Competency Areas
Aligned with Competency Area(s) 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 13
2. Church Administration and Planning
Be able to practice the principles of good administration, planning and implementing short- and long-range goals to enhance congregational life in collaboration with teams and committees.
3. Communication
Be an effective communicator and be able to facilitate effective communication within and on behalf of the church.
6. Education and Leadership Development
Know the foundations of Christian education and the principles of leader development. Show competency in teaching children, youth, and adults, including lay leaders and staff.
8. Evangelism
Be able to motivate Congregational members to share their faith through word and action.
9. Mission of the Church in the World
Be able to understand and articulate the centrality of the call to mission given by Jesus Christ and the prophets. Be able to empower congregations to engage in mission from our doorsteps to the ends of the earth.
13. Stewardship
Be able to develop and encourage healthy stewards who recognize and share generously God’s abundant gifts for all creation.
The Church at Work: Mission, Stewardship, and Hospitality
Taught by Rev. Dr. Aizaiah G. Yong
This course explores how the church lives out its mission, including the issues it addresses and how these shape ministry. We will consider hospitality, inclusion, stewardship, and leading with integrity and creativity. The course also examines managing conflict and sustaining the church’s mission amid differing opinions.
This course is part of the DSF Certificate Program.
Meet Your Instructor,
Rev. Dr. Aizaiah G. Yong
Rev. Dr. Aizaiah G. Yong (he/him) (DSF/CST graduate Ph.D./2020) is a scholar-practitioner, intercultural communicator, and visionary leader. His extensive experience includes organizational consulting, keynote presentations, psychospiritual private and community-based practice, and administrative leadership across faith-based institutions. He is an ordained Pentecostal minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) with strong ties to the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries. He has been trained in various healing modalities as a level two Internal Family Systems practitioner and lead facilitator in the Compassion Practice. As a prolific scholar, he has published four books and over 20 journal articles and book chapters. Writings of his have received numerous international and national awards such as, Multiracial Cosmotheadrism: A Practical Theology of Multiracial Experiences (Orbis Books, 2023), which received the 2020 Hispanic Theological Initiative/Lilly Dissertation Fellowship and the Inaugural 2022 Raimon Panikkar Prize and Trauma and Renewal: Toward Spiritual, Communal, and Holistic Transformation (Orbis Books, 2025), which received the nationally acclaimed 2023 Louisville Institute Book Grant for Scholars of Color. Other books he has authored include Sacred Parenthood: Spiritual Practices for the Highs and Lows of Parenting (Herald Press, 2025) and The Pulse of Life: Exploring the Power of Compassion to Transform the World (Claremont Press, 2023). He currently serves as Executive Director of Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research at Saint John’s Abbey and Saint Benedict's Monastery in Central Minnesota.