On May 23-26, SCBI hosted this event at Highland Lakes Camp to train a group of our pastors and associational leaders, as well as our partners from the Illinois Baptist State Association (IBSA).  Corpus offers training for pastors and network leaders in church revitalization (entitled ReFocus), pastor coaching, leader resilience, and service as transitional interims.  Our recent event concentrated on ReFocus training and pastor coaching, and was led by Scott Foshie, Church Health Team Leader for IBSA.

ReFocus is a church renewal training process that provides pastors with tools to assess their church and to restore vibrancy, purpose and health to their ministry.  Participants learn to assess the current state of their ministry, to consider how to position it for maximum impact through a six-step process, to develop all of the directional aspects of ministry, to create a custom plan for disciple making, to tailor a leadership development strategy, and to build a custom plan for implementation.

ReFocus is being used in associations and State conventions across the Southern Baptist Convention to effectively strengthen churches which are in need of renewal.  Soon SCBI will have eight regional leaders delivering this training to our churches, and we plan to train more leaders in 2023.  Here are some quotes from our current leader who attended this training in May…

“Corpus Refocus is a robust tool to help our churches get on a path to health.  Its comprehensive enough for all our churches to utilize.” –Chris Kellermeyer, Associational Mission Strategist, Crossroads Baptist Association, Indianapolis.

“I believe this biblically informed resource will be of great help to pastors and churches as they seek to clarify God’s mission for them and as they then seek to be intentional in carrying it out.” –Kelly Wright, Associate Pastor, Castleview Church, Indianapolis.

“Reflection and readjustment are never bad ideas for any church or ministry.  The Corpus ReFocus revitalization process helps pastors and other leaders do that through a process that is detailed and yet extremely adaptable to any church or ministry setting.  It directs participants without impeding on the autonomy of churches, and provides the tools needed to help them discover THEIR next step for God’s Kingdom.” –Jamie Murphy, Senior Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Indianapolis.

Many pastors know their church needs to be revitalized, however they don’t have a plan or process for the revitalization to happen.  The Corpus ReFocus process is not a quick fix.  Instead, it is an intentional process through which both the pastor and the church may experience a significant and long-term revitalization.” –Jim Walls, Ministry Coordinator, Southeastern Indiana Baptist Association, New Albany.

If you would like more information about the Corpus Training, you can visit www.corpusvitae.org, or send your questions to John Horn, SCBI Church Health Team Leader, at jhorn@scbi.org.  We look forward to partnering with your church to discover and fulfill it’s next step!