Emmanuel Faith Community Church

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Below, you will find some frequently asked questions about our BILD @ EFCC program and procedures. We sincerely hope that you will consider a way that you may become involved with BILD as a way to grow personally and in your ministry leadership.

BILD FAQ's

(1) What will completing these courses mean?

(2) Will there be different emphases or "majors"?

(3) What is the relationship between BILD @ EFCC and LifeDesign?

(4) What will I engage in or deal with on each track?

(5) What will be the relationship between BILD @ EFCC and FORC (the Family of Related Churches)?

(6) What will be the costs of attending BILD @ EFCC?

(7) Who will the professors be?

(8) What role will mentors play?

(9) How will course objectives and content standards be developed?

(10) Who will keep track of my progress as a student?

(11) Will all leaders of EFCC and her various outreach ministries be required to attend?

(12) Who is on the BILD @ EFCC Leadership Team?

(13) What will the schedule of courses look like?

(14) What about resources? Will there be a reference library here at EFCC in addition to the current "readers" library? What about developing and accessing web-based resources?

(15) Where can I get more information?

(16) Will people who do not attend Emmanuel Faith, or one of her associated churches (church plants), be eligible to attend the courses offered?

(1) What will completing these courses mean?

This institute will be certificated by Emmanuel Faith Community Church in recognition of the development of the knowledge, skills, and character necessary for leadership.

(2) Will there be different emphases or "majors"?

Yes. There will be four leadership development tracks. Each track has a slightly different emphasis:

International Track: for leadership in Global Outreach ministry. This track is designed for men and women who are interested in reaching out past cultural differences to build the Kingdom of God. From those who want to be part of World Impact training and support in the local church to those who want to "go" short- or long-term, this track will develop leaders to help reach our "Samaria and the ends of the earth."

Shepherding Track: for Care & Counseling, Small Group and discipleship leadership development. This track will develop leaders who are able to care for, protect and feed the flock of God. It will equip individuals to minister to people who are involved in home groups, adult fellowships, support groups, core groups, life stage groups, discipling relationships, small group Bible studies, etc.

Church Planting Track: for leadership in the area of church planting. This track will develop leaders who can effectively contribute to "sister church" planting efforts in our region or "culturally targeted church" planting efforts elsewhere in the world. Not only do we seek to develop leaders who can prepare for, launch and build up new churches, but we also need those that can train others to go or take their place when they do go.

General Track: for effective leadership in and through the local church. This track will prepare leaders for service in the many and varied ministries of the local church. It will equip people to lead and train others who are in the local church as well as to reach and grow people toward Christlikeness who are in the community.

(3) What is the relationship between BILD @ EFCC and LifeDesign?

LifeDesign is for everyone. BILD @ EFCC is for those whom God is calling to lead in ministry in the church, the community or the world. Since LifeDesign is the foundation for BILD @ EFCC, the basic classes are the prerequisites for BILD @ EFCC.

LifeDesign focuses on personal, spiritual health and development. BILD @ EFCC focuses on spiritual influence and servant leadership that results in others becoming more like Christ.

BILD @ EFCC and LifeDesign must be tied together by the five purposes of worship, fellowship, spiritual maturity, ministry, and evangelism. BILD @ EFCC graduates would be capable of leading the church in a purpose or leading individuals in a balanced life of all five purposes. BILD @ EFCC exists to develop and support leadership for the five biblical purposes on which LifeDesign is based.

(4) What will I engage in, or deal with, on each track?

Please refer to the table below for a listing of classes within each track. 

(5) What will be the relationship between BILD @ EFCC and FORC (the Family or Related Churches)?

BILD @ EFCC is a tool for EFCC and her church plants. To attend courses, a man or woman must be actively involved in EFCC or one of her church plants. In the start-up phase, we will ask that the church plants only send a few people who are currently leading or are key ministers to minimize our administrative demands. Church plants will be asked to provide personal oversight for each student from their church body including the application process, tracking and support, ministry involvement, and mentoring. BILD @ EFCC classes might be rotated among the church campuses to increase cooperation among the churches and encourage greater individual participation.

