Our Resurrection Weekend services begin with our Good Friday Evening Gathering, March 29 at 7:00 pm, and conclude with our regular Sunday activities on Resurrection Sunday Morning, March 31!

Purpose

The aim of our Equipping Classes (ECs) is to magnify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ through means of equipping of the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12). We seek to build up those who attend so they can serve Christ and others effectively in the context of the church and through their individual lives.

We aim to provide a rotation of classes that cover essential categories of needed spiritual growth and are thus arranged into tracks of equipping: Foundations, Discipleship/Evangelism, Theology, Christian Living, Biblical Study, and Training

Focus

The focus of our ECs is instruction that will stimulate the kind of understanding of God’s word that practically prepares people to grow spiritually and serve others effectively.

Instruction

While we encourage classes to provide opportunities to get to know one another, and pray for each other, Equipping Classes will emphasize biblical instruction. Our Growth Groups provide more extensive time for personal prayer, interaction, and building meaningful relationships. We value both practical biblical instruction and growing relationships as essential for discipleship. While some elements of instruction and relationship building exist in both Equipping Classes and Growth Groups, each will have a unique emphasis. Our ECs will emphasize instruction.

Discussion/Understanding

As we emphasize instruction in our ECs, we are not looking to simply provide lecture-driven approaches to teaching, or an opportunity to listen to another sermon. While the nature of some classes may lend themselves to more lecture than others, we aim to instruct though a kind of discussion and interaction that seeks to build understanding and application in the group.

We want teachers to be able to ask good questions that allow them to see how members are processing and understanding biblical passages, theological truths, and practical applications. We are not looking to pool everyone’s personal viewpoints on a matter and at the same time, we are not afraid to ask what people think about a given passage or topic. We want to assess where they are and how we can understand the Scripture and its application more accurately.

Application

Emphasizing instruction does not mean we do not care about application. We care very deeply about making sure truth is not merely understood on an intellectual level, but on a level that encourages members to think about its use personally and practically.

Even theological studies on the doctrine of God’s existence or end times have implications that should shape how someone responds to and lives in them. Teachers need to think through how they will help members grasp the implications of what is being taught.

Priorities of Equipping Classes

  • We aim to train members in subjects necessary and helpful for growing, serving, and leadership.
  • We have a coordinated plan of classes, structured in such a way that new members can discover the basics of theology, ecclesiology and membership in a local church; members who are new believers can begin with biblical basics and Christian living while moving along into deeper areas of growth; mature believers and seasoned members can prepare for leadership within the church, participating in greater discipling opportunities and be more effectively prepared to foster discipling relationships with those in their sphere of influence.
  • Classes are built around spiritual needs for growth and practical needs for serving.
  • Many classes will be repeated at later times, allowing future opportunities to take a class that might be missed.
  • Our classes are not age graded or gender based. While we encourage people of similar life-stage and gender to disciple one another, our ECs allow for all ages to interact together and men and women to come to class together. This is another way for us to further benefit from a variety of people within the Body of Christ.
  • Our classes last anywhere from ten weeks to six months, but all have a beginning and ending to them. Doing so allows members to meet more people within the body as well as cover more topics and be exposed to a variety of excellent teachers. For longer-term relationship building, we encourage our members to connect to a Growth Group.

Strategy

Equipping Classes are merely one facet of a multi-faceted approach to what we want to emphasize in someone’s discipleship through our collective church ministry.

We organize our equipping classes by tracks of learning, discipline, or area of emphasis. These tracks allow for greater opportunity to plan for the future in class offering, give clarity to a variety of attendees on which classes to attend and/or plan to attend in the future, and assist our ministry leaders in developing future leaders by pointing them to classes that would be most beneficial in that development.

Recommended Classes for Various Stages of the Christian Life

While we do not assign classes for our members or guests, we do have some recommended tracks; particularly for new believers, new members, or those who are interested in teaching (whether for children or adults).

Recommended Equipping Classes for New Believers:

  • Fundamentals of the Faith
  • Fundamentals of the Church
  • Forerunners of the Faith
  • OT and NT Overview
  • How to study/teach the Bible

Recommended Equipping Classes for New Members:

  • Fundamentals of the Faith
  • Fundamentals of the Church
  • Discipleship Counseling
  • Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Recommended Equipping Classes for those desiring to be equipped to teach

  • Fundamentals of the Faith
  • Fundamentals of the Church
  • How to study/teach the Bible
  • Sermon Study (at least 1 semester)
  • Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands
  • Discipleship Counseling

The schedule below is a projection based on the goals and aims above. It is meant to provide a basic framework for scheduling classes, and will likely be altered based on teacher availablity and immediate needs as they arise in the congregation. 

2024

Winter
  • Theology: Systematic Theology 1

  • Biblical Study: Book of the NT

  • Christian Living: Parenting

  • Discipleship/Evangelism: Book Study

  • Sermon Study

Summer
  • Biblical Study: Overview of the OT – Part 1: Genesis to 2 Chronicles

  • Discipleship/Evangelism: Corporate Worship

Fall
  • Biblical Study: Book of the OT

  • Christian Living: Christian Book Study

  • Discipleship/Evangelism: Discipleship Counseling Level 1

  • Theology: Systematic Theology 2

  • Christian Living: Marriage

  • Sermon Study

2025

Winter
  • Discipleship/Evangelism: Discipleship Counseling Level 2

  • Theology: Systematic Theology 3

  • Biblical Study: Book of the NT

  • Foundations: Fundamentals of the Church

  • Sermon Study

Summer
  • Foundations: Forerunners of the Faith

  • Biblical Study: Overview of the NT – Part 1: Matthew to Colossians

  • Discipleship/Evangelism: Book Study

Fall
  • Theology: Systematic Theology 4

  • Christian Living: Christian Book Study • Biblical Study: Book of the OT

  • Foundations: Fundamentals of the Faith

  • Discipleship/Evangelism: Evangelism