Program Details

What can I expect from E4:12?

In E4:12, you will actively participate in ministry at your local church under the supervision of a spiritual coach, while attending class-based trainings each week.

• Location:  Training is offered locally at Orangeville Baptist Church in Plainwell, MI. We also offer this training virtually by video conference.
• Time:  Classes are offered on Monday and Thursday. Times vary based on program:
  • Spiritual Friendship: 6:00-7:30pm on Monday Nights
  • Church Planting and Revitalization: 6:30-9:30pm on Monday Nights
  • The Art of Disciple-Making: 6:30-8:30 on Thursday Nights
• Workload:  Expect to devote 10 to 15 hours per week in training.
• Registration:  Registration for the following school year is open from May to August.
• Cost:  We’ve kept the cost low. You’ll just need to pay for your books and make a $100 donation, which helps cover technology and supports future ministry efforts.

Our Commitment to You

1. Intense equipping and in-depth theological training that will stretch and challenge you.

2. Training will be transformational, interwoven, active, and accountable:

• Transformational:  The emphasis is on knowledge that leads to doing. Not merely building “smarter” Christians, but on building increasingly Christlike disciples.
• Interwoven:  The classes are interconnected and build upon each other. The first year is foundational and subsequent years build on with specific ministry emphasis. The topics don’t change much year-by-year but the application deepens.
• Active:  The classes are collaborative. It is our conviction that adults learn best through asking questions and solving problems and thus we limit the amount of direct lectures in our classes and instead utilize discussion that will provoke deeper reflection and critical thinking. This interactive discussion also requires students to develop key interpersonal and relational skills such as humility, tact, and patience.
• Accountable:  Participants are strongly expected to articulate to others what they are learning and to implement it in their lives.

Your Commitment to Us

• Membership:  Become a member of the E4:12 host church or another sister church of like faith and practice.
• Ministry:  Actively participate in church life and ministry (includes participation in a small group).
• Weekly Meetings:  Participate in Monday meetings September through April from 6:30pm to 9:00pm.
• Coursework:  Apply yourself diligently to the study of course materials. Expect to devote 10 to 15 hours per week.
• Mentoring:  Humbly submit yourself to regular review, evaluation, and input from spiritual coaches.

Formally meet with your spiritual coach once per month. The purpose of these meetings is to receive the following from your coach:

• Affirmation:  Share positive ways God has been at work in life and ministry.
• Encouragement:  Mutual support through sharing and prayer.
• Inspiration:  Share theology, life issues, stories of God at work, etc.
• Help:  Accountability for one another in devotional life, home life, purity, integrity.

The Heartbeat of E4:12

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Mission

E4:12 is a collaborative community that exists to advance God’s purpose of multiplying transformed disciples by unleashing Jesus-style disciple makers who strengthen, start, and support churches. We accomplish this mission through 4 E’s:

• Envisioning:  Discover God’s purpose in the world.
• Everyone:  All of God’s people giving themselves with total abandon to God’s purpose where you live, learn, work, play, and worship.
• Equipped:  Training you to leverage your God-given spiritual fingerprint for God’s purpose where you live, learn, work, play, and worship.
• Encouraged:  Coming alongside you to help you persevere because living on mission gets challenging, confusing, and is often both!

This is training by the church, for the church, to envision, equip, and encourage everyone to be on mission for Jesus everywhere in the everyday stuff of life.

In short, E4:12 is an intentional plan to put Ephesians 4:12 into action and thereby unleash churches for God’s mission. E4:12 does not see itself as a para-church ministry; rather it is a ministry based in the local church, serving the local church, and gathering resources from the local church to re-invest in the larger network of churches so that all benefit.

Collaborative Community

If you want your kingdom impact to grow, your kingdom collaboration must grow. Think of a hub with spokes. The hub is a host church that provides the contact point for local churches (the spokes) to collaborate and ultimately build relationships, encourage established leaders, and equip future leaders for the advancement of the greatest cause in the universe – making disciples in the way of Jesus to the glory of God!

In essence, E4:12 is a collaborative community of church leaders working together to unleash the current and future generation of disciple makers by leveraging our collective strengths.

This is accomplished by immersing participants in the local church where they can:

• Receive practical and in-depth theological ministry training from experienced church leaders.
• Build relationships with fellow mission-minded disciples.

