Frequently Asked Questions regarding our Going Deeper Class 300

Who comes to the training?

Lay leaders, pastors, assistant pastors, counselors and corporate and military chaplains who recognize the tremendous need to help couples and families. The answer isn’t waiting until your church finally gets a family pastor. The average church needs to have 11 or more full-time staff on board before they hire a family pastor – meaning most churches will never have one! And of the 6% of churches who do have a family pastor, almost 90% of them are responsible for all the counseling in the church! In other words, the overworked family pastor has little time left for actual preventative marriage and family ministry!

If you’re serious about launching a cutting edge marriage and family ministry at your place of ministry, send us a couple or two from your church or place of ministry or business, and we’ll send you back a StrongFamily Coach – an individual or couple ready to facilitate our StrongFamilies Class 100 course and launch a on-going, constantly upgraded marriage and family ministry! Lay leaders are great. A great heart for couples, families and the Lord, not a degree in marriage and family, is what’s necessary.

What will I learn at the Advanced Coaches Training?

• Pre-work teaches our coaches the basics of LifeMapping® – a powerful tool to help you see where you’ve been, where you’re at today, and prayerfully where you can go in the future. (You’ll be able to actually teach an elective class on LifeMapping by the end of your training!)
  
  
• Personal interview with Jeff Thibault and often, Dr. John Trent, before you come so that the faculty knows about you, your family and your unique ministry or workplace setting.
  
  
• Go deeper in each session of the StrongFamilies Class 100 Course so you’re ready to use the course in one class – or launch a church-wide small group program on building StrongFamilies!
  
  That means you get advanced training on:
  
  
  • Leading From Your Strengths (the assessment tool and powerful message of understanding and blending differences)
  • The Blessing
  • Reversing the Curse (dealing with people from difficult backgrounds)
  • Clear Communication
  • Passing Down Your Faith to Your Children
  • The 2 Degree Difference
  • Storyboarding
  • A “Start Here” plan for building a great Coaching Team; a two year plan – adaptable to your churches and families specific needs – and much, much, more…
    
    
• Gain “Coffee Cup Counseling” skills so that when problems surface with families, you’ve got the ability to effectively deal with them or know how to build an outstanding referral base.
  
  
• Each StrongFamilies Coach becomes part of a select group of trainers who receive outstanding cutting-edge ideas, strategy, tools and best-practices from our National and Regional Innovations Alliances! (The Innovations Alliance is our hand-picked group of cutting edge churches who are at the front edge of intentional, innovative family ministry – our Coaches get linked to all their best ideas, best-practices and innovations! Plus, they get to share their own great ideas!)
  
  
• Each church sending StrongFamilies Coaches receives a Marriage and Family Ministry starter-kit with over $400 in materials to take home and put into practice immediately. (One kit per church. Additional items in the kit are available for those with multiple sites or coaches). This starter kit includes a Class 200 Course, the Leading From Your Strengths Leadership course, which is an outstanding DVD based curriculum.
  
  
• Your training doesn’t stop in Scottsdale! All of our StrongFamily coaches can receive ongoing coaching from The Center for StrongFamilies, and soon available online will be our “Call in Classrooms®” These are great opportunities for ongoing skill building, as well as some classes providing you a chance to ask your specific questions, helping others with the same question or problem you’re facing.
  
  Because we believe so strongly in the need for training and being linked to great information and resources for your church and families, we have built into the cost of the Advanced Coaches training a one year membership to AMFM (American Marriage and Family Ministry Assocation). Picture “Google” for great marriage and family resources for specific needs that may well come up when you’re dealing with families. (i.e., Have a single parent, with a troubled teen? Or working with a blended family that’s not blending? AMFM can link you with lots of “specifics” for specific needs. You’ll be learning how to do marriage and family ministry for the huge group in the middle that needs help in building strongfamilies and an even stronger faith.