Mobilize is a developmental program that New Covenant Church has adopted as it’s discipleship training program to fully equip the saints to do the work of ministry.
The biblical foundation for Mobilize is summarized best in Romans 12:1-8. In this passage, Paul urges all believers to present their bodies as a “living sacrifice” to be used by God. Furthermore, he says that every believer has received a charismatic gift (that is, “a gift of grace”) from the Holy Spirit as a member of the body of Christ. But in order for all the gifts to be properly manifested in the local church, Paul explains that the entire body of believers—the pastor, the leaders, and the members—must experience a transformation in the way they think about “ministry.” Note carefully his words. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness (Romans 12:1-8 NKJV).
For a local church to reach its full potential as the body of Christ, its pastors, church leaders, and members must experience a new “mindset.” This “transformation of thinking” (literally, a “metamorphosis”) involves three essential truths which enable all believers to find their place of ministry in the body of Christ.
1. All persons are equal. This truth is based on Paul’s words, “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (v. 3). Only two groups of people exist in matters of eternity: (1) those who believe and are members of the body of Christ; and, (2) those who do not believe and are not members of the body of Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, all believers are
equal in the grace of Christ as sons and daughters of the heavenly Father.
2. All believers are gifted. This truth is based on Paul’s words: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us” (vv. 5, 6). All believers have received grace (charis); therefore, all believers have received “gifts of grace” (charismata). These seven spiritual gifts enable the church to function as the one body of Christ in the community.
3. Every believer is called to minister. This truth is based on Paul’s use of the word “ministry” (diakonia) as a spiritual gift. Every member of the body of Christ is called to serve even as Christ served (Matthew 20:28). In Acts 6, the words for “serve tables” (diakoneo in 6:2) and “ministry of the word” (diakonia in 6:4) come from the same root
word (diakonos, “servant”). Every believer is called to the ministry of serving.
The primary goals of Mobilize are . . .
1. To develop a culture of faithful servant-leadership in the local church.
2. To emphasize the establishment of biblical covenant-team relationships between pastors, local church leaders, and members.
3. To provide effective and cutting-edge ministerial resources that encompass the training
and formation of spiritual integrity in every believer.
Participants delve into the 48-week program through:
1. At-home, informative textbook reading.
2. Personal, engaging Bible study.
3. Twelve monthly seminars, reviewing the textbook, and Bible studies.
4. Weekly ministry assignments.
In Level One: The Foundation (which lasts for six months), the pastor guides participants in
becoming workers for Christ through two, three-month series of studies:
– Part A: Leadership Skills – Enabling members to become leaders.
– Part B: Character Formation – Discipling members into Christ-likeness.
In Level Two: The Ministry Plan (which lasts for another six months), individuals choose, in
consultation with the pastor, a specialization area of ministry that they personally desire to
establish in their church. Level Two studies are divided into two, three-month sections:
– Part A: Ministry Foundations and Principles – Discovering key information about
their specialized ministry.
– Part B: Ministry Skills and Practices – Acquiring abilities for specialized ministry.
Specializations include twelve areas of ministry.
1. Cell Group Ministry
2. Children’s Ministry
3. Christian Education
4. Counseling
5. Evangelism
6. Marriage and Family (a focus-group)
7. Music
8. Prayer
9. Stewardship
10. Teaching
11. Women’s Ministry
12. Youth Ministry
Student and pastor resource manuals are provided by Mobilize for the three-month study of Mobilize Level One, Part A. Leadership Skills (as they are in the other three, three-month studies). Both manuals contain, under Tab 2, a “Guide for Daily Reflections” which leads the student through daily assigned textbook readings, Bible reading, and personal reflections.
The study resource for Leadership Skills comprises four textbooks.
1. Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work (Timothy Keller).
2. The Next Christians: Seven Ways You Can Live the Gospel and Restore the World (Gabe
Lyons).
3. The Volunteer Revolution: Unleashing the Power of Everybody (Bill Hybels).
4. Lead Like Jesus: Lessons for Everyone from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time
(Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges).
The seminar resource for Leadership Skills was prepared by the Reverend Paul L. Walker,
Ph.D., former general overseer of the Church of God and pastor emeritus of the Mt. Paran
Church of God in Atlanta, Georgia. This material is located under Tab 4.
The three monthly seminars are titled:
1. “How Do I Think?”
2. “What Do I Do?”
3. “What Does It Require?”
Student and pastor resource manuals are also provided by Mobilize for this second three-month study. Both manuals contain, under Tab 2, a “Guide for Daily Reflections” which leads the student through daily assigned textbook readings, Bible reading, and personal reflections.
The study resource for Character Formation also comprises four textbooks.
1. Exploring the Declaration of Faith (French L. Arrington)
2. Developing the Leader Within You (John C. Maxwell)
3. The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People (John Ortberg)
4. Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer (J. Oswald Sanders)
The seminar resource for Character Formation (under Tab 4) was prepared by Dr. Paul L. Walker and Dr. Donald S. Aultman, former Executive Director of the Church of God Division of Education.
The three monthly seminars are titled:
1. “Who Am I?”
