One of the needs expressed when I was in the process of candidating with Buffalo Covenant was the desire on the part of the Elders to provide some form of leadership development for the church. As you know, the church rises or falls on her leadership. One of Jesus' primary tasks when He walked the planet was to raise up a group of men who could lead His Church after He left. Those original leaders were called the Apostles. God continues to command the Church to raise up leaders. Look at these words from the Apostle Paul to Timothy:

"And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." (2 Timothy 2:2)

You will note that this verse includes four generations of training: from Paul to Timothy to "reliable men" to "others" whom they would train. Because God loves His Church, He wants to see on-going generations of leaders raised up to lead His Church.

God has blessed Buffalo Covenant with Pastor Max Frazier, who has been in the ministry of teaching for years now, and he is a wealth of knowledge and experience for this church. Together, he and I will be starting a ministry this September for men, entitled "Deep Waters Leadership Training". This comes from Luke 5:4, where Jesus says, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” This is still all about disciple making; getting our men prepared to be disciple making leaders who love Jesus with all of their heart. As a result of this training, we want to be better able to let down our nets for a catch in the name of Jesus.

The Fall will start with a study of the Book of Nehemiah, which is a great leadership text from the Bible. Then we will study "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" by Dr. John Maxwell. After that we may go into some specific leadership tools like spiritual gifts, temperaments, and maybe some coaching (still working on this part). The leadership development course will include an expectation of service in the church so that men can test their abilities in context while they are studying with us.

Two classes will be offered: Tuesday mornings, 6-7:30am & Thursday nights, 8-9:30pm. You can sign up for either one, depending on your schedule. Max and I will need to retain the prerogative to either cancel a class if not enough sign up, or to limit attendance if too many sign up. We would like to maintain a mentoring-sized atmosphere if we could. We will be starting in mid-September (probably Sept. 13th & 15th), so keep your calendar clear for one of these classes if you are interested. 

Look for the BCC Facebook Event called "Deep Waters", and add your name to the list if interested.  Also, I've created a Facebook Doc about it called "Deep Waters". Take a look at it on the Buffalo Covenant Facebook page to get more details. 

Men, feel free to contact myself or Max if interested.

For Christ and His Church,

Pastor Bill