Elevate Collective
As expressed on the opening page of The Pastoral Way, it is our vision that our pastors are lifelong learners. To support that vision we commit significant resources to providing development opportunities for our pastors as explained on the Development Process page. As we look to the future of the church with its many unknowns and great possibilities, we recognize the central role that leaders will play in bringing that future to reality. We need Jesus-centred leaders who are equipped with the practical skills to lead through a time of change and innovation.
Learning cohorts provide a unique, transformative space to develop skills and discuss ministry challenges in the safety of a small group environment. Elevate Collective is comprised of ministry leaders who are in all stages of their leadership journey in ministry. They have typically started down the ministry path and are often on staff in their local church.
This cohort meets one day each month from October to May. The program includes multiple years of curriculum. The curriculum for each year is stand-alone so participants can join for a single year or more. The yearly curriculums do not need to be done in a particular order which allows for maximum flexibility for participants. The primary instructors are Todd Lester and Melanie Wigg but many guest instructors are involved in the program as well.
Each of the yearly programs represent new content but each new year is based on our Learning Framework, illustrated below. We are committed to developing pastors in four areas. The four areas include theological formation focusing on the unique aspects of our anabaptist identity, personal development focusing on a growth mindset and increasing self-awareness, ministry skills in a variety of practical areas, and transformational leadership.
For 2026-2027, we are teaching Program Five.
Transformational Leadership
- The principles of being a transformational leadership deriving from an evidence-based research model of effective leadership.
Vision and Strategy
- Principles, tools, and ideas about the value of strategic thinking and planning as a means to understand the unique purpose of a church ministry.
Jesus Centred Discipleship
- A guest speaker will discuss what it means to live out the Christian life in a Jesus-centered paradigm.
Pastoral Care
- A session covering the practical aspects of weddings, funerals, hospital visitation and other important people-centered ministry.
Emotional Intelligence
- A guest speaker will provide an inventory and feedback on each participants emotional intelligence and how to continue to develop your self-awareness.
Understanding your Strengths
- Using StrengthsFinder research and inventory, each participant will learn about their biases in thinking that are indicators for areas of strengths for service.
Sermons People Remember
- A guest speaker guide us through a session on ‘big idea’ preaching style as articulated by Haddon Robinson.
Transformational Leadership
- A leadership model that focuses on the role that leaders play in raising up others to reach their potential so that they in turn can achieve the mission and vision of the church or group they are connected with.
Designing Services
- A series of teaching and practical ideas that will help us develop more compelling services and transcendent experiences for our congregation.
Preaching to Build a Bridge
- Teaching on how to bridge from the world of the Bible to the modern world so that people can engage in deep discipleship based on the sermons we teach week after week.
Anabaptism
- Teaching on the values and convictions of the movement that founded the BIC church and how those ideas continue to form us as pastors and teachers of the Bible.
Conflict Management
- A seminar from MCC on how to become active peacemakers and how to care for those who in our churches who are in conflict.
Grip Birkman Inventory
- An inventory that demonstrates how we perform in a variety of situations including when we are under stress. A great tool to learn about yourself and those that you work with.
Preaching
- Teaching on the importance of sermons and how we can construct them to gain the maximum impact on those who listen.
Visionary Leadership
- Lessons on why vision and leadership gets stalled in churches and what we can change as leaders to be more effective in our ministry context.
Listening Skills
- A seminar from an organization that helps individuals and groups function at higher levels through better listening and empathy.
Flourishing Church
- An overview and teaching on a church health model generated and researched in Canada.
Nature of Scripture
- A learning framework to help participants understand the historic Anabaptist position on scripture and why some terms and ideas were avoided in favour of a more compelling and discipleship-oriented view of scripture.
Working Genius Inventory
- A specialist from the Working Genius will teach on the insights offered by the inventory completed by each participant.
Core Values
- Presentations on the ten core values that define the BIC church around the world and ideas about how to turn them into sermons.
Soul Care
- How do we care for ourselves to ensure that we are healthy and strong and able to care for those under our influence as pastors.
BIC History and Spirituality
- What is our story and, more importantly, what is our future in light of our history and spirituality.
Church Leadership
- Pastors can’t be good at everything but what are the essential qualities to be a transformational leader in an anabaptist pastoral context.
Project Management
- We will have a guest speaker help us develop some key management skills in the area of project management.
Centered Set Church
- We describe ourselves as being Jesus-centered instead of being bounded set. How does being a centered set church affect discipleship, ministry and community.
Governance
- Pastors can learn how to use governance and church structures to their advantage to unleash their staff and volunteers.
Money and Ministry
- Two guest speakers will share about the changing nature of fundraising in our current context and what it means for churches.
Peace Theology
- In this session, we consider the history and current state of peace theology in the BIC and Christian church and why this is the essence of Jesus’ teaching.
Christian Leadership and Culture
- In this session, we consider what is the right balance of leadership principles, from an evidence-based model, in combination with the right ethics and values for those who follow Jesus.
Ministry Skills
- A collection of practical challenges facing those who lead the church from how to handle difficult people to how to manage all of the information and tasks that we are expected to care for.
Nature of the Gospel
- What is the gospel? Although it would seem simple to answer, many different traditions and dogmas have answered the question in fundamentally different ways.
Evangelism
- A discussion and learning on how to stay evangelistic and outreach oriented in our secular society.
Governance
- The least favourite topic among pastors but perhaps the greatest asset we can deploy to ensure we have healthy leadership in our churches.
Accents and Issues
- The cohort will create a list of accents that affirm the BIC identity and talking points about how we can promote those ideas and teach on them.
Preaching
- In this session, we will study a model for effective communication that seeks to explore the best opportunities available through the use of AI without crossing a line that results in ‘soul-less sermons.’
"I can’t thank you guys enough for this course; you’ve really hit the nail on the head with this material. I found it really helped me lead through the end of the pandemic and get our congregation moving forward."
Learning Framework
Below are the four areas of learning that frame the planning of each new Elevate Collective program. It is our hope that this approach will help each person who attends to grow theologically, personally, in skill and in impact.
To help you decide if the program is right for you, below is a video with testimonies from participants in the program.
To learn more about how you can join the program, reach out to Todd Lester or Melanie Wigg. Todd or Melanie will be happy to have an obligation-free conversation about whether this program is right for you.
Todd Lester
Director of Leadership Programs
Melanie Wigg
Director of Elevate Collective