Forest Lakes District EFCA

Effective Communication with Your Team & Church (Andy Shanholtz, Fall 2025)

As a Ministry Leader have you encountered the blank stares of your team when you are trying to generate conversation and feedback? You are not alone. We will identify our communication channel and learn how to bridge the gap with your staff and congregation. We will also discuss effective listening techniques and identify the missing link to effective communication.

The Sermon Snapshot: Actionable Feedback for Every Communicator on Your Team (Ryan Morrison, Fall 2025)

Your Church has probably never heard you at your best. Not because you don’t work hard, but because you don’t have a reliable system for feedback.
How do you know if your teaching is both biblically accurate and deeply relevant?
What blind spots might be quietly eroding your credibility?
If you could grow in just one skill that would make an immediate difference in your preaching, would you know where to start?
 Join us for a practical conversation on how busy leaders can get the honest, actionable feedback they need to take their teaching to the next level.
Sample Feedback Survey
Notes & Visuals

Leading Safe Churches: Prevention and Response Best Practices (Mike Sloan - Grace Ministries, Fall 2025)

This workshop, led by Mike Sloan of G.R.A.C.E. (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), equips church leaders to further a culture of protection for the vulnerable, rooted in Christian Faith, rather than institutional preservation. Through interactive scenarios, we will learn about implementing safeguarding best practices, including policies that are both accessible and effective. Mike is a former pastor with 15 years of experience training and consulting with churches on abuse prevention and response best practices.

Leading Through Trials (Matt Miklasz, Fall 2025)

The journey of leadership is not a leisurely stroll along a paved road; it’s a rugged trek filled with trials, uncertainty, fear, and obstacles. In this workshop, we delve into the heart of leading those you love with a resilience mindset, exploring how leaders can view trials not as impediments, but as opportunities for growth and transformation.

Living Life at the Intersection of Loving God & Loving People (John Gerhardt - Urban Impact, Fall 2025)

This workshop draws on 34 years of ministry experience in the inner city of New Orleans. Join us as we explore what it looks like to live at the intersections of race, politics, age, and gender. We will look to scripture regarding Christ’s life, which involved navigating complex cultural and social intersections, as a case study for addressing these challenges. We will also explore community engagement, specifically focusing on fostering local leadership, reflecting practices that Urban Impact has implemented for decades.

Beyond the Meal Train - A Care Ministries Panel (Panel Discussion, Fall 2025)

What could it look like to become a church who cares well for those who are grieving, struggling and in need?  Come and hear from a panel of ministry leaders who bring years of experience in training, equipping and unleashing the church to care well for one another on not only physical level, but spiritually and emotionally! 

Take Your Teamwork to the Next Level- The 6 Types of Working Genius (Brian Burquest, Fall 2025)

This workshop offers a practical approach for boosting self-awareness, maximizing individual impact, and fostering high-performing teams. Dig deeper into understanding your gifts and frustrations so you can better experience fulfillment and dignity in your ministry!
This workshop builds off the knowledge of the Working Genuis Assessment from Patrick Lencioni. If you have not yet taken the assessment, you can do so here for a small fee! Brian will be notified and connect with you about your results!

Ministry Meets Mental Health: How to Walk with People Through Anxiety, Depression, and More (Adam Mollica, Fall 2025)

Ministry leaders are often the first people someone turns to when facing anxiety, depression, or other mental health struggles. This workshop equips you to respond with clarity, compassion, and gospel-centered wisdom—offering meaningful care without overextending your role. You’ll also learn when and how to make a trusted referral to professional help.

54. Turning Around an Unhealthy Team (Tim Stevens, Fall 2024)

In 2024, perhaps more than any other time, we hear about quiet quitting, burnout, exhaustion, high turnover and the great resignation. Whether you are leading staff or volunteers, a strategic focus on building a healthy culture is the antidote to all these issues. What are the values and behaviors that define your team? You can have a great vision and strong prayer effort, but if you don't pay attention to culture, you will not have success. 
Tim Stevens will share insights from the turnaround taking place at Willow Creek Community Church following the traumatic events of 2018 and the soon-after devastating impacts of Covid and racial unrest, and how an intentional focus on culture is fueling the change from the inside out.
 
En 2024, quizás más que en cualquier otro momento, escuchamos sobre la renuncia silenciosa, el agotamiento, la fatiga, la alta rotación y la gran resignación. Ya sea que estés liderando al personal o a voluntarios, un enfoque estratégico en construir una cultura saludable es el antídoto para todos estos problemas. ¿Cuáles son los valores y comportamientos que definen a tu equipo? Puedes tener una gran visión y un fuerte esfuerzo de oración, pero si no prestas atención a la cultura, no tendrás éxito.
Tim Stevens compartirá conocimientos sobre la transformación que está ocurriendo en Willow Creek Community Church después de los eventos traumáticos de 2018 y los devastadores impactos posteriores del Covid y la agitación racial, y cómo un enfoque intencional en la cultura está impulsando el cambio desde adentro hacia afuera.
 

53. Sabbath (James Petersen, Fall 2024)

In a culture that celebrates busyness and experiences its negative effects, the followers of Christ have an opportunity to celebrate rhythms of rest. Rest is a God-given gift that enables us to renew, recreate, refocus, and reconnect. In living out Sabbath Rest as Christians, we distinguish ourselves as non-anxious, unhurried, peace-filled people. While the Gospel must be proclaimed with the words that we speak, it must also be proclaimed with the lives that we live.
En una cultura que celebra el ajetreo y experimenta sus efectos negativos, los seguidores de Cristo tienen la oportunidad de celebrar los ritmos del descanso. El descanso es un don de Dios que nos permite renovarnos, recrearnos, reenfocarnos y reconectarnos. Al vivir el descanso sabático como cristianos, nos distinguimos como personas sin ansiedad, sin prisas y llenas de paz. Si bien el Evangelio debe proclamarse con las palabras que decimos, también debe proclamarse con la vida que vivimos.