This year the Church began a new training program for pastors who were recently hired by the Church. May 23 we finished the last two weeks of the first six-week program for 15 pastors and trainees and their wives. The 15 men met for two weeks in January and returned with their wives for two weeks in March (see "15 Attend Pastoral Training Classes" in the March/April issue, page 2). "Never before in the modern history of the Church have we had a program like this, where newly hired ministers have this intensity and breadth of classes, taught by veteran pastors who have a zeal to pass on their experience in order to develop a much better trained ministry than before," said President Clyde Kilough. Breadth of Classes The couples were given many foundational principles for both pastors and their wives. More than 60 subjects, from doctrine to speaking to counseling, were covered in the first four weeks. In the May session, many more topics were discussed. Jim Franks covered the balance in preaching the gospel and preparing a people. Richard Pinelli covered organization of multiple congregations. Larry Darden, Church legal counsel, gave several hours on dealing with legal matters pastors might face in their pastorates. The pastors received help in biblical scholarship from Ken Graham and in dealing with Sabbath issues from Mr. Franks. Joel Meeker gave advice on how to travel internationally in many third world countries. Tom Kirkpatrick dealt with managing finances. Doug Horchak helped the men in preparation for speaking assignments at the Feast as well as developing reference and resource libraries. Clyde Kilough talked about godly governance. Gary Antion helped the pastors understand how to work with those who had lost a loved one, and he also discussed helping the elderly age gracefully. Bill Bradford, visiting from Australia, talked about how to create the environment for growth. In the last week of the program there were sessions on "Dealing With the Spirit World" by Mr. Pinelli, "Developing Godly Wisdom" by Lyle Welty, "Making Messages Stick" by David Johnson and computer skills by Richard Kennebeck and his staff. "Pride and Humility in Ministry" by David Register, "Early Church History" and the "Seven Churches of Revelation 2 and 3" by Darris McNeely made up a large portion of the week. We finished up the week talking about pastoral risks and working with the financial needs of the brethren. Participants' Comments Some of the pastors, trainees and wives said the following: "The six-week pastors' training program has covered the essentials for serving the membership. As a group we have built a wonderful camaraderie and bond of lasting friendship." "The training is invaluable for a new pastor. We're able to hear lectures from experienced members of the home office team and have open discussion with our peers who have already had some personal experience with the applications being taught. The resource material being provided gives us the confidence to know we will have access to information for almost every situation we will encounter." "Collectively thousands of hours of coaching and experience [were] passed on to us in a short six weeks! Extremely worthwhile and necessary." "This program better enables us as pastors to shepherd our flock. As the Church moves forward, it will contribute to an effective ministry and growth in the Church." "As a brand-new person in the ministry, I have found all the sessions invaluable. It has given me a sense of increased confidence in being able to serve God's people." Future Plans Like a grain of mustard seed, we pray that this program will continue to grow and that it can be taken to many international areas to help with the development of pastors and elders around the world. Some of this leadership material will be going to South America in June, South Africa in November and Australia and New Zealand in January 2008. We also plan to run the six-week program annually at the home office, inviting the new pastoral hires along with some experienced pastors. We hope you will continue to pray for the success of the program. UN