WORKSHOPS

In our journey towards becoming an Intentional Disciplemaking Church (IDMC), Covenant Evangelical Free Church has formulated five transformational strategies which we believe are key vehicles that God works through to bring about transformation in the life of the church and its members. They are "Change Me", "Use Me”, "Train Me", "Empower Me" and "Multiply Me".

At this year’s conference workshops, Covenant EFC’s associate pastors together with Don Graybill from the Navigators will be sharing how these strategies can be fleshed out in concrete and practical ways. Rev. Edmund Chan will also be conducting a workshop “For Pastors Only”.

As Jesus said in His Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” If you believe disciplemaking is the core mission of the Church, join the workshops to find out more about how we can be intentional in our disciplemaking!

 

"CHANGE ME" through Breakthrough Weekends (Rev Tan Kay Kiong)

Until and unless God breaks into our lives and changes our hearts, nothing of eternal significance really happens. The separate Men’s, Women’s and Marriage Breakthrough Weekends (BTW) form the three strands of Covenant’s first strategy for change. BTWs are all about setting aside focused time to engage with God so that He can break into our lives, help us break with the past and give us a spiritual breakthrough.

“If I were to describe BTW in one sentence, I would say it’s the most worthwhile time I have spent for the entire year! I have been able to grasp my dependency on God out of the despondency that I failed to recognize.&rdquo

GW (participant of Men’s BTW) :
“The messages were excellent and most practical... The testimonies were so sincere. Through this BTW, I have the boldness to seek ministry for my past 25 years of hurts. God healed my broken wings and now I just want to soar!”

LC (participant of Women’s BTW) :
This workshop is for pastors and lay leaders who desire to see spiritual breakthrough in the men, women and marriages in their churches. We will look specifically at the Breakthrough Weekend ethos and discipleship curriculum.

 

“USE ME” where people live, work and play (Don Graybill)

Once God has broken into our lives and transformed us, we want to share what He has done for us in the natural “traffic patterns” of our lives – out where relatives, friends, and colleagues live, work and play.

1 Peter 2:12 tells us to “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.” Yet for many Christians, the admonition to have a redemptive influence on lost friends remains an unfulfilled desire.

This interactive workshop is designed to help growing Christians envision practical strategies for building “missional communities” that will empower them to live and disciple among people-still-distant-from-Christ. Together we will consider how several willing Christians can “team” together and be used by God as “insiders” to a particular group of friends or colleagues to advance the Gospel in a culturally and relationally relevant manner.

 

“TRAIN ME” through Intentional Discipleship Training (Pastor Ann Chan)

As God uses us to reach others, we will realise that we need some form of discipline and equipping to grow deeper in our faith. As Paul urged, “Train yourself for godliness; for...godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Tim 4: 7-8).

One of the key training vehicles in Covenant EFC is our Intentional Discipleship Training (IDT) programme, a two-year intensive training programme for those wanting to grow deeper in their Christian discipleship. The IDT trains for godliness by nurturing the inner life of the disciple through spiritual disciplines for growth and ministry, to develop disciples of “a certain kind” whose focus is on the Scriptures applied to daily life.

This workshop will share Covenant EFC’s journey into Intentional Discipleship Training and the principles and practices of this strategic “next step” in fulfilling the vision of becoming a disciplemaking church.

 

“Empower Me” through Prayer (Rev Dr Chua Chung Kai)

Undergirding our life and ministry must be the presence of the Supernatural. Without God, we can only accomplish this much. But with God, we will accomplish impossible things for His Kingdom! We need God’s empowering to do His work.

It is an exchanged life that is an empowered life. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20).

This workshop is for individuals who desire to experience the empowerment of God in their lives and ministries. By sharing the principles of an empowered life, it aims to inspire towards prayer that will undergird all of life and ministry – giving it a supernatural dimension and activating a life of faith. For the result of a praying people is two-fold – revival in the true sense of the word and the salvation of souls!

 

“Multiply Me” through Small Group Infrastructure (Rev Tony Yeo)

As God transforms our lives, He intends to multiply that life in others. Jesus revealed the heart of God for multiplication as He modelled and commissioned it before He ascended into heaven.

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you” (Matt 28:18-20).

As we seek to grow in faithfulness and fruitfulness, this workshop will share how we can faithfully invest in lives and intentionally multiply our lives in others. It aims to help us to shape and develop a godly attitude towards multiplication and take specific action steps to disciple at least one person over the next one year. It will also cover questions such as How do you start a mentoring group? and What do you do in a mentoring group?

 

Towards an Intentional Disciplemaking Church – for pastors only (Rev Edmund Chan)

The road to becoming an Intentional Disciplemaking Church (IDMC) is an exciting and challenging one. It involves deep spiritual, personal and organisational changes. What does it involve and what are some of the key pastoral lessons along the way? Come to this pastors-only workshop and hear from other senior pastors as they share their own journeys in establishing Intentional Disciplemaking Churches, and engage in a Question and Answer session, facilitated by Rev Edmund Chan, about the pastoral issues and implications of building an IDMC.

 

Workshops are available on a first-come-first-served basis.