?
• Grief – How can I best handle grief?

• Is leadership a genetic trait or able to be taught?

• Sexual abuse – How can I survive it?

• Complaints against leaders
• Leadership in today's church

• Divorce – Is it wrong?
• Divorce – How do children cope?

• Mending a marriage

• Doubt – How can I deal with my doubts?
• Assurance – Will God accept me?

• Working with volunteers
• Leadership lessons from Nehemiah
• Situational leadership

• Conflict – Know yourself and how to fix broken relationships
• Conflict – How to manage conflict

• Organisational life cycle and bringing change
• Understanding the times
• Church planting – Begin well

• Environment – Old Testament teaching about the environment
• Environment – God's plan for our environment

• Effective Church Leadership: Twelve Keys

• Science and faith – historic overview
• Science and faith – creation and the Bible
• Science and faith – faith is scientifically reasonable
• Science and faith – are we an accident?

• A ministry manifesto

• Suffering – Where does suffering come from?
• Suffering – Understanding suffering

• Responding to tough times

• Is God unfair?
• Has God predestined some people for hell?

• Truisms for leaders
• Characteristics of good leadership

• Other faiths – Are there many ways to God?

• Managing change
• Change: the tipping point

• Other faiths – What do other religions teach?
• Other faiths – What is special about Christianity?
• Other faiths – What about New Age and other cults?

• Vision and growth

• Truth – Why does truth seem so hard to find?
• Truth – How can I know what is true?
• Truth – How should I handle truth?

• Finish well
  

The following practical work is also done in conjunction with the above academic work:

2) Practical Ministry Training (Supervised Field Education)

• Keeping a diary of church planting activities
• Preaching five sermons
  
• Writing an account of 3 pastoral care visits
• Writing an account of 3 counselling sessions
• Writing an account of 3 occasions when you share the gospel with someone
• An 800 word report on leading a home group for at least 4 sessions
• An 800 word report on a leadership project

•  Satisfactory participation in the five day residential course.

3) Growing Personal Spiritual Disciplines