TTP Church Groups
The Vision of The Theology Program is to help others successfully reproduce this program in their own churches all over the world. For this very reason, the designers of The Theology Program (TTP) created all the material with the theological education of the local church in mind. Our desire is that local pastors, Bib
The Vision of The Theology Program is to help others successfully reproduce this program in their own churches all over the world. For this very reason, the designers of The Theology Program (TTP) created all the material with the theological education of the local church in mind. Our desire is that local pastors, Bible teachers, elders, and leaders to would be able to replicate TTP in their own setting. Whether you are a seasoned teacher of theology or have no experience teaching, we can help you implement this program in your church. Included in the TTP Leader’s Notebook is a PowerPoint presentation with extensive teachers notes that aid the teacher/leader with presentation notes, illustrations, and group activities. DVDs are also available for those who don’t feel comfortable with teaching through TTP themselves. Just have your students watch the DVD and then work through the discussion questions at the end of each session found in the TTP Student Notebook.
Using TTP in local church settings takes commitment and time that should not be minimized. Loving the Lord with all your mind is serious business.
The following is a three-phase process to implement The Theology Program (TTP) in your church. The suggestions that follow are just that—suggestions. The staff and advisory board of The Theology Program are aware that programs will differ according to the purpose, culture, and audience of each church. This is why we allow freedom in the implementation of this program in your local setting. You may or may not decide to follow the suggestions exactly. What we are confident of is the fact that people with the Spirit of God in them thirst for a deeper element of discovery that is difficult, if not impossible, to provide in the modern church setting of biblical education. Although a program like this requires much time and commitment, we know God will be faithful to your endeavor. We at TTP are committed to helping you in whatever way we can.
Phase 1
Understand the program. The first step necessary to implementing TTP is to become familiar with the mission, purpose, and values of the program. A firm grasp of where this type of program fits into your biblical training program at your church is imperative. Your church and staff must be committed to the program understanding the personnel, time, and finances that it takes to successfully implement TTP. Half-hearted commitment to this type of program is a recipe for failure. Please review the PowerPoint presentation of the program.
Make a commitment. Once you have reviewed the presentation, you and your staff must discuss the commitment level that your church is willing to invest in TTP. If your decision is anything other than a wholehearted pledge and dedication of time and resources, we suggest that you stop before you begin. 
Determine your audience. You will also have to decide if you are going to open enrollment up to other churches in your community and the unchurched. TTP is a wonderful way to reach out to the community. What you will find is that many people who would never step foot in a church to attend regular services will be open to coming to a class on theology. If you decide that you want to open TTP to the community, you will have to adjust staff accordingly. Currently, at Stonebriar Community Church’s TTP we have 20-30 percent of our students come from the community.
Assign a TTP staff. The primary way in which the courses are taught by extention churches is by viewing the sessions on a weekly basis and having a facilitator lead through the discussion questions at the end of each session. The size of your church will determine your staff/vonunteer commitment. We suggest that someone on staff take the leadership role in TTP, but this can also be done with a layperson, deacon, or elder.
Phase 2
Now it is time for your church’s pastoral staff and/or TTP staff to prepare the inception of the program. It is suggested that you take at least two months of full-time work to prepare the program.
- The teacher-pastor(s) and administrative staff should work through the program if possible.[2] They can access the courses in two ways:
- Online: All courses are available on the TTP web site for anyone to view. Download the syllabus and student notes to work through as you view the course.
- Purchase: You can purchase the DVDs, Leader’s Guides, and Student Notebooks as well as the required reading books of each course from the bible.org online store.
- Review the PowerPoint presentations, paying special attention to the teacher notes provided below the slides in edit mode. Then review the class video again with PowerPoint notes in hand. Take your own notes as you go through each course.
- Purchase the books in the syllabus for each class. At the very least, you must purchase the \required reading\ texts.
Phase 3
This phase involves the administrative side of the program. By now the TTP teacher-pastor(s) should be ready to administrate the teaching of the course.
Three months prior to class:
Set the schedule. Set the schedule for the next year of classes. Scheduling this way allows you to have ten two-hour concurrent sessions that meet once a week. We have found that Sundays and Mondays work best, but you will have to decide according to your own needs and setting.
