Purposeful apprenticeships are one of the best ways to raise up new leaders for the future of the church. But having an apprentice at your church as a go-fer or a warm body can lead quickly to boredom, frustration, and stagnation. Below are some ideas to help engage apprentices in your church's work and prepare them for ministry beyond their time with you.

1. Appoint a Director
The adage "If it's everybody's responsibility, it's nobody's responsibility" is certainly true for apprentices. You can't assume that an apprentice will find his or her own way around and will figure out how to spend time. Having an intern with no director can easily lead to one of two extremes: someone who ends up sitting around with nothing to do or a someone who ends up inundated with all the tasks no one else wants to do. One extreme leads to stagnation and the other leads to resentment and burnout.

In order to make the apprenticeship a positive experience for everyone, your apprentice should have a director or supervisor. The director should establish expectations and schedule regular meeting times. Consider setting up a weekly one hour meeting just before or after your regular staff meetings to go over the past week and set goals for the coming one.

2. Expose Your Apprentice to a Variety of Ministries
Your apprentice should be exposed to as many ministries as possible. This might take the form of a weekly rotation (Mondays in the preschool, Tuesday at Alpha, etc.) or could be set on the calendar according to the church's cycle of busy seasons. The children's minister will need help planning VBS. The youth group can always use a chaperone on summer mission trips. And there's always room for someone to take responsibility during busy holiday seasons like Christmas and Easter.

3. Assign Your Apprentice Quality Reading Material
There are so many great books on developing leadership. We highly recommend "Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership" by Ruth Haley Barton. A couple other books to consider are "The Hero Maker" by Dave Ferguson (this one is for the director, too!) and "Evangelism as Exiles" by Elliot Clark on sharing faith in a culture that no longer welcomes Jesus.

4. Give Your Apprentice Opportunities To Meet Your Congregation
The first chunk of time can be spent getting to know your church and its culture. Get your apprentice a stack of index cards to write down the names of the people they meet, what their life situation is, and any other snippets of personal story each person offers. Have them visit your various Bible classes, small groups, and other regular activities to get an overview of what your church is about and who your people are.

5. Ramp Up the Responsibility
Your apprentice might start out just getting to know people, but as time goes on, responsibilities should increase. Move your apprentice from basic faith conversations to leading classes or groups. Not sure how to do that? Consider working through the Emerging Leadership Training Course on Sharing Faith. It gives regular assignments that will increase your apprentice's involvement and level of responsibility.

6. Teach Your Apprentice How to Have Spiritual Conversations
One of the skills covered in the Sharing Faith ELT is how to have 3 question conversations that move you from asking polite questions to interest questions to caring questions. Give your apprentice opportunities to speak with strangers and move them from small talk to real talk. During your weekly debrief, ask about these conversations. What went right? What went wrong? What will he do differently next time?

7. Expect Your Apprentice to Establish Regular Spiritual Rhythms
Of course, you can't expect to form a new habit in someone you're training if you don't practice it yourself.  Encourage your apprentice to establish a daily office of prayer and study, weekly rhythms of prayer, and regularly scheduled chunks of time spent in silence, stillness, and solitude.

8. Help Your Apprentice Figure Out "What's Next"
​As you get to know your apprentice, you'll start to see giftings, strengths, and weaknesses. Pay attention to these and encourage him or her to seek out the next step that will play to their strengths, but also have room for growth in areas of weakness or inexperience.

Last year was a busy year in the Kairos network--but what year isn't? A new church born, another closed. Planters assessed. Apprentices trained. A new staff member. And more forward movement for the future of God's kingdom across America.

​We hope you enjoy the slideshow that gives a quick visual of what Kairos Church Planting is all about.

​A disturbing prospect looms before us as the fact of our decline of Churches of Christ (CoC) has moved from unbelievable to undeniable. The question we must answer is no longer, “How are we doing;” our question is now, “What shall we do about it?”

I've written articles for The Great Commission Journal and in collaboration with Tim Woodroof addressing the urgent need to plan for the future of Churches of Christ before it's too late. In my most recent article at wineskins.org, I offer 3 of the biggest challenges facing the Churches of Christ and 3 strategies to meet those challenges.

If God has invested heavily in this branch of the tree of Christianity, can't we do the same?

In the olden days of a decade or more ago, the internet was the Wild, Wild West. Everyone “needed” a website, but didn’t know what to put on it. So, they included everything. At Kairos, we over cluttered our website with the best of them. But web audiences have changed and tastes have become more refined. If you want your church website to work for you, here are a few tips for clean and effective design.

Color
Your Website should have, at most, 3 colors—one primary, one secondary, and one for accent or Pop! If you don’t know how to find a trio of colors that matches, coolors.co can help you pick out a great, contemporary color palette.

Fonts
Fonts, like colors, can work for you or against you. Limit yourself to three fonts. More than that is just too visually confusing. Just like with colors, there is a great website to help you out. FontPair.co has all the latest fonts already paired up for you to use.