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(6) What will be the costs of attending BILD @ EFCC?

There will be costs related to teachers' honorariums and travel, classroom materials, obtaining and storing resource materials, course-related events or retreats, books, tracking, promotion, etc. We anticipate that students will purchase their own books, course materials, pay for the training related events, and participate in covering the honorarium and travel cost. Each student will be asked to pay $50 per course for each quarter (fall, winter and spring). We will seek to have some scholarship funds available for students.

(7) Who will the professors be?

We will recruit men and women from our own church staff, the leadership of our church plants and from our network of spiritually, qualified teachers and leaders. These will be people who agree not to teach anything contrary to our doctrinal statement as established in the EFCC Constitution and By-laws; who commit to support the philosophy and goals of BILD @ EFCC; who demonstrate competency in subject matter being taught; and who personally model the knowledge, skill and character of a biblical leader. We will expect that the teachers personally interact with the students during the training or class time through open discussion, question and answer time periods and sharing from the teacher's own life experience.

(8) What role will mentors play?

Mentors will be spiritually mature individuals who not only model but also help others grow in the skills, knowledge and character of biblical leadership. Each student will be asked to identify a mentor at some point during the BILD @ EFCC training process.

Mentoring will not replace the need for a student to continue the practice of the spiritual disciplines nor will it negate the need to the BILD @ EFCC leadership to encourage individuals as they face difficulties in the course of their leadership development. We realize that God often uses difficulties to grow us, and we want to use the full resources of EFCC to help students deal with personal challenges.

(9) How will course objectives and content standards be developed?

We will develop standardized goals and presentation standards for BILD @ EFCC courses. The leadership team will oversee the development of the objectives and standards.

Scoring or grading of the students will contribute toward the purpose of developing the skill, knowledge and character for spiritual leadership. The simple answer is: "BILD @ EFCC students will be graded as to whether or not they have completed the course requirements."

(10) Who will keep track of my progress as a student?

Tracking will be done through the office of the Associate Pastor of LifeDesign. Requests for outside information regarding a student like those from a mission organization would be directed to this office. There will be an established protocol for recording and reporting involvement in BILD @ EFCC courses.

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(11) Will all leaders of EFCC and her various outreach ministries be required to attend?

Involvement by current EFCC ministry leaders will depend on personal interest. In this sense involvement in BILD @ EFCC will be seen as elective rather than mandatory.

(12) Who is on the BILD @ EFCC Leadership Team?

Currently, Keith Grauman serves as the Dean of BILD @ EFCC. His leadership team consists of Dennis Keating, Barbara Howard, and Jeramy Clark.

(13) What will the schedule of courses look like?

Currently, we are offering three "quarter" sessions per year: fall, winter and spring. A typical BILD course will last about 10 weeks with one two-hour class session held per week. More specific information about our upcoming courses is available here in the BILD @ EFCC web section.

The number and availability of courses will increase as the institute grows.

(14) What about resources? Will there be a reference library here at EFCC in addition to the current "readers" library? What about developing and accessing web-based resources?

We will have very basic resources available at the church. We will continue to offer the current "readers" library as it exists. Our library has many good commentaries and Bible study tools in addition to topical reading material. A student would be welcome to use one of the computer terminals in the Ministry Center to access our Bible study software. We also will have books available specifically for BILD @ EFCC students on a "no check out" basis. We will encourage our students to take advantage of other libraries in the area as well.

(15) Where can I get more information?

The pages here on the EFCC web site will have the best and most current information. Or contact the Ministry Center for more information or materials: (760) 781-2161, or e-mail us at

(16) Will people who do not attend Emmanuel Faith, or one of her associated churches (church plants), be eligible to attend the courses offered?

At this time, only EFCC attendees or people who attend our associated churches will be allowed to participate. Each student must be sponsored by his or her sending church. The home church in turn will provide mentoring and ministry oversight. Leaders from the association of churches who attend BILD @ EFCC will be able to take the knowledge, skills and character gained back to their respective churches to influence others as they have been influenced.

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