Sending Pastors to The Corner

By Kerry Paterson “It’s a discipleship tool to help develop potential leaders in today’s churches,” said Pastor Frank Sim of Allentown, PA.” “It energizes and revitalizes people,” added Senior Pastor Dennis Wene of High Bridge, NJ. “Lay leaders emerge from the weekends with a new level of energy, spiritual life, and freedom in Christ. They have a greater commitment and passion to serve in their local church.” We need to get that message out to pastors, the two men agreed. And with that, work on the newest section of the Lehigh Valley Tres Dias (LVTD) community website (lvtd.org) was launched. Called “Pastors’ Corner,” the section would be devoted to answering the many questions that members of the clergy have about Tres Dias. It would be developed by pastors and for pastors, to give them a better understanding of what Tres Dias is and how they can use it in their ministries. The concept began as a result of a phone conference between the two pastors quoted above and a web developer. To make sure the trio was on track with their initial plans, they developed a10-question survey for all clergy members within the LVTD community. By drawing on insight from pastors who are involved with Tres Dias, the survey hoped to identify the content needed to reach pastors who were not familiar with the TD ministry and help them understand how Tres Dias can transform the spiritual life of a church. As responses came in, web pages were added. Today, Pastors’ Corner includes an introductory letter, personal comments from local pastors, a downloadable pastors brochure, a Frequently Asked Questions section, a short video message, and more. To help pastors understand exactly what happens on a Tres Dias weekend, the site includes titles of the 15 talks. “One of the greatest difficulties we’ve had is getting pastors involved in Tres Dias,” said Wene. “Some pastors think Tres Dias competes with the local church, but nothing could be further from the truth. Tres Dias is a powerful tool the Lord has given us to use in His Kingdom building.” “It can have an amazing effect on both individuals and congregations,” added Sim. “The most powerful part of the Corner is the personal comments submitted by individual pastors. They drive home the message that Tres Dias works together with churches to win hearts for the Lord.” Susan Kenna-Farkas, chairman of the International Secretariat Services Committee and a member of the Lehigh Valley Tres Dias community, hopes other communities will develop similar material for their websites. “As part of the Services Committee, we’ve been looking at different resources we can duplicate and package together to create a sort of ‘community in a box’ concept to help newer communities get started,” she said. “The material on the Pastors’ Corner pages and the new brochure provide a first-rate place to start. We’re very excited to have this new section of our website available so we can send pastors to the Corner!” To view Pastors’ Corner, visit http://www.lvtd.org/pastors-corner. The brochure for pastors, described above, was developed by the LVTD community and published by Tres Dias. It can be downloaded from Pastors’ Corner or from the “Free Downloads” section at www.tresdias.org. Consider printing copies of the brochure for distribution to pastors in your area.