2. “What Is Christian Leadership?”
3. “The Case for Christian Leadership”
In structure and format, both levels of Mobilize are very similar. Students continue to study daily textbook reading assignments and meet with the pastor for a seminar each month. But the focus changes in Level Two. In consultation with the pastor, students now choose one of the twelve specialized areas of ministry that they personally desire to establish in their church. Student and pastor resource manuals are very similar in Level Two but are more extensive. The manuals contain, under Tab 2, a “Guide for Daily Reflections” for each of the twelve concentrations. The student chooses the appropriate guide for his or her specialization.The study resources for Level Two, in both Part A and Part B, are too numerous to list here because the resources vary according to which specialization the participant chooses. These resources are listed alphabetically according to each specialization in the Appendix.
The seminar resources for Level Two are:
– Part A: Ministry Foundations and Principles
o “Elders, Deacons, and Ordination” – R. Hollis Gause and Steven J. Land
o “Christian Ethics in the 21st Century” – Terry L. Cross and Donald S. Aultman
o “Principles of Ministry for Leaders” – Larry Hess
o Optional Resource for Marriage and Family (a focus-group specialization) – H. Lynn and Mary Ruth Stone
– Part B: Ministry Skills and Practices
o “Church Model of Care” – Mark Walker
o “Conflict Resolution” – Paul Conn
o “Guidelines for Personal Productivity” – Paul Conn
In 2014, General Overseer Mark L. Williams requested that a twelfth specialization be developed on Marriage and Family. It is designed as a “focus-group specialization” in order for families to provide support for one another. The focus-group specialization allows all participants to follow the same daily schedule and to attend three seminars which focus on the same topics as those which are addressed in the textbooks. This study was added in order to address a growing concern regarding Christian families: How can parents find resources that will help them to appropriately understand and discuss sexuality as it is designed by God to find its full expression of love, beauty, and purity in the context of a
biblical-covenant marriage?
Optional seminar materials are provided in all notebooks for Level 2, Part A: Ministry Foundations and Principles. These materials provide the following options:
– If ALL participants have chosen the Marriage and Family specialization, the pastor may
choose to use only the seminar materials for that specialization.
– If SOME Mobilize participants have selected different specializations:
o The pastor may choose to do separate seminars at different times for those
participating in Marriage and Family and those participating in other
specializations; or,
o The pastor may choose to do the seminars for one group and appoint a facilitator
to direct the seminars in the other group.
The study resource for Level Two, Part A, “Marriage and Family” comprises four textbooks.
1. What God Has Joined Together: The Lord’s Definition of Marriage (H. Lynn and Mary Ruth
Stone).
2. Men Are Like Waffles—Women Are Like Spaghetti (Bill and Pam Farrel).
3. PUREHOPE: Pray, Understand, Resolve, Engage (PureHope).
4. Parenting in a Sexualized Culture: Christian Solutions for the 21st-Century Parent (PureHope).
The seminar resource for Mobilize Level Two, Part A: Marriage and Family was prepared by
Drs. H. Lynn and Mary Ruth Stone, authors of the textbook, What God Has Joined Together:
The Lord’s Definition of Marriage.
The three monthly seminars (along with subheadings) are titled:
1. “The Biblical Marriage Covenant and Redemption From the Curse”
– “When Things Are Wrong at Home”
– “Personhood: God Creates Every Person as a Unique Individual”
– “Paradise: The Biblical Marriage Covenant Is Founded on the Beginning”
2. “Equality and the Biblical Marriage Covenant”
– “Equality: God Creates Man and Woman as Equals”
– “Help Meet: Biblical Marriage Is Based on a Helping Companionship”
– “Leaving: Biblical Marriage Is Based on the Leaving of Father and Mother”
3. “The Biblical Marriage Covenant and Today’s Culture”
– “Cleaving: Biblical Marriage Is Based on the Cleaving of Male and Female”
– “Sexuality: Biblical Marriage Is Based on Oneness of Flesh”
– “The Pure Hope of Parenting in a Sexualized Culture”
The study resource for Level Two: Part B, Marriage and Family, comprises four textbooks.
1. Marriage and the Family: A Christian Perspective (Stephen A. Grunlan).
2. Walking in the Truth (Homer G. Rhea, editor).
3. Exploited: Sex Trafficking, Porn Culture, and the Call to a Lifestyle of Justice
(PureHope).
4. Recovery in a Sexualized Culture (PureHope).
The student cost for each one of the four, three-month segments of studies is only one hundred twenty five dollars ($125). So the cost for a participant to complete the entire year-long Mobilize program is less than $500. The cost for a married couple, when both are participating in the same specialization, is only slightly higher at $602. This includes all four student notebooks and a minimum of twelve textbooks. The cost to pastors is about the same unless they desire to have the textbooks for more than one specialization. When compared to any other mentoring, educational, or learning experience, Mobilize is an excellent and cost-efficient opportunity for pastors to train their church leaders for ministry. After reviewing the application with the total price list, please call the office of the Division of Education if you have questions or feel you need additional information.
