Jurbise, Belgium
One of the previous pastors of the International Bible Church, Jurbise, Belgium, once said, “Pastoring an international church is like pastoring a parade!” In many of our churches, the so-called “revolving door” is a challenge to any kind of ongoing leadership development. How do we rise to the challenge?
Each year at IBC Jurbise we offer a 32-week coaching experience called Mentorship in Biblical Leadership (MBL). MBL is a three-phased transferable mentorship designed to respond to the urgent need of developing disciple-making leaders of integrity for the local church.
Phase 1 (12 weeks) of MBL focuses on the leader’s person — his/her character, spiritual gifting, personality, and formative experiences. By the end of this first phase the participant has: (1) evaluated his/her own life in view of the biblical character qualities of a servant leader (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1); (2) clarified his/her ministry match based on S.H.A.P.E. (Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experience); and (3) begun a life-to-life coaching experience with the facilitator, taking inventory of life direction and priorities.
Phase 2 (10 weeks) focuses on the leader’s purpose in life along with personal priorities in seven areas of life management: family, finances, emotional/mental health, physical health, social life, work, and spiritual growth. These are sometimes called the “seven ways out of ministry” when not managed from a biblical perspective. During this phase the participant also writes a life vision and mission statement in light of biblical priorities.
Phase 3 (10 weeks) focuses on the process of discipleship and the people the leader influences. In this phase we look at Jesus’ master plan of making disciples and how to apply these principles in view of multiplying disciples today.
Throughout all three phases the participants are involved in a specific area of ministry in the life of the church. This allows them to immediately implement in practice what they are learning in theory.
Beyond the weekly group sessions (of approximately 1-1 ½ hours), the participant is engaged in a life-on-life coaching experience. This one-on-one interaction focuses upon the weekly reflection assignments requiring approximately 15-30 minutes of personal study and evaluation.
Over these past three years, more than 20 people in our church have completed MBL. Several of these are now elders, deacons, or deployed into fields beyond as servant leaders to Christ’s church.
If you are interested in knowing more about how you can implement this mentorship process in your local church, contact David Stevens at pastor@ibc-jurbise.org.
David Stevens
