Foundational Beliefs
I’ve been in pastoral ministry for thirty years and I know firsthand the challenges you face.
Freedom Session did not begin because we thought the church needed another program.
We birthed it out of necessity during a pastoral crisis, where good people were responding to practical sermons on Jesus’ teaching. Bluntly, they were asking us “HOW” to live the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10.10. This is the same question your people are asking.
The result is Freedom Session, one of the most effective healing-discipleship ministries in North America.
For years the church has taught what a healthy, Christian life should look like. Freedom Session teaches people how to experience it.
Freedom Session is what growing and healthy churches offer after the sermon.
I’ve watched Freedom Session transform hundreds of people’s lives with my own eyes making them freer, authentic and leaps and bounds more mature in Jesus. I’ll always remember the first time I met someone who had gone through Freedom Session. As she shared her story with me, I walked away and said the way she came out of that is just radically different than others I’ve seen. This thing is different!
The honesty, transparency, humility, brokenness of the Freedom Session grads is a true picture of the church. I’m convinced the church would be even more authentic and real if everyone were to experience Freedom Session. We’ve taken our entire staff through it.
Freedom Session is more than a program. It is designed to facilitate life change in individuals who are searching for a way out of the bondage of sin in many areas. I have spent time with Ken and found his passion in this area to be unequaled. I so appreciate his personal commitment to make this work in the life of the local church. Freedom Session has impacted our entire church and community greatly.
Statistics
If you’re a pastor / church leader, you know the statistics: 1 in 4 marriages are failing, pornography enslaves 60+% of our men and 25% of our women. The scars of physicial/sexual abuse have stolen our children’s hope and their future. Currently, 1 in 4 women report being sexually abused and 1 in 7 men. Approximately 25% of women live with secret remorse and shame of terminating a pregnancy. Depression is on the rise; online gaming, internet, food and other addictions attack our families with relentless stealth. And the statistics inside and outside the church are roughly the same.
The question is: which discipleship paths available in my church address these issues? These are the issues that require our attention before we teach bible memory, spiritual gift assessment and ministry skills. “Emotional health and spiritual maturity are inseparable.” (Peter Scazzaro)
Freedom Session meets this challenge. We have designed our leadership support network to ensure your church has the tools and coaching for effectiveness.
Freedom Session has potential to become one of the most important discipleship ministries and strategic leadership “training engines” in your church.
Larger churches often assign a pastoral staff member to Direct Freedom Session. Most Freedom Session ministries are directed by unpaid Christ-followers with leadership gifts and a passion to see others experience freedom and healing.
As a pastor or church leader your role…
is to find a healing-discipleship program you trust, one that produces results while protecting your staff and volunteers from getting in over their heads.
I understand your concerns from experience. We have worked hard to create a leadership structure of Small Group Host Facilitators whose role is to lead, guide and support participants through the Freedom Session healing process without moving into a counseling role. We have embedded small group discussion instructions into our teaching videos and recently added a Mid-week Mentor video to guide small group Hosts and members through the journey. We provide Leadership Briefings for every session and every small group discussion question (available in our FS Ministry Resource Kit). We offer ongoing leadership webinars and personalized coaching to help make your ministry a success.
Pastors and leaders from over twenty denominations along with registered Christian counselors / psychologists recommend Freedom Session as a reliable and powerful discipleship resource.
We’re confident you will appreciate our respect for your pastoral leadership. And we’re confident you will appreciate the results.
Spend a few minutes on our website to understand how your church can engage Freedom Session and offer the full meaning of salvation – set free, made whole and delivered – to the people God has entrusted to you.
– KEN B DYCK (FS Founder)
Freedom Session can be effectively launched in your church in a centralized or de-centralized (small group) model.
Intrigued but not yet convinced? Check out our “Taste of Freedom Session” sampler package:
FS in your Church - Centralized Model
In this model, your church initiates, advertises and administers Freedom Session as a discipleship program, casting the vision that emotional and relational healing is considered a normative component of your church discipleship strategy.
Under pastoral leadership, the church:
- recruits and trains FS Small Group Hosts / Facilitators
- advertises FS and accepts registrations from potential participants, dividing them into appropriate (gender specific) FS small groups
- orders workbooks (in quantity discounts) and sells/distributes to participants
- plays the FS teaching videos in a corporate setting, with all groups watching together, after which they divide into their assigned, gender specific small groups for discussion
- hosts a Freedom Session graduation
- churches using a centralized model typically offer a new FS cycle once or twice per year.
FS in your Church - Decentralized Model
In this model, your church communicates Freedom Session FOUNDATIONS and/or Authentic Living as viable options for current/potential small group leaders and groups.
The FS Small Group Host:
- selects a location (home, church, online), date and time their FS Small Group will meet.
- registers for one of our “How to Host a FS Small Group” leadership training webinars
- invites friends, acquantances and/or current small group members to take Freedom Session with them. Note: FS small group discussion are gender specific.
- purchases workbook sets or advises group members to purchase own
- acquires and plays the FS teaching videos, provides hospitality and facilitates the small group experience
- Decentralized FS Small Groups can begin anytime you have a leader and interested participants.
Other Popular Uses of Freedom Session:
Pastors and FS grads regularly use Freedom Session for one-on-one discipleship.
Counselors use Freedom Session alongside with therapy sessions, particularly with conflicted couples and/or individuals whose traumatic pasts have resulted in false beliefs about themselves, God and others.
Young Adults groups in larger churches have launched their own Freedom Session for those planning for marriage. Pre-marital counseling for FS grads is much easier. Smaller or mid-size churches will often dedicate a (single) young adults group within their larger ministry.
Some churches take their pastoral team and/or elders’ board through Freedom Session, leading by example and making healing-discipleship normative for their people.
Freedom Session is a great way to disciple the launch team of a church plant.
However you choose to use Freedom Session, we believe it will become one of the most mission critical decisions you make in the life of your church.
1. PURCHASE
Freedom Session Ministry Resource Kit includes everything you need to host and implement an effective healing-discipleship ministry in your church, living room or online. It comes with a set of three workbooks.
Right now, purchasing your Ministry Kit is your first step to become familiar with the materials and prepare for your Planning Consultation.
2. PLAN
A FREE one hour Planning Consultation (via phone/zoom) with an experienced team member is included with each ministry kit and will help you prepare your launch.
Let us personally walk you through the Leadership Tools in your ministry kit and the Preparation phase of your launch process.
3. PREPARE
Now it’s time to put your plan in motion. This phase lasts between 14 and 90 days, and addresses the following action points:
- recruitment: training the right leaders
- promotion: inviting the right participants
- resources: ordering the right workbooks
4. PLAY
It’s time to launch!
The opening Session 01 – Why Am I Here? is specifically designed for those who are already committed to the 20 weeks of FOUNDATIONS and those who are undecided.
Subsequent sessions consists of a ~45 minute large group video teaching, one hour (gender specific) small group discussion and a 1.5 hour homework component.