Upcoming Events

Tending the Sheep

Home visitation and Beyond; Called to Care for God’s Flock

The home visitation course has been taught two years ago and was well received by the participants. The course is one of the courses in the Church Leadership program.  The Home visitation course gives further insights into church leadership and more specifically, the task of caring for those in the church.  The course is designed to be practical, so that elements that will be taught can be applied in the situations that you are experiencing at the moment.

The course will begin with an in-depth look at the qualifications of the elder put forward by Peter in 1 Peter 5 and by Paul in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. With these passages as background and foundation for the work of elders, the next three lectures will flesh out a model of caring for those in the church with a focus on those in the ward of an elder. The model is based on the structure of our Lord’s letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3.

Required Texts

  • Henri Nouwen; The Wounded Healer

  • Dan Allendar; The Healing Path

  • Articles from Clarion – TBA

Podcasts:

Adam Young Counseling: The place we find ourselves

  • Spiritual Abuse #89

  • Your Kingdom: The purpose of Counseling #34

The Allender Centre Podcasts

  • Calling and Character: Prophet, Priest and King/Queen (October 9, 2020)

Lecture Outlines

  • Lecture 1: The Qualifications of an Elder as Explained by Peter and Paul

  • Lecture 2: A Biblical Model of Caring for the Flock

  • Lecture 3: Working out the Model; Know Yourself

  • Lecture 4: Working out the Model: Know your Flock

Benefits of the Course

The course will give those participating practical tools in caring for the Lord’s people.  At the same time, there is an axiom in counseling that says that you can only help in as far as you have dealt with your own struggles.  For that reason, The Healing Path and Lecture 3 are fundamental to an elder.

Instructor

John Siebenga

To view the syllabus of this course, click HERE

To register, please fill out the registration form HERE

For more information about the Church Leadership Program, click HERE

Course fees

Course fees for all certificate courses are $100.00 per person per course. The fees can be paid using e transfer to wsinstitute@outlook.com

If you like to use the course for Bible study with 5 or more people, a 10% deduction can be applied when paying in one transaction.

Course dates for the 2024 session of the course

The course Home Visitation/Visiting Members of the Congregation was held in September 2021 and in February 2022. Many liked the course and recommended it to others; others were disappointed that they had not heard about the course or were too late to register. Therefore the course will be taught again in the winter of 2024. It will be held online with people all over Canada in mind.

  • Part 1: Wednesday January 24,   2024 9 – 11 PM EST  for ON; 8-10 PM CST for MB, SK, 7 – 9 PM MST  for AB; 6-8 PM PST for BC

  • Part 2: Wednesday February  7,  2024 9 – 11 PM EST  for ON; 8-10 PM CST for MB, SK, 7 – 9 PM MST  for AB; 6-8 PM PST for BC

  • Part 3: Wednesday February 21, 2024 9 – 11 PM EST  for ON; 8-10 PM CST for MB, SK, 7 – 9 PM MST  for AB; 6-8 PM PST for BC

  • Part 4: Wednesday March 6, 2024 9 – 11 PM EST  for ON; 8-10 PM CST for MB, SK, 7 – 9 PM MST  for AB; 6-8 PM PST for BC

COURSE DATES ARE SOMEWHAT DEPENDENT ON THE TIME COMMITMENT OF THE PARTICIPANTS AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO SLIGHT CHANGE; IF MANY PARTICIPANTS REGISTER, THE COURSE CAN BE TAUGHT IN 2 SESSIONS

(for instance: January 24, 2024 8-10 EST for ON; 7-9 CST for MB and January 31, 2024 8-10 MST for AB; 7-9 PST for BC etc)

Music in Worship

Stay tuned for the next course in the Leadership program. The course “Music in Worship” will be taught by Frank Ezinga in the 2nd half of May and June.

This course will approach music from a Scriptural perspective, considering the origin of music, the place and purpose of music in worship, and review music in the cultural context. The four classes in this course will be helpful in evaluating music matters in a church setting. This course does not deal with the technical aspects, but with the worship aspects of music. The course is suitable for anyone who wants to widen their perspective of worship.