Two New Staff and a New Ministry
Back in January I mentioned that SBC would be introducing a new wing of its ministry that focused specifically on equipping. Our equipping ministry is finally ready to be introduced, but first, I’d like to introduce two new people who will be joining the SBC staff.
Two New Staff
First, Shelly McLain is coming on as a counselor. Some of you may remember Shelly from BCTM, where we worked together for about five years. The Board of Directors and I have been praying for a female counselor since SBC started so that we can serve women well. As an LPC with over a decade of experience counseling in secular and ministry contexts, and having CCEF training for biblical counseling, I’m very pleased to have Shelly coming on board to meet this need.
Secondly, Jereme Jeane is coming on board as an equipping coach. As I was designing our equipping curriculum, I increasingly realized that I was going to need some help. During that time Jereme and I struck up a friendship, and I soon realized that he is probably better suited for equipping than I am! Jereme has been a pastor for almost two decades in a variety of roles. He is especially gifted and trained for teaching and discipleship in group settings. Jereme is also a Certified Pastoral Counselor and member of the National Christian Counselors Association. I’m grateful for God’s timely provision of Jereme for this role.
If you’d like to read more about Shelly and Jereme, see our staff page.
A New Ministry
Lastly, an introduction to equipping. Generally, counseling is reactive in nature. People seek counseling because of problems that have become painful and complicated. But what if proactive work could keep problems from developing in the first place? And what if those who are doing well had a way to develop greater fruitfulness for God in particular areas of life? Such questions gave birth to SBC Equipping.
You may be thinking, “What about the church?” Without question God’s design is for the church to be the primary structure for proactive care and instruction of his people, the context where “the saints are equipped for the work of ministry” (Eph 4:12). Our goal is not to replace the church, but similar to counseling, to come alongside the church. In many cases church leaders do not have the time, energy, or resources to provide things like a workshop on the integration of faith & work, coaching on the stewardship of money, or training for parenting.
In a nutshell, equipping is proactive training to help people get upstream of life’s problems and opportunities. We’ll be offering group workshops on particular topics regularly. We will also offer the same courses in a one on one coaching format at any time for those who want more individual help or who don’t want to wait for a particular workshop to be offered.
Each course is a little different, but generally the courses are a mixture of instruction from a counselor or coach, discussion, and individual study. In either format, it lasts 8 meetings, on a weekly or biweekly basis.
Our first group workshop, which will start in June, is Integrating Faith & Work.
If you’d like to sign up or for more information, check out the Equipping page of our website.
Grace to you,
David