It is always suggested that you have ten-week semesters that parallel the online scedule. This way, your students can also engage with people all over the world discussion the issues online in the Paltalk sessions.
Reserve the rooms. Reserve the necessary rooms as well. Hopefully, your church has access to a PowerPoint projector and a laptop computer. If you do not have either, it is suggested that you do your best to get them. If you cannot, you can print out each slide for a traditional overhead.
Two months prior to class:
Design flyers. Design TTP flyers and brochures that briefly explain the program to the church and members of the community. Make it simple and informative. Contact bible.org if you want to see an example we have created. You may follow after our format if you desire or you can just use the ones we have developed since they are non church specific. You can use the official TTP church material that we have provided here.
Create a web site or TTP web page. It is advised that you create a link to bible.org’s TTP page on your web site as well as add TTP information to your church’s web page.
Seven weeks before class:
Distribute flyers. Give a flyer/brochure to everyone in the church. You should consider including them in the Sunday worship folders.
Promote the program. Promote the classes from the pulpit. Explain to the congregation that your church is committed to this program. This will give people time to see if they can set aside ten weeks to begin the program. You do not have to sell them on the entire program before they take the first class. You must understand that this may be something new and fearful to the people. It will take enough persuasion to get them into the first class, much less sell them on the entire program. The people will become committed to the program during the first class as long as it is taught with tact and excellence. God will be faithful to create great excitement about the program in each individual’s heart as he or she comes to know Him more fully and deeply.[4]
Six weeks before class:
Begin the enrollment process. Make sure that you have a database or other record keeping system that will support all the personal information that is needed, record the grades, and support the program with e-mails. Microsoft Excel works well as a database tool to collect and record the needed information.
Set the cost. Churches typically charge $100 per course. This cost covers the Student Notebook and course textbook and leaves enough money in the budget to support the program. While some may want to offer the courses free of charge, we do not suggest you do so. We have found that where there is no cost, there is no commitment. For example, we have seen scholarship programs offered and found that the recipients of the scholarships have a very high drop-out rate.
Purchase the required textbooks, notebooks, and loner DVDs. If you do not have the budget to purchase the textbooks up front, purchase them the first week of class. You may find that the majority of the people do not sign up until a week or two before classes begin.
At least two weeks before class:
Print the material. If you are not going to purchase student notebooks from the store, but have decided to print the PDFs from the site, you will need to print the material early. Allot for people who enroll late.
One week before class:
Print nametags for each student. This will help you and the students to get to know each other.
Test your A/V equipment. This will help to make sure that things go smoothly on opening night.
Pray. Because you are starting this program out of a desire to teach people about the wonder and greatness of our God, it may be superfluous to tell you to be in constant prayer for the program, but I will remind you anyway—PRAY. Pray for the presence of God with the program. He is faithful.
Lastly
We do ask two things:
- Let us know of your intent to start TTP in your setting. We are here to answer your questions and to help you make this a great success for you and the people under your care.
Contact David Austin, Local Church Cordinator for TTP. He can answer any questions that you have. You can also call David at (214) 580-1952, 9am-5pm Mon-Fri?
We want to share in your joy, pray for you, and do everything that we can to help.
- Give us the ability to learn from the experience that the Lord gives you. We ever seek to improve the program, so we would love to have any feedback that you can give.
God speed until He arrives!
[1] At Stonebriar Community Church, the TTP pastor also is responsible for other educational ministries such as teacher training and continuing education of the pastoral staff.
[2] At the very least, Introduction to Theology and Bibliology and Hermeneutics need to be completed. These are the core classes which explain the rationale and direction of the rest of the program.
[3] While there is broad freedom to use and alter the notes and PowerPoint according to your theological persuasions, the copyright of TTP requires that if you change the TTP material, you to inform your audience that you have altered the notes and/or PowerPoint and that they no longer represent those of the TTP.
[4]It has been the experience at Stonebriar Community Church to see that people are very timid during the first session of Introduction to Theology. It is during this time that people decide whether or not they are “smart” enough to enter into this type of study. Culture has continually told them that they are not. The Introduction to Theology class is the class that makes or breaks the program from the beginning. If the class it not taught well and the teacher is not effective, people will leave and not come back. If it is taught well and the truth is clearly proclaimed, it will clear intellectual cobwebs and stop the atrophy of the mind. The people will never get enough.