What is Next Leadership Training (NLT)?

We wanted to create a place to EQUIP, EMPOWER and CHALLENGE you in your discipleship life. Leadership is many things and shows up in many different ways. We’re tossing out the idea that leadership is “the people on the platform” or the “the people with the titles” and working from the famous John Maxwell assumption: LEADERSHIP IS INFLUENCE

Whoever you’re influencing - your family, coworkers, friends, church members - we want to do whatever we can to train you to make an impact in their lives for Christ.

You don’t need to have a position of leadership, be a certain type of person or feel like a leader. You just have to be willing to grow and be challenged to influence the world around you for Jesus.

WINTER 2025

where prayer becomes real

(from the Publisher)
Your Gide to Deep, Life-Changing Prayer

If we're honest, most of us feel bored, distracted, or discouraged in prayer. We look for resources to give us the "right" words or teach us the "right" technique and are disappointed when they don't seem to help. What we fail to realize is that prayer isn't a place for us to be good or right, and it isn't a place for us to perform or prove our worth. It's a place for us to be honest, present, and known--a place for us to offer ourselves and receive God.

Spiritual formation experts Kyle Strobel and John Coe want to show you what you've been missing when it comes to prayer. In this down-to-earth book, they show you how to fearlessly draw near to a holy God, pray without ceasing (and without posturing), and delight in the experience of being fully known and fully loved. Each chapter ends with prayer projects or practices to help you see a difference in your prayer life, starting now.

DETAILS

SCHEDULE

  • January 20: Part 1 - Chapters 1-4

  • January 27: Part 2 - Chapters 5-9

To join this session of NLT, REGISTER HERE.


SELF-DIRECTED LEADERSHIP STUDIES

Take yourself through any or all of these courses, articles and studies at your own pace. Let us know if you have any questions!

NEXT Courses (including The Disciple of Jesus, completed in NLT Winter 2022)

Life Transformation Courses (including Learning to Serve & Learning to Lead, completed in NLT Winter 2021 & Fall 2021)

Leaders With Substance (Study)

The Deacon’s Qualifications (Study)

The Overseer’s Qualifications (Study)

Frequently Asked Questions:

Sounds great but what’s the end game? Are you looking for new small group leaders or ushers or something?

  • Well, sure! But that’s not the endgame. NLT is focused on equipping you for wherever you are leading now and preparing you for wherever you might be called to lead in the future. If this training helps you to lead your family better - fantastic! If it gives you the confidence to step out and lead in a ministry - also great!

Who is behind NLT? Who will be doing the sessions?

  • Pastors Tracy is working together with the Freedom Staff to create and launch each session of NLT. We realized that having separate training for each ministry area at Freedom wasn’t the best use of our resources or your time. So NLT will be applicable and use real-life examples from every area of ministry to that it can be applied in whatever context you find yourself in.

I’m interested but I can’t commit right now. Can I join later? Will I be behind?

  • NLT is built so that every session can stand alone. However, we recommend that you do the course Learning to Serve as soon as possible. You can take that course on LearnDash whenever you have time or download it and complete it from our NEXT page in PDF format. After that, you can jump in (or out) whenever we start a new semester. While it would be ideal (though admittedly unrealistic for most) to have you in every session from now until we run out of things to talk about (aka when Jesus returns), you are not committing for more than one semester at a time. And when you can join us, you’ll never be behind.

I don’t have any theological training or qualifications for leadership. I don’t know if this is for me.

  • Not a problem. There is absolutely no expectation for participants to have any qualifications other than wanting to serve Jesus, grow in your discipleship, be open to learning, growing and building their leadership capacity. You got this.

What’s the time commitment?

  • Other than the dates and times listed above for our whole group sessions, you’ll need to find a couple of hours per week to go through the course material and have it completed ahead of the sessions. Easy!

I’m not techie. Doing everything digitally is intimidating for me. How much tech stuff will I need to figure out?

  • We often use Zoom for live sessions.

  • We are using LearnDash for our online course material.

  • We are HAPPY to walk you through any tech issues you may have. We can get you set up, test your connection, talk you through the online lessons - whatever you need. Just don’t let the tech stand in your way!

leader in training (LIT) program

If you are an emerging leader looking for practical training in servant leadership, we encourage you to consider the Leader in Training Program. Here you’ll find the LIT Program Outline and the application form.

Contact Pastor Tracy if you have any questions!