Neil here. Today we are going to be a part of a church leaders training day at our Church. It’s not a big gathering in terms of numbers but it feels a big deal for us and the first that our church has held since it began in August 2024. It’s been over a year since Janet and I have been in a day like this and 18 months since we did any training with a group of leaders outside our church youth gatherings. We both feel a little different about getting to do any form of teaching or training again. I feel super excited to do this again. I have always loved to do this kind of thing, it’s where I feel in my sweet spot. I just want to make sure that what I say is useful and, more importantly, that the Holy Spirit takes the words I say and makes them transformational for the leaders who are in attendance. Janet however, feels a little more nervous about being a part of contributing to the day. She can lead ministry and host all day long but teaching and training, while being something that she is great at, has never felt super comfortable to her along with the pressure that it can bring.

Let me explore this thought for a little minute……..

Part of her feeling around teaching has been brought about by the way most of us expect teaching to happen and how we hold others to those expectations. Throughout the history of the church the ‘great speakers’ were often thought of as ‘great thinkers’ who were eloquent, structured, and who often had spent hours and hours pouring over books and manuscripts. Of course, there have been some incredible examples of these kind of teachers over the years that have seen incredible things in the Kingdom. However, what I’ve come to realise is that somewhere in our minds we now expect this from all teachers and trainers. So, if you are someone who enjoys being locked away crafting thoughts and messages and have enough skill to deliver them in a way that others can understand you are considered to be a great teacher. However, if that is not the way you are wired you probably have sadly been questioned about your ability in this area. Janet is one of the most incredible people I know and how she follows Jesus is inspiring. When she teaches and trains others you see the passion she has for Jesus, and her heart to see others walk into life. Most of all what Janet does better than most I have seen teach is that she embodies what she teaches. She’s not just teaching theory or thought, she’s teaching a lived out truth. It’s incredible….. but it tends not to be structured in its presentation, it tends to not have lots of quotes, manuscript research, and endless hours of crafting and refining. The lack of those things and the expectation of some to have those things have left her at times feeling like she wasn’t good enough to do the job. This, in my humble opinion, is incredibly sad.

I’m taking this detour in the post because we believe there are others out there who are called to lead, train, and teach who have faced the same doubts because they are not naturally wired in the traditional teaching sense. I believe that teaching and training is not about information accumulation, but about transformation individually, corporately, and spiritually. The goal of any talk is to impart the Kingdom through words, actions, and spirit to those in the room who are willing to partner with what God is speaking through us. A talk is only as good as the transformation that occurs. Quite often when I would chat with someone who hadn’t been in a service where I had been teaching and they would ask something like; “How did the talk go?” What I’m increasingly learning to say is; “I don’t know. I think the presentation was good/bad/ok but I’ll only know how good a talk it was by the transformation that does or doesn’t occur.” That means if you are a eloquent study-er then do it 300% but if you are a natural, passionate, analogy filled story teller then do that 300% and don’t try to be someone else. As long as Jesus is at the centre we’re all good here!

All I am trying to say is that whatever way you are wired when it comes to teaching and training I would encourage you to not compare to anyone else. Yes, work on your gifting, but God made you the way you are for a reason – don’t change that to fit a model that is not the fullness of the gifting God desires for the church!!!

Ok, back to the training day.

What was lovely is that we knew most people at the day and the smaller numbers made the training super informal and more relational. It transformed the day into more of a conversation together than a one way training event which was a super gentle introduction for us after 18 months of not really teaching at anything. As I took part in the day I realised that it had been a year since I’d even sat in an environment like this, never mind teach, and the last time was only a short time after we had resigned from our job as pastors and we were still in recovery mode. That’s a huge change for me as environments like these were something I would have been in fairly often. I remembered again just how much I love these spaces. I love the conversation, the ministry, the exploration of similar hearted people who are simply seeking to be as obedient to God as we can be within the lives and structures He has called us to steward.

We’d love to take a moment to thank our church leaders for inviting us to be a part of the day. From the moment we stepped down from our previous roles these leaders have been so kind to us. They have loved us well, and they have trusted us, and affirmed what God has put in us. They have given us room to be ourselves and have allowed us to lean in when we have felt ready. We are so grateful to them.

Anyway, the day finished with a night of encounter that was open to everyone and what a night it was. The presence of God was so evident and the volume in the room was just….wow. Our son who was running the media that evening, a very difficult job given the spontaneity of the song choices, decided to test the volume of the room on a sound meter. His report was that it peaked at around 117 decibels which according to Google “is comparable to the noise of a football game in a stadium, a chainsaw, or even the sound of thunder.”

I guess that makes it a great day 😂

Below is a copy of my notes from today – I always write nay talks or training pieces word for word and then summarise them like this so I’m never reading during any teaching/training