Small Group Leader and Facilitator Training

The key to the use of Small Groups in discipleship, recovery, restoration, healing and transformation is firstly the effectiveness of the training of the Facilitators or Small Group Leaders and secondly the quality of the tools you put in their hands. The effectiveness of a Small Group in delivering information, care and support is primarily determined by the behaviour of the leader. All too often the leadership of small groups is delegated to inadequately trained leaders; you cannot delegate responsibly without adequate training. This course is the product of 30 years of experience in training and deploying ordinary people to do extraordinary things in small group leadership.

Auteur

Allan and Helen met in high school, marrying in 1968 while completing their teacher training. Allan has a Lutheran background, and Helen has an Anglican background. While teaching, students' struggles, and self-destructive behaviour saw them open their home to local high school students. They shared their faith in Jesus and helped young people see a deeper view of life. The impact on many students resulted in a call to youth work in 1978, serving the Life Ministry Centre, until 1982.

In 1983 Allan and Helen were invited to lead a local Church of Christ, Mt Evelyn Christian Fellowship, where they served for 26 years. At the coal face of pastoral care, they established Careforce Lifekeys in 1992. Their teaching skills helped create courses focused on bringing healing and recovery to ordinary people through a teaching and small group process.

They set up a Small Group Leadership Training Program and 14 courses addressing the challenges people face worldwide. From recovery of sexual abuse to financial management, the role of Lifekeys is to lead people into a restoration of life and hope.

In 2004 Allan completed his doctorate with Denver Seminary creating the Valiant Man course to restore and fortify men's moral and spiritual integrity. From Good Man to Valiant Man is an added resource, translated into Russian, German, Czech, Indonesian, and Swahili. Over 100,000 men in Australia have undergone the course that includes a manual and 10 video-produced teaching sessions. A prime focus of Allan's work is speaking at men's conferences and bringing the Lifekeys material to people worldwide.

Helen is the Director of Careforce Lifekeys and a trained primary and high school teacher. She has a Master in Education, Master in Counselling, Master of Science in Medicine (Sexual Health), and a Grad Dip in Human Relationships Education. She has founded two counselling centres in semi-rural and urban areas servicing the community and offers internships for counselling students. Helen's story of being raised in a household with chemical dependency issues, and the early loss of her mother, assisted in sharing the healing process with insight and best practice.

Allan and Helen travel in Australia and worldwide, training and sharing the Restoration themes of the Bible and coaching churches and counselling groups to use the Lifekeys programs.