We are bringing the academy to local churches. We value education, especially solid theological education, for the purpose of equipping and empowering church leaders. Often, it can be a challenge to go to Seminary and sometimes the leaders who are serving in local churches haven’t been to College. Being rooted in our communities and with families while already serving in ministry makes attending Seminary unlikely. 4DMC seek to come alongside people in these contexts and situations to better equip them with practical tools and a solid theological foundation that will allow them to be more effective in their work.

The process begins with an Internship/Apprenticeship with 4DMC. Our Leaders are then paired with Mentors who will walk with them through our robust curriculum during the Internship process. Just having others who are with you in the process makes this journey impactful and strengthening along the way because you now have more support than you did before. Our programs are not only theologically robust but culturally-congruent as well.

4DMC has a Residency Program available for Leaders who are seeking to be trained and equipped through our regional hub churches. Currently, Great Plains Gathering in Billings, MT, one of our Council churches, is equipped for this. The ideal candidate is someone who is seeking to be a Pastor of a local church or church planter. Leaders will have access to the same curriculum and mentoring but be on the ground in an indigenous church, learning the basic tools of hands-on-ministry. The residency is flexible to the needs of each candidate and has 1 to 3 year programming available.

Once our Leaders have successfully passed the Internship level, they become eligible to apply for our “New Works” program. The New Work approach allows our Leaders to work with 4DMC leadership to identify a program within their local congregation upon which they can build. 4DMC provides the training, oversight and seed funding to allow leaders to create and craft a New Work, which could be a church plant or a discipleship or service program that will help them build capacity and extend their reach of ministry within their community.

Leaders who have successfully completed the “New Works” program with 4DMC are the eligible to apply for “Existing Works” status. Existing Works would mean the leadership has grown to the level of being reproductive in its nature. They not only demonstrate fruitfulness in their ministries but will be provided with ongoing coaching, counsel and oversight from 4DMC and serve as a site for identifying and developing new leaders. Annual financial program funding will be provided to help sustain the growth of these 4DMC works.

4DMC Indigenous Youth Initiative programs are meant to help build and invest in our Indigenous youth because they not only have the potential to serve as leaders now in their youth but also as future leaders of local churches. We feel it is vital to invest proactively in this area of leadership development because of its current urgency as well as its future opportunities. We desire to assist and come alongside programs within our identified works that are making a difference among Indigenous youth.