This Handbook has been created as a service to the local church for the building up of their leadership for effective ministry. Under the pastorate of any local church, the lifeblood of true ministry flows through the able hands of established leaders. Positions of church leadership can be formal, such as with the office of Deacon, or informal, such as with the title of Ministry Leader or some other similar group. No matter the name a church supplies it, established leadership designates a trusted and trained group to minister to its congregation and to the community to which the church belongs.

This handbook was developed to provide training in seven core disciplines related to establishing this heart and mind in a chosen leader. Each discipline is presented in the three parts, ordered as: What, Why, then How. This strategy has been employed such that the disciple first encounters the discipline itself, then its greater association by biblical and historical example, and finally the personal application of each discipline for his or her life. The means that we must first present each Discipline with a view to discover its definite purpose as an immediate and authoritative instruction in the life of a leader in the local church. What follows is an endeavor to take the disciple on an immersive journey into the actual composition of the discipline, where it finds its biblical roots, and how it has been historically understood by the Church. We always want to look for key points of applications for the life of the disciple and those he is called to lead. Each discipline is unique. The methods of review and immersion into each discipline respect those points which are necessary to make sense of it. Here, we desire to unfold and unpack what lies hidden in the word or title under which the discipline lies. Our goal is to learn and understand those practices, beliefs, rigors of life, faithfulness and love which together make each discipline a highly valued asset in the life of a leader.

Having established the discipline for what it is, the student of each Discipline enters into the associative part of the discipline. This final part, the Why, is the life-long portion in which he or she learns to walk alongside those who have made a practice of this discipline. Through historical and biblical examples, the student discovers the implications and costs associated with the development of that discipline. This part has generally been designed to provoke questions and to try the currently held beliefs and presuppositions each disciple might, intentionally or unintentionally, be bringing against the example Scripture and Doctrine provide. Our aim here is not to tear down, but to bring each disciple through the furnace of God's word and the examples of his faithful workers contained in the Bible's story. That which survives will be proven to be holy. And that which is burned down, onto those cleared foundations something better can be built.