The Salvation ArmyArmée du Salut

Local Leaders Menu Options

“Abide in me. Go and bear much fruit…”Personal Grid for those in ministry leadership positions within their corps/church, and/or in employed ministry positions.

Using your completed Personal Grid as a guide, choose a Menu Option from the list below, in an area that you want to take a "best next step" of growth.

Menu Options are categorized by one of these three icons: 

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Help you grow in knowledge & understanding

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Spiritual & character formation

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Hands-on application & experience

 1. Effective Personal Witness 

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Keep a journal of the next two weeks of where you see God working in your life and in your world. Capture any God-moments in your life, Scripture that stands out to you or appears repeatedly in your life during this time, and places or people in which you see Jesus showing up in your everyday life.

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Write out your personal faith story. Share it with someone who doesn't yet know Jesus, or who is seeking to see God in their own lives. (Download Personal testimony Template)

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Look for opportunities to share your faith story in public, whether in person or on social media and commit to doing it.

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Watch or read other people's stories of faith, e.g. these from I Am Second.

 2. Sacrificial Compassionate Mission 

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Commit to praying for God to open your eyes and move your heart with compassion. Then watch and listen to how he answers your prayer. Invite someone else to join you in praying for the same thing, for you and for themselves.

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See what service or mission opportunities are available to you in your community, division or territory that speak to your heart. Pick one and consider what steps you need to take to become involved - and then begin taking them. Is there a way your corps may be able to become involved in this effort?

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Go for a prayer walk in your city or neighbourhood. Look for and pray for needs as you walk. Invite someone to join you for the walk and partner with them in prayer.

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Download the Infinitum app. Create a hub and begin practising the rhythms of surrender, generosity and mission together. Note how God makes you more sensitive to those around you over time.

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Do a Bible or book study on issues of justice. A possible book to start with is When Justice is the Measure by Dr. James Read and Commissioner M. Christine MacMillan.

 3. Active Engagement in the World 

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Commit to widening your friendships and circle of influence by one person this month.

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What opportunities are available to you to get involved in a group or team within in your community? Consider taking that step, with the intent of having your presence and life point to Jesus, showing Christ's love by your example, beyond your church walls and programming.

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Choose one of the "one anothers": love one another, serve one another, pray for one another, forgive one another. Practise living one particular "one another" every day for a week and journal about what that practice was like for you.

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Connect with 3 other leaders in your church that you view as examples of faith beyond their involvement at church. Have a conversation about how you can each actively living out your faith in your contexts beyond church, in a more intentional way.

 4. Healthy Spiritual Habits 

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Learn about different spiritual habits (disciplines) and begin to put one or two new ones into practice in your own life. The Spiritual Life Development Spiritual Discipline Guides, or the book Army on Its Knees by Janet Munn & Stephen Court may be helpful places to get started.

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Commit to an intentional prayer plan. Use an app like Echo Prayer or The Inner Room to help get you started.

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Commit to a Bible reading plan or study. Download The Bible Project App or take one of their mini courses at BibleProject.com/Classroom/

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Examine your social media feed and consumption. What does it say about your healthy spiritual habits? What adjustments can you make? Do it.

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Talk to 3 seniors in your congregation about their daily spiritual habits. Look at their Bibles and ask them about how they have read it through the years.

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Intentionally chart the habits of your day. What new spiritual rhythms can you add/align with the already existing normal rhythms of your day? (Listen to a podcast or download and begin using the Lectio365 app in the mornings and at night.)

 5. Healthy Spiritual Community 

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If you're not already involved in a small group of Bible study group at your church, consider which groups are available to you, and plan to join one.

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Consider engaging in three-dimensional mentoring, finding three individuals who are older, younger and a peer. Set up a regular time to connect with each of them intentionally. Consider using Connecting: The Mentoring Relationships You Need to Succeed in Life by Paul Stanley as a resource to get your started.

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Identify one or two Christlike people in your friendship circles or church and intentionally invite them/give them permission to speak into your life.

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Examine your social media feed. What does it say about your healthy spiritual community? Make any adjustments you feel necessary.

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Read 12 Ordinary Men by David Vandebeulque with a small group, engaging the discussion guide.

 6. Salvation & Sanctification 

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Write or record your salvation experience and how you are being made more like Jesus. Talk to your corps officer/paster, and look for a time to share your story with your congregation.

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Look for the fruit of the spirit in your life and in the lives of others. Take note and chart or journal areas where you need improvement. Ask God to help you be more intentional in those specific areas, and to cultivate these qualities in your more deeply.

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Examine your social media feed. How does it align with Jesus' character and who you say you are in Christ? Make any adjustments needed.

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Find a copy of a book written by a Salvationist holiness teacher: eg. Samuel Logan Brengle, Frederick Coutts, Bramwell Tillsley, Ed Read. Read one, and discuss what you're learning with someone else.

 7. Equipped for Ministry 

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Explore your unique God-given SHAPE (Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences). How can you develop particular aspects of who you are? Is where you are currently leading the best fit to how you are uniquely wires? Use Congratulations... You're Gifted! Discovering Your God-Given Shape to Make a Difference in the World by Doug Fields and have conversations about what you are discovering with your corps officer/pastor.

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Attend an in-person or online conference or training seminar that speaks to a ministry you are interested in. Share what you learned or skills you developed with another leader in your church, or with your corps officer/pastor.

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Connect with three other leaders in your church this month and learn more about their specific ministry and area of leadership. Note what you learn about other areas of ministry you're not as involved in, and how these other leaders lead. Are there ways you can support one another?