Platform
Running a website can be super complicated, where you hire a designer or a developer and any time you want to make changes, you have to run them through that person. If I may be so bold, just stop it! We want to be 21st -century churches, so let’s use 21st -century technology. Two companies that I think are great for a church are SquareSpace and Wix. Both of these companies provide hosting and have great looking templates for your site. They are basically a one stop shop and are very reasonable prices. If you just really want more flexibility you can use Wordpress.
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You can get go a lot more in depth on website design, logo design, and choosing a theme or template, but these basics will get you started. Use your website as a way to delegate and develop leaders. And use it to give potential guests a first glance of what visiting church might look like.

The first century church didn’t like art all that much. In that time, it was too closely connected with their suppressors, the Roman Empire. Through the centuries, the church has, in turn, embraced the power of art, and rejected it. In 21st century America, it’s good to embrace it. Americans today are more aware of good and bad design than ever. We have grown into sophisticated consumers who are familiar with fonts and videos, colors, and photography. We know what we like and what we don’t like, even if we can’t put a finger of exactly why design or lack of it makes us feel a certain way.

1. Good design speaks to people who are not listening.

The world these days is constantly changing. There’s always a new iPhone coming out, a redesign on your favorite website, a new display at the grocery store. When things look the same, they become invisible.
By changing and refreshing your church’s design, you make the message visible in new and engaging ways. When we do the same things with the same look for years on end, old habits become old hat. Keep the message True, but use design to change the way it looks, whether it’s by changing worship order, stage design, web or print design.

2. Good design helps people receive your message

Do you learn by seeing or by hearing? Some of us are visual learners and some of us are auditory learners. And to make things more complicated, however you gather information through any of your senses, you have to process it emotionally, socially, and intellectually.
In that order.
The first step to any of that, though, is in sensing. When someone visits your church, what they see, hear, smell, taste, and touch are giving them the information they need to make a judgment on whether your church is the right one for them.
By choosing aesthetically pleasing, consistent design, whether on your website, in print, or on the screen at church, you are allowing the message of the Gospel to land easily where there are fewer barriers to it being received.

3. Good design matters to God.

​God is the ultimate designer. At the end of each phase of his ultimate design project (the creation of the universe), he stood back and said, “It is good.” Not, “it’s okay,” or “I’ll do better next time,” but “It is good.” In the same way that he put care and thought into the design of the earth, we can reflect Him by putting effort into design that moves people into deep, reflective, glorifying worship.

If you want your church to make an impact for your city, you might think you have to go it alone. But partnering with organizations in your area can strengthen your networks and provide opportunities for you to make connections. Partnering with your city and its organizations uses Missional muscles and takes advantage of existing structures in your local setting. You can work with proven, established services, while using their resources to help accomplish your church’s mission in making disciples.

Many civic and non-profit agencies have great budgets but run short on volunteers. By helping them out, you can use their resources to accomplish your goals.  Some of these local organizations might be:

• Better Business Bureau
• Main Street Associations
• Chamber of Commerce
• Your local city government (City Council)
• Farmer’s Markets
• Parades
• State & County Fairs
• Food Banks
• Homeless Associations
• School Districts & Community Colleges

Start with connections across a cross section of your community. Don’t limit yourself to working with only one organization. Partnerships tend to grow and deepen with time, but it’s hard to know up front which partnerships will yield the best fruit.
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1. Partner in ways that are mutually beneficial. Neither you nor the community organization should feel like you’re only giving and not receiving.
2. Work with people, not just organizations. Be sure there is a specific person in each organization who is your go-to person.
3. Share the vision, share the load. Develop your vision collaboratively so both parties carry ownership. Include both parties in decision making.
4. Communicate progress. When you experience a victory—or a failure—be sure to communicate with your partner organization. Shared information helps everyone adjust as needed.
5. Be available. Be willing and open to serve on committees and boards. Attend city council meetings. Show you care by investing in your community.
6. Think big. Dream big. Act big. Momentum is your friend. When an activity looks like it is succeeding, it is more likely to draw more volunteers and participants.
7. Remember who you are. Partnerships are amazing, but there’s a danger of losing your own identity, your own mission, in the partnership. Always keep in mind what your goal is in partnering with community organizations and don’t let it get lost.

If you want more ideas on building and maintaining community partnerships, Andy Coe wrote a terrific article for the International Nonprofit Development Council, which is available on Convergent Nonprofit Solution’s website.

I’ve been blessed to coach great leaders who are starting new missional churches around the country.  The best leaders are hungry for wisdom and insight!  Here are things I’ve noticed in them.  Look for these qualities in yourself and other leaders you are trying to add to your team.

