#keyprinciple

[tumigazette]

Key Principal of the Month

Principle #9: It is important to be committed to our standards to provide uniformity across all satellites

Many TUMI students transfer from one satellite to another, especially our incarcerated students who transfer to other prisons/jails or are released to “outside” TUMI sites.  Therefore, it is extremely important that every TUMI site follows all of the requirements for students as they are spelled out in the Mentor Guides and Student Workbooks.  The scripture memorization, Required Texts, ministry project, and exegetical projects are essential components of the overall leadership development approach that is required for a student to receive credit for completion of each module. 

This is also important because TUMI students have been given access to accredited college programs based on the assumption that these requirements have been followed to the letter.  We have given our word that TUMI graduates have fulfilled all the requirements and have been assessed according to our grading system outlined in Multiplying Laborers for the Urban Harvest and the Capstone Curriculum.

You are free to teach Capstone without following the protocols, as long as you understand that TUMI will not be in a position to confirm your students’ credentials for graduation, which would leave them without the option of transferring to a credentialed program.  We welcome innovation at your site, but if you are not following the Capstone grading protocols with precision, TUMI will not issue a certificate at graduation for the students in your program.

The idea of uniformity and transferability has been one reason that so many ministries have adopted Capstone as their approach to leadership development.  As our family of TUMI sites grows, it is increasingly important for us to protect one another, keeping the integrity of the program by uniform compliance for students looking forward to graduation. 

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A video capturing the experiences of some TUMI students in Ventura, CA.

Key Principle of the Month

Principle #6: Your satellite will rise or fall based on your site’s level of BELIEF in the urban poor.

·         Do not let mentors have access to your students if they don’t believe in them, will be little them, or discourage them.  Some people are interested in TUMI because they are given a platform to display their knowledge, rather than invest in raising up effective leaders.  Beware of those who exhibit these qualities.

·         Also watch for those who emphasize their academic experience but are culturally insensitive.  Many of your students may have had painful experiences in formal academics and re-entering the world of education might be difficult for them.  One off-hand remark from an insensitive person can send students packing and never return.

·         The other danger is that mentors can have such a low level of confidence in your students that they patronize them.  They let them slide on grades; they don’t keep the bar high; they have low expectations.  They can have such a desire to see their students succeed that they will do practically anything to keep them in the class and help them pass.  This can be especially true with respect to the ministry projects and exegetical papers.  You must continually demand that mentors and volunteers hold to TUMI’s standards, despite excuses they may give you about their desire to “help” the students.

·         Low expectations will not produce strong leaders for the church.  If you have volunteers who will not conform to TUMI’s philosophy in this matter, you are better to shut down the program and wait until you get volunteers who will represent TUMI properly.  If you let this go, the reputation of your TUMI program will degrade and you won’t attract quality students.  Further, TUMI’s credibility will be damaged, which affects many hundreds of TUMI sites and students in the U.S. and around the world.

·         If students are not making a concerted effort to apply themselves, it is ok to let them go and come back later when they are serious.  Failure is something the Lord uses in all of our lives. 

·         Remember, TUMI is not a discipleship tool, but a way to make existing church leaders into more effective leaders.  Your task is not to simply get a student to graduate, but to develop the real-life skills needed to serve in their local church.  Ask yourself, “is this the kind of person who I would submit to as a pastor or send my children to be discipled?”  If you were training medical students to practice medicine, you would not let them slide if the health of your family depended on their competency, so don’t let students slide in the development of their ministry competence either.

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Key Principle of the Month

# 5 DVDs, lectures, and reading are not what develops leaders (people develop leaders)

The content of DVDs and the material covered in Required Texts are important, but it is not content alone that develops the skills of a church leader.  Jesus did not give his disciples a workbook and have them memorize concepts for an exam.  Instead he developed their leadership in the context of actual ministry together.  Much of their training took place as they walked together from town to town and around the fire at night as they discussed what took place that day.  In the same way, you are assigned to use the TUMI materials to help students become more effective in the context of their ministries.  You must not simply show the DVD and hand out grades; you must engage them to apply the material in their situations, and encourage the group to challenge and encourage one another.

We put our stock in mentors to train leaders in your setting.  The Capstone Curriculum is arranged using the Three C’s (Contact, Content, Connection).  The Content (i.e. the videos) is based on the unchanging Great Tradition articulated in the Nicene Creed.  However, the Contact and Connection is the place for you to contextualize the Creed within your specific setting.  So while we can provide certain tools to help you avoid re-creating the wheel, you must help students learn how to apply the Great Tradition in their situation.  That means you should use the “pause button” often while watching the video material.  Refer back to the teaching frequently, making it relevant to each session.  Using the “pause” button can also help if students have trouble maintaining their attention span(many students may come to class tired after working all day).

Because we believe in leadership development at a local level, it may go without saying that we can’t produce leaders remotely from Wichita or Los Angeles.  All we can do is give you the tools, ask that you stay faithful to the principles and protocols, and leave the rest to you.  If you face a challenge, you can use it to develop your leaders.  For example, you may have a mentor who says, “The last quiz had a question that was confusing to our students.” Rather than concentrating on the wording of the quiz question, use the confusion to draw out more discussion about the issues related to that question; get the students to engage on how to deal with ambiguity.  A good leadership developer can use anything and everything as a teachable moment.  Remember the principle: you are in the leadership development business, not the education business.

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This week's TUMI Fellowship teaching, The High Priestly Prayer, on our Soundcloud page.

SPECIAL NOTICES to site coordinators! 

 Please make sure you are issuing a transcript to each student at the completion of each module.  We just had an issue with a student who had not received documents from a site coordinator and when the student tried to transfer to another site, the student’s records were incomplete.  In addition, make sure you send us transcripts well in advance of upcoming graduations so we can issue a certificate to your students in time for graduation ceremonies.  There are many resources for putting on a graduations ceremony at:

http://www.tumi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=786&catid=66&Itemid=668 _________________________________________

Key Principle of the Month

# 4 TUMI’s Capstone Curriculum is not a discipleship course:

a. You may find yourself tempted to invite any believer to take Capstone modules because they are so effective for building up people for ministry.  But you need to keep in mind that Capstone is designed for training bona fide leaders who have already demonstrated maturity in the local church.  Capstone is not a follow-up curriculum for new or young believers; it’s for leaders already serving in ministry.

b. TUMI students taking Capstone modules must be the kind of people who already have a self-understanding as called-out leaders who simply need more investment.

c. We realize the need to have curriculum for new or young believers who are not yet ready for the Capstone curriculum, so we are developing such resources that will be available in the near future.