 8. Entrusted with Ministry 

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Take on an apprenticeship. Allow an emerging leader in church to shadow you over the next month or two. Have conversations with them about what they observe, or ideas they may have, as well as providing opportunity to give them a chance to collaborate with you, allowing them to gain some initial ministry experience through the relationship.

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What needs are in your community? Talk to your corps officer/pastor or mission board/corps council to consider organizing a service project or fundraiser to help support those who are less fortunate in your neighbourhood or world. Look for ways to entrust others with the opportunity to serve, while coming alongside them yourself.

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Write and share a brief PSA - or even a message (sermon) if you feel up to it - in church about the importance of becoming engaged in ministry to a person's spiritual development. Or consider leading a devotional for a ministry group at your church (young adults, band, adult fellowship, etc.) that has this focus.

 9. Stewardship 

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Take an inventory of your spending habits, including where you spend and what you spend it on. Are there choices you can make that would allow you to demonstrate a priority of giving back to God what he has blessed you with, with a grateful and generous heart?

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Commit to borrowing or sharing items with a friend as opposed to buying new ones where you can.

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Do some research on the ethical habits of the stores you commonly shop in. What choices might you want/need to take based on what you learn?

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Commit to one additional way you can help care for the earth this month.

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Pray for discernment to know the difference between the urgent and the important so that you can use your time more wisely.

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Monitor your daily/weekly screen time updates. Look at how much time you are spending and where that time is spent. Are there ways you can spend some of that time that can help strengthen your spiritual life?

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Track your sleep, eating and exercise routines, and reflect on your care of your body as a temple, committing to one positive change you will make.

 10. Discernment & Decision-making 

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Chart the decisions you make during the next couple weeks. What factors did you take into consideration when making them? Did you just go with your gut, line it up against scripture, commit to praying about it, seek God's will, gain broader perspective from your healthy spiritual community? Note patterns in your decision-making process, and make adjustments as needed.

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As a member of a camp staff, you are responsible in some measure for the wellbeing of someone else. It might be campers. It could be other members of your team. What impact does recognizing this reality make on how you make decisions or act? How should it? Do you see alignment, or are there changes you should make?

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Even though you're at camp and will likely have reduced screen time during the summer, there will be times when you check in on social media, hear the news or otherwise have contact with the rest of the world. Take note of the messages you receive this month through media, friend groups, news, etc. How do these stack up against a biblical worldview? Find someone to discuss this with.

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How do you spend your free time? Your days off? What do you choose to listen to or watch for entertainment or simply to relax? What shapes my conversations with others? Do you see alignment between what you say and what you do - between how you've been encouraging campers to live and how you live yourself?

 11. Relation to Authority 

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Invite your corps officer/pastor, or another trusted leader to observe you in an area of authority you hold and debrief how you use the authority that has been given to you.

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Where do you find yourself coming in conflict with authority? Why do you think this is? How can you respond in a more Christlike way?

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Find another Christian who holds a senior position in a secular environment and ask them how they hold their authority in a Christlike way. What principles can you apply from their experience?

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Choose one way to further understand yourself and your responses to others in your life (Consider using personality assessments, such as the Enneagram, SDI, etc.) and commit to completing that this month.

 12. Response to God's Call 

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Make your response to the Holy Spirit's leading and to his calling in your life an intentional prayer focus. Ask a group of people to pray with you.

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Use the book The Call by Os Guinness for your daily devotions this month. Journal your response to what you take in.

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Explore your unique God-given SHAPE (Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experiences). How can you develop particular aspects of who you are? Is where you are currently leading the best fit to how you are uniquely wires? Use Congratulations... You're Gifted! Discovering Your God-Given Shape to Make a Difference in the World by Doug Fields and have conversations about what you are discovering with your corps officer/pastor.

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Are there areas in your life where you struggle with wanting/needing to have control? Practise the daily habit of surrender, laying all that you have and are to God as an offering.

 13. Beliefs/Values/Behaviours 

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Explore the doctrines of The Salvation Army. Read and discuss them with your corps officer or youth leader. Write them out and what they mean to you.

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Choose to read or go through a soldiership prep course or book, such as Called to Be a Soldier (ask your corps officer for a copy), Battle Ready, Mobilized for Mission or Call to Arms. Are you already a soldier? Consider leading or co-leading a group that is working through one of these courses, and use the time to reflect on and renew the commitment and covenant you have made.

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Use our new territorial vision statement to help you dream up some ideas of how you could help integrate church families with your community and family services. Build bridges both ways. Talk with your corps officer/pastor or another leader in your church and explore if/how you might begin to develop some plans for one of your ideas.

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Use The Salvation Army's Day by Day resource as a devotional throughout the month. Put its principles into action.

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Choose to read or go through a soldiership prep course or book, such as Called to Be a Soldier (ask your corps officer for a copy), Battle Ready, Mobilized for Mission or Call to Arms. Are you already a soldier? Consider leading or co-leading a group that is working through one of these courses, and use the time to reflect on and renew the commitment and covenant you have made.

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Write out your answer to this question: "What does it mean for me to be a Salvationist?" Share it with your corps officer/pastor and discuss it together.

You've chosen your next step for growth, now make sure you connect with those you're journeying with to let them know what step(s) you've decided to take. Then schedule a Connection Point to let each other know how your steps are going. Use the guide on the next page to help keep your Connection Points intentional and on track!

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