INVESTING IN LEADERSHIP
Invest is a leadership training and mentoring programme for those who sense that God might be leading them into creating new expressions of church.

Whiteinch Church of Scotland is called and committed to the Church of Scotland but we recognise that God is raising up many people from throughout the whole Church with a passion for creating new expressions of Church. Therefore Invest is open to those from any Christian tradition.

Invest aims to be a pathway towards participation in Church Planting leadership. What these churches will be, we do not know – they may be independent fellowships or associated congregations of Whiteinch Church of Scotland or something completely different.

Invest is not part of the Church of Scotland’s ministerial selection and training processes.

Invest has three components:
• Teaching
• Placement
• Mentoring

Teaching
Teaching is provided in residential blocks through:
• An Induction Week
• Four Teaching Weekends throughout the year

The Induction Wee k will allow the participants to understand the context, ethos and vision which drives Invest. Also work will be done on identifying participants’ gifts and skills, allowing for a more tailored training package to be created for the year.

The Teaching covers five modules:
1. Church in Today’s Culture
Learning to read the contemporary culture: What’s going on? Where’s God active? How can you engage?

2. Understanding and Growing in Leadership
Growing into Leadership: What is a leader? How do I lead? Leading and releasing a Team

3. Evangelism
Evangelism Strategy and how that relates to church, Persevering in evangelism with outward focus and simultaneously building church, Maintaining mission and maintenance, Personal evangelism and community engagement

4. Skills and Strategies for a Discipling Community
Knowing how to make it happen: Tools, tips and techniques. Dealing with disaster.

5. Personal Development
Passionate pursuit of God: Intimacy with God, Spiritual journey.
Why you are who you are: Character. Understanding self.

Placement
Students will be placed in a church where the values of the course are being lived out and explored. This will usually be a church planting setting where they can ask the important questions and which will give the opportunity for involvement. The placement and mentoring elements will allow the participants to be able to reflect on the experience and apply it in other Church Planting contexts.

Participants’ ability to input will vary according to time available, previous experience and gifting. A willingness to serve is a prerequisite for all Christian leadership and it is hoped that each Invest participant will find a niche in the current work which will make best use of his or her gifts.

Flexibility is a key to making this programme accessible and useful for the largest number of people. We hope to be able to tailor each participant’s Placement involvement on an individual basis according to availability, experience and gifting.

• Someone working full time may only be able to do the training and mentoring with a limited weekly placement involvement.
• Someone looking to do a full time year out would be able to spend the majority of their time working within their church placement.
• Students or part-time workers would be able to fix an appropriate amount of time for ministry placement.

Mentoring
The intended outcome of Invest is to equip Christians to participate in creating new expressions of church. For this to be effective, participants need personal encouragement to process and apply the teaching and experience to their lives. Therefore, within the placement, each participant will have mentoring with an experienced church planter to facilitate a process of personal insight and reflection together with growth in relationship with God.

It is expected that, as participants develop and move on from Invest to plant new expressions of church, a network will emerge allowing peer mentoring and support.