Both components are critical because God does His best work through community. You and I learn best how to be Jesus-style disciple makers through being up close and personal in the lives of other more mature followers of Jesus Christ. In other words, the curriculum is not primarily books and videos though we do use them, but crucially and primarily the lives of the coaches and life of the local church! In short, we are deeply persuaded that life-on-life interactions with fellow disciples, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will produce transformed disciples of Jesus Christ.

During the training, the sending church is responsible for overseeing their resident’s maturity, qualifications, and ensuring opportunities to grow and develop their gifts. Furthermore, leaders from each church will work together to provide equipping and encouragement for everyone.

God’s Purpose

God is on a mission for God. And staggeringly in His rich grace, He has determined to fulfill His mission in, through, and beyond us. We are saved by God’s grace from God’s wrath to play a meaningful role in advancing the greatest cause in the universe – making disciples in the way of Jesus to the glory of God. God’s mission determines our purpose.

Transformed Disciples

• Transformed Mind:  Believe what Jesus believes – Romans 12:1-2
• Transformed Character:  Live the way Jesus lived – John 4:34
• Transformed Relationships:  Love as Jesus loved – John 13:34-35
• Transformed Habits:  Train as Jesus trained – 2 Timothy 4:7
• Transformed Service:  Minister as Jesus ministered – Mark 10:45
• Transformed Influence:  Lead the way Jesus led – Colossians 1:28-29; Ephesians 4:11-16; Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus-style Disciple Makers

Disciple-making is living and taking the MESSAGE of Jesus where we live, learn, work, and play, in the MODEL He’s provided, for God’s glory and people’s joy (MOTIVATION), by the power of the Spirit (MEANS), with an everyday, everywhere, everyone intentionality (MISSION). And we are never more like God and God-glorifying than when we live this way.

Strengthen, Start, and Support Churches

The church is God’s plan A. There is no plan B. Jesus-style disciple makers love the church and are committed to her growth in three areas: spiritual capacity, seating capacity, and sending capacity. By spiritual we mean the aim of all growth is increased Christlikeness. By seating we mean disciples will make disciples who will make more disciples! By sending we mean helping others get on board with what God is doing and living “sent” for Jesus Christ.

It is our hope and desire to strengthen and start 50 churches in SW Michigan and beyond by 2050.

We also know that pastoring is difficult and often lonely. In recent studies, the rate of pastoral burnout is only increasing. But healthy churches are led by healthy leaders. Knowing both the reality of pastoral ministry and the importance of pastoral health, E4:12 is committed to making sure pastors never feel isolated and/or unsupported. We aim to see all pastors supported, connected, and equipped through care outlined below:

• Pastors’ Retreats
• Conference and Training Events
• One-on-One Coaching for Pastors
• Developing a Leadership Pathway
• Developing a Discipleship Pathway
• Conflict Management
• Leadership Training Days
• Third Thursday Fellowship

Core Values

1. Theological:  All of our teaching stands on the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word and is immensely practical and life-changing. We will seek to stretch you mentally as you engage your mind in learning about God. We will challenge you to practically apply the Bible to everyday situations. It is one thing to know and be awed by God’s sovereignty, it is another to understand how that should change your day-to-day choices, or how to minister that truth to a person who is struggling. All theology is practical.
2. Collaborative:  We are grounded in the local church. This is training by the church, for the church. This is because the best place to grow outside of our home is the local church. The local church is God’s specially designed vehicle to grow us in Christ and also to finish the mission He has given us. We are better together. How can we leverage our collective strengths to be strategic, not scattered in our efforts to multiply healthy churches?
3. Practical:  A crucial goal of our training is to help students make personal applications to their lives. Therefore, we provide personal, hands-on training and mentoring by immersing you in the life of the church and in wise, Scriptural guidance and application.
4. Affordable:  Our training is 100% free. We only ask that you buy the books and cover the cost of attending a conference each year.
5. Missional: Our conviction is to train disciples who make disciples. We are not seeking to produce scholars. Many other excellent programs exist for that purpose.
6. Transformational:  We aim for the heart, the whole person, not merely the mind.
7. Relational:  We aim to cultivate relationships between students for their present and future encouragement.
8. Directional:  Maturity in Christ is the goal and it is an ongoing process measured by the direction you are moving – toward Christ or away from Christ. There is no one-to-one ratio between how long you have been saved and Christlikeness. Maturity is not measured by the number of classes you take or the number of times you have read the Bible or even how much doctrine you know. It is measured by increased conformity to Christ. Christ speaks to all of life, but many Christians are unaware of connecting the gospel to their day-to-day lives. We aim to help connect all of Jesus for all of life.
9. Multiplying:  We value passion, action, production, and reproduction. Everything you learn about life and God is meant to be given away in an intentional way that helps others to continue giving it away.
10. Habitual:  Develop habits of mind that make you a lifelong learner of God, His world, and the people around you. Also develop habits of life such as personal discipline and time management that enable you to redeem your time each day and be maximally effective for Christ and His kingdom.