What are the first impressions of your church worship event?
·       Do people know where to park?
·       Do people know where to enter the building?
·       Is there significant amount of signage that will help guide guests to the best area of greeting and information?
·       Is the entrance inviting or awkward?
·       How many people do guests interact with before the Worship Experience Starts?
·       During the worship experience, can they understand what is happening?

Below are some specifics things to put in place to help make a great first impression.

C.T.U. (Chairs, Tables & Ushers)
These teams serve in snow, rain and sunshine to assist guests in finding an open parking space.. They also provide security during the services, throughout the facility. They welcome guests with greetings from the curb to the front doors to the entry of the auditorium. Once inside the auditorium CTU offer assistance in finding a seat.
 
E.P.A. (Environmental Protection Assistance) Guest Services
These teams provide information at the information table, hand out bulletins to partners, attenders, and guests.  Coffee & refreshment tables are catered and prepped.  These tables are maintained throughout the service by the EPA.  During setup the EPA also makes sure all signage (I,e, Children’s areas, bathrooms, and specialty tables are prepared and manned throughout the service.

Here are some tips for your EPA team:

Main Door Greeters:
·       Smile!
·       Greet every person coming through the doors
·       Shaking hands is not required – read body language
·     If someone needs further help of any kind, offer personal assistance if possible, or take them to another team member who can help them
·       Minimum of 2 greeters at the main doors
·       Remain at door 15 minutes after service begins; longer if traffic flow dictates
·       Return to your door position immediately following the service to hold the door for those leaving

Auditorium Door Greeters:
·       Smile!
·       Distribute bulletins or handouts
·     If someone needs further help of any kind, offer personal assistance if possible, or take them to another team member who can help them.
·       Offer assistance to parents with young children; direct them to age-appropriate ministry
·       Encourage people to sit toward the front, even though there may be adequate seating elsewhere. They’ll be able to see full facial expression up close! Remember, the front row is always open!
 
Information Table
·       Set up all brochures in an attractive, eye catchy yet not eye obtrusive manner.
·       Read up on and familiarize yourself with all information in the bulletin so that you can answer guests’ questions and provide the best possible guest service.
·       Be ready for guests by 1/2 hour before services start.
-      Smile! Look approachable, friendly, and willing to help at all times.
·       All other guest service volunteers should come out from behind the kiosk to intermingle with the guests without the kiosk as a barrier.
·       When the auditorium is full, help usher/greeters with the set up of the Atrium (chairs, noise level, worship atmosphere, taking the offering, etc.)
·       Be able to free yourself up to assist newcomers to the downstairs area for their children, provide a tour of the facility, etc.

Remember, first impressions matter. Don't let a bad first impression be a lasting impression.

As a culture, we've become wary of making the ask. We're afraid of offending someone or pushing too hard, but often the response is, "I would have done it sooner, but no one asked me." Below are some ideas to help you make the ask to call people into life with God.
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Ways You Personally Can Practice Reaping

1. Share your personal faith story and ask for a response.
2. Write a reaping letter to a friend.
3. Share the “One-Verse” Gospel presentation from Romans 6:23.

Ways to Reap as a Small Group
Pick an activity that everyone in the group enjoys. This could include:

• A common interest event (e.g., sports events, shopping, meals, bowling, arts and crafts, board game nights
•  A thought-provoking movie

 In the last two blog posts, we covered cultivation and planting. Next comes reaping. Simply put, reaping takes place when you challenge friends to respond to the truth of God's Word. It is the natural result of cultivating and planting. If we cultivate in love and plant in God's truth, the result will be the challenge and joy of the harvest. (​Ecclesiastes 3:1–2, 2 Corinthians 9:6, Galatians 6:9)

Reaping a response to God’s truth involves an understanding of the difference between our job and God’s job in the reaping process.
Our job in the reaping process of evangelism is to:

1. Clearly and concisely present the Good News message about Christ.  
2. Call people to respond to that message.

God’s job in the reaping process of evangelism is to:

1. Convict the spiritually lost of sin and convince them of their need for right (righteous) living. (“He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” John 16:8)
2. Draw the spiritually lost to Himself. (“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” John 6:44)

This partnership with God calls for bold proclamation with prayerful dependence.

Skills That Need to Be Developed to Do Our Job
To fulfill our part of the reaping process there are two skills that can be developed to enhance our effectiveness.

1. Presenting the Good News.
2. Calling for a response.

Enhancing Our Reaping Skills—Presenting the Gospel
One of the hindrances to reaping is best expressed by this statement: “I would love to tell my peers about Christ but I don’t know how to share the essential elements of a Gospel presentation.”

I suggest starting by memorizing Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Do you believe it? Then, live it!

Enhancing Our Reaping Skills—Calling for a Response
Jesus was a master communicator when it came to getting individuals to respond to spiritual truths. He would often paint a word picture and then ask people questions that caused them to evaluate their spiritual condition. He always made space for their response.

Calling for a Response in Practice
You can use the same two steps to call for a response. First, paint a word picture, like this:​