Possible structure of Leadership Development Events
1. Paid Staff Development Event
Paid staff are typically busy on weekends so Development Events work best mid-week. These are best done off-site, at a quality retreat centre away from their regular work environments. This enables staff to ‘unplug’ and focus on the training. A staff retreat a couple of times a year could look like this:
| Day 1 (Tuesday) | Day 2 (Wednesday) | Day 3 (Thursday) |
| Begin with supper at the retreat centre, with a fun activity to set the relational tone of the retreat. | A full day of Leadership Development. Evening fun activity (games? movie?). | A morning of leadership development, ending with lunch. |
2. Lay people Development Event
Typically, lay people cannot take time off during the week, so weekends are best. Development Events could look like this:
| Friday night (optional) | Saturday | Sunday |
| An evening of lay development, ending at 9:00 p.m. | Breakfast at 9:00 a.m. and then a full day of development. Staff should be present to know what their lay leaders are learning. | We speak to the whole congregation, explaining the biblical basis of what we are doing in leadership development. This would be done through either the message, or comments in service. In the afternoon would be a shorter, more informal meeting with board or staff for conversation and discussion. |
3. Combination model
If you want Leadership Development Events that involve both paid staff and lay people, it could look like this:
| Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Staff development during the day. Evening free of activity. | Lay and staff development all day. It is best to have staff present when their key lay people are being trained. | We speak to the congregation, either during the message or with comments in the service. |