Distinctives

1. Church-Centric:  E4:12 is a ministry of Orangeville Baptist Church and is governed by the pastors/elders of OBC. We are thoroughly grounded in the local church. Our students are able to learn valuable, practical ministry skills, and real-world lessons inside a healthy church. Learn firsthand how a distinctive theology and philosophy of ministry impact the day-to-day ministry of the local church.
2. Immersive Training:  Imagine preaching 48 sermons a year if you’ve only preached five sermons in your life. Imagine leading a church with all its various ministries when you’ve never been the primary leader of anything. Imagine trying to make disciples without ever having been discipled yourself. At E4:12 we provide meaningful places of regular service and training in which calling, character, conviction, and more can be observed, tested, and developed. Gather around the table regularly to talk with seasoned ministry leaders about pastoral life, character, ministry, church life, and the gospel.
3. Personal Mentorship:  We provide meaningful ministry experience under the oversight of experienced pastors so that you can build wisdom, sharpen gifts, grow faith, and be prepared for effective ministry. Each person is equipped through on-the-job ministry training in the local church. Receive guidance, feedback, and encouragement from mentors through small group ministry and life-on-life participation, observation, evaluation, and mentoring. Also receive input to help determine your next steps for ministry and training. See behind the scenes how a sermon is prepared, how to counsel, lead Bible studies or meetings, and engage in evangelism. The lives of your pastors and ministry leaders are the curriculum.
4. Relationally-Centric:  Build deep relationships with fellow students and seasoned pastors both for present and future ministry encouragement. Enjoy a collaborative format, utilizing roundtable discussions, webinars, conferences, coaching, and a healthy mix of passive and active learning. We intend for you to learn more from each other than you do from the classroom itself!

Program Goals

1. An increased knowledge of the Holy:  We cultivate in our students an awareness of their insufficiency and dependence upon God, habitual practice of the spiritual disciplines, humility expressed in heartfelt repentance, and confident conviction in the way of Christ. (Ex. 33:18-23; Prov. 1:7, 2:1-22; Jer. 9:23-24; Hos. 6:6; John 17:3; Acts 20:24; Rom. 8:36; 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:7-10)
2. Commitment to and passion for God’s Mission in the world:  The church is not called to pursue her own agenda, but to follow hard after God. In the end analysis, it is best said not that the church has a mission, but that God’s mission has a church. (Gen. 1:28, 3:16, 18:18, 22:18; Is. 49:6; Matt. 16:18, 24:14, 28:18-20; Lk. 19:10; Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-35, 6:7, 12:24, 13:47, 19:20; Rom. 10:11-15, 15:20; 2 Tim. 2:10; Rev. 7:9-10)
3. Growth in Christlike Character:  Disciple-making is transformative in nature, not merely informative. We expect our students to make every effort to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. (Prov. 11:3, 17:3; Rom. 5:3-4; Eph. 4:20-24; Col. 1:9-12; 1 Tim. 3:14-15; Titus 2:7-8; 2 Pet. 1:5-8)
4. Mastery of core content:  Academic attentiveness must be maintained throughout the E4:12 program for all coursework, seminars, and independent research in specific track emphasis. (Ezra 7:10; Prov. 18:15; 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)
5. A love for lifelong learning of the Word of God:  By the end of the E4:12 program, a graduate may be competent to lead, but that does not mean their journey has come to an end. Graduates must continue to be tested and approved by their church, applying their trade in the trenches of ministry for many years and pursuing healthy habits of continued training. (Ps. 119:89-176; Prov. 15:14; Col. 1:9-11; 2 Pet. 1:5-8)
6. A love and deep devotion to the local church:  We are grounded in the local church. This is training by the church, for the church. This is because the best place to grow outside of our home is the local church. The local church is God’s specially designed vehicle to grow us in Christ and also to accomplish the mission He has given us. (1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 4:11-16; 2 Tim. 2:2; Titus 1:5; Heb. 10:24-25)