Who We Are

History

Establishment of the Southwest Virginia Christian Leadership Network began with a group of ministers from the Roanoke Valley Baptist Association meeting in 2003. This group, chaired by Dr. Robert Moore, pastor of Bonsack Baptist Church, was convinced of the need for a program of continuing education and leader training for ministers and laypersons in the Southwest region of Virginia. Their vision was to bring the campus to students rather than asking students to come to the campus. The outcome, in partnership with the Baptist General Association of Virginia, was creation of the Network on December 1, 2004. Dr. Gary Chapman was selected in December 2004 as the Director and the office for the Network was located at Bonsack Baptist Church, Roanoke, Virginia.

Mission Statement

The mission of The Southwest Virginia Christian Leadership Network is to provide practical church training and theological study for laypersons and ministers in Southwest Virginia in order to further the cause of Kingdom Advance, enhance the ministry of our churches, and provide spiritual renewal for individuals. Our target groups: 1) Full-time staff ministers 2) Bivocational ministers 3) Laypersons

Statement of Theological Principles

What follows is neither a creed nor an exhaustive statement of Christian doctrine. It is simply a statement of the major emphases of faith and life that will define The Southwest Virginia Christian Leadership Network within the great Biblical and orthodox traditions of our faith.

• We believe God who is One exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but without division of either nature or essence. We believe that God's perfection is revealed through divine holiness and love. Everything and every person is God's creation. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the ruler of the universe. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.
• We believe in Jesus Christ, God's eternal Son, fully God and fully human. In His incarnation, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and lived a sinless human life while perfectly living the will of God. In His death on the cross, He made provision for and was the perfect sacrifice for the redemption of all people from sin. He was raised from death to life and is seated at the right hand of God as our advocate with the Father. Those who receive God's gracious gift of salvation in Christ through repentance and faith find assurance of new life in Him. Christ will return to earth again one day to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
• We believe in God the Holy Spirit who lives in every Christian from the moment of their conversion. He is active in regeneration, sanctification and discipleship, and empowers the people of God to use their gifts to bring honor and glory to God through Jesus Christ.
• We believe that Holy Scripture is the inspired Word of God to us, revealing His will for the salvation of the world. Using humans under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Bible has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error as its matter in all it intends to affirm. Scripture is the true and authoritative source of truth for all Christian belief and power for living. Jesus Christ is the criterion by which the Scriptures are to be interpreted. We further believe that the Holy Spirit, through the Scriptures, reveals to fallen humanity its sinful character and its need to discover faith in Jesus Christ.
• We believe that the Church is the gathered community of believers in Jesus Christ called together by God's Spirit as an agent of reconciliation in the world. It has its visible expression in the local community which is called as a body to worship God with Christ as its head and is the universal Body of Christ throughout the world.
• We believe all Christians are called to ministry. Any distinction between the callings of clergy and laity is one of function only. By following the example of Jesus, all Christians are called to servanthood, worship, prayer, the study of Scripture, faithful witness, and obedience to the commandment of the resurrected Christ and the urging of the Spirit to go into all the world and make disciples.
• We believe that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the only way to salvation, ensures acceptance by the Father through the Spirit for prayer, fellowship, and to receive the blessing of God's grace. This acceptance is a precious inheritance and means that the believer needs no intermediary with God except our great high priest, the Lord Jesus.
• We believe that salvation is for the redemption of the whole person and is given freely to all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This salvation prepares and the Holy Spirit empowers every obedient disciple to be an evangelist, priest, and prophet.
• We believe that Scripture teaches us that God, who is love, has concern for the poor and oppressed and that Christians are called to respond to God's mercy by acts of love and grace toward all people, by promoting justice, working for peace, and reaching out to everyone in need.
• We believe in baptism of the repentant believer and in the Lord's Supper. Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in Jesus who was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. And it symbolizes the believer's own death to sin and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby Christians memorialize the death of our Redeemer and anticipate His second coming. Jesus, in His days on earth, identified with us in His baptism, commanded us to be baptized and instituted the communion meal. In both baptism and the Lord's Supper, the Good News is proclaimed and we experience anew, the love of the Father, the presence of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
• We believe the Kingdom of God is both here and now and will find ultimate completion when Jesus Christ returns to judge between those who are in Christ and those who have rejected Him. The Christian hope that sustains the believer is that Jesus Christ will usher in an everlasting reign of peace, justice, and eternal joy.

Our Model for Christian Leadership Training

Three outcomes are represented in a model for training of Christian leaders. Though there are three outcomes, this is not a stair-step progression. Rather, an individual will likely be at work in all three areas at the same time. In fact, none of the three outcomes is ever fully realized. Rather than a source of discouragement, the thrill of the leadership journey is in growth in each of the three outcomes.

Integrity …. is an absolutely essential component to leadership. Here, the focus is inward, discerning who God created us to be and how we can best realize our potential as a leader. A key element of integrity is a life-transforming relationship with Jesus and pursuit of his model of servant leadership. Any lasting influence is only enhanced by that priority relationship.

Issues addressed in this leadership component include:

• Personal spiritual enrichment (incl. Bible study)
• Spiritual gifts
• Developing a Biblical worldview
• Theological preparation (incl. doctrine, ethics, and church history)
• Theology of servant leadership
• Family and marriage enrichment
• Relational skills -- conflict, listening, making good decisions, delegation
• Clarifying God's will and vision for ministry

Influence ….. Recognizing that every Christian is called to ministry, this outcome finds the individual leader involved in personal servant ministry, making a difference for the Kingdom in their "little corner of the world". That "corner of the world" may encompass their family, their vocation, their local church, or even a more global context.

In this component, the leader may explore such issues as:

• Involvement in personal ministry through their church and in their community
• Evangelism and church growth
• Pastoral care and counseling
• Church administration

Investment …… involves development of other leaders, including one-on-one mentoring relationships. In a sense, the leader is creating their own legacy as they multiply their influence and vision by multiplying leaders. In the congregation or the Christian body as a whole, that would mean creating a culture that values leadership rather than following. As John Maxwell puts it, it's the difference between leading followers and developing leaders.

Issues addressed in this component include:

• Leader discovery and development
• Mentoring relationships
• Vision casting
• Developing ministry teams

OUR CORE VALUES

Christ-Centered In the power of His Holy Spirit, we represent Christ to a needy world.

Biblical Basis All we do and teach will be filtered through the truth of God's Word.

Excellence Our involvement in advancing the Kingdom of God elicits our very best response and effort.

Relevance Christians have in their possession the hope that can transform the world, the timeless message of the love and abundant life of Jesus.

Individual Worth Each person is created in the image of God for relationship with Him and purposeful life. Every generation, race, and gender has a ministry role.

The Leader In addition to personal involvement in Kingdom work, the leader is called to equip others for ministry and to invest themselves in development of future leaders.

The Laity Every Christian is called to ministry in and/or through their church.

The Congregation The local church -- comprised of individual believers working together -- is God's primary instrument for reaching and transforming the world.

Lifelong Learning One mark of the maturing Christian is an attitude of life-long learning.