Mandy White is a Salvation Army Divisional Leader and has been using the CPAS Growing Leaders course in her church.
'God is certainly using our annual Growing Leaders course to grow his kingdom and raise up leaders for the Salvation Army in Devon and Cornwall!
'Of the 28 churches my husband and I are responsible for, eight were without a full-time minister or any leadership. I felt God leading me back to CPAS and the Growing Leaders course in order to train local leaders within the church.
'Ten months later, 15 people completed the course and the impact has been outstanding. Two have gone into officer training to become ministers within The Salvation Army, six have taken on specific leadership roles within their churches and others are investigating full-time leadership roles.
'Growing Leaders is uncomplicated, theologically sounds and transforms people from the inside out. The section on cycles of grief and grace really challenged me personally, and I loved seeing God speak to people regarding their SHAPE (Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experience), and watching them confidently share their gifts and passions with one another.
'People are returning to their local churches willing to serve, take on responsibilities and lead more like Jesus. I have visibly seen the Holy Spirit use so many elements of the programme to change people’s lives:
- 'A young woman who discovered that she had the spiritual gift of teaching. This gave her the confidence to change her career pathway from nursery nurse to primary school teacher. She had previously struggled with self-doubt and a lack of confidence – now she is a well-respected teacher.
- 'An 84 year old who has taken on a mission leadership role and a 70 year old who has taken on a pastoral care leader role in their church. Others in the church are genuinely noticing the change within them, which is brilliant.
- 'A young man was blown away by the fact he had wisdom and leadership among his top three gifts. During the course he received a call from God and will be entering The Salvation Army training college this year.
'Growing Leaders helps us to focus on the importance of being led more by Jesus, and to lead more like Jesus. All the hard work is done for you and the teaching material is so powerful – thank you CPAS for helping us develop godly leaders to build the kingdom.'