Ok, that title’s not entirely true. Here at NorthWood, we train young pastors who want to start new churches from around the world. We do that through our Modular Training – 4 days of face-to-face and several months of online training. Doing it this way helps with guys who want training, but can’t (or won’t) move to Texas for 9-months of training (which is the way we’ve done it in the past).
But more than the training, we create a comradery. We laugh, we play, we cry… but mostly laugh. Seriously, it’s a lot of work leading up to the event for the staff, but when we get there we are seriously having the time of our lives! I absolutely LOVE watching the “lights come on” in these guys eyes when a new concept takes hold. I thrive for those moments.
We teach 4 components, or “Modules” – Kingdom (how do you not only see, but live within the Kingdom of God here on earth), Disciple (how to create a discipleship process), Society (we start with the society, NOT the church), and finally, Church (what does a Kingdom minded, Disciple-making, Society-engaging church look like?).
Here are some highlights from this weeks’ training:
- A true disciple both hears AND obeys when the Father speaks… moment-by-moment
- The point is not growing your church, but investing in your community
- Jesus is the head of the Church, not the pastor – all believers can hear from the Head… not just the pastor. (learn to let go of control)
- Don’t quit… it WILL get hard, there WILL be opposition, and you WILL get discouraged.
- Be smart with resources (what really is that $20,000 lighting system going to get you when you’re first starting?)
- Love one another (it’s a harder topic to learn than it is to teach)
- Discover what God is already doing. Don’t try to drag him along in your endeavors
- Release your people to engage the domains of society (Domains are the grid by which we engage, not the church)

This is just a sampling of what happened on one day of the total training… if you’re interested in getting in on the action, go to www.glocal.net/turbo and read the pre-requisites for the “Modular Training” (not the “Turbo” – that’s another deal completely).

Love these guys and can’t wait to see how they will take this and run!