Norma Everist's 'The Church As Learning Community'

Norma Everist in the book, The Church as Learning Community maintains heretofore we have viewed equipping teachers for the task of teaching as leaders have the ability with knowledge and skill to provide what is needed to prepare teachers to teach. She alludes that this thinking does not fully encompass the magnitude of “equipping”. While I agree with her that in the equipping process leaders must engage in listening and stirring up the teachers’ gifts, I believe we are all at different stages of our development, therefore some have the capacity and skill to equip others. She uses Ephesians chapter four as the framework for her discussion in chapter six of her book. Specifically, in verse eleven of Ephesians four, which states, the gifts

he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and some teacher. While there is no hierarchy in the list, by virtue of the word some, the text infers that there is a level of knowledge that is not given to everyone at once. This equipping requires preparation and planning.
Everist explains the six stages of planning: preliminary, preparatory, immediate, concurrent, post and perspective. She gives rationale of why each stage is critical to a successful Christian education program. I agree that planning is tantamount to successful outcomes, however, this is not currently happening in my context. As an example, our pastor decided in December that he wanted to begin a Christian education institute that was to begin in late January. We bypassed preliminary and preparatory planning and went directly to immediate planning, which I feel did not provide sufficient time to develop the institute properly.