Hosting a Training School
Before any session can be held to provide participants with a road to recovery, the teachers or ¨facilitators¨ of the group meetings must be trained. Unlike some other grief programs, Journey to Joy™ facilitators are given ¨hands-on training¨ at training schools held periodically at churches throughout the country. Our facilitators are never trained by video instruction.
Schools require a minimum of ten students but can accommodate up to thirty. While most attendees come from the immediate geographic area surrounding a school location, many travel from afar to attend. Besides the recognition and prestige of hosting a Journey School, the networking opportunities with churches local and far away are rewarding.
Churches hosting a school are also allowed one student tuition-free to the school. Read below how easy it is to host a training school.
Responsibilities and Resources
If you are thinking about hosting a Journey to Joy™ Training School, the first thing to do is establish the support of the hosting-facility´s clergy and operating board. They must be aware of the program and understand the responsibilities of hosting. Excitement is better.
If the potential host church is not already a member of the Journey Network, the church automatically becomes a member by hosting the school and training at least two students to become facilitators. The school itself is taught by instructors brought in at our expense to teach the two-day school, usually presented on a Thursday and Friday.
Actual hosting of the school is quite simple. A designated coordinator is selected (usually picked by the clergy) and this person works with the Journey to Joy™ office staff to plan and conduct the school. Written instructions are provided along with constant communication with corporate staff. Help with local and national advertising comes from the corporate office as well. Generally, three months prep time is needed once a date is set.
Very few actual resources are required by the host: coordination of space, local promotion to other churches and the public, and the time of a coordinator. The Corporate office handles all logistical coordination of students including collection of fees.