In July our fourth class of Barnabas School of Supernatural Ministry students graduated at the Gathering (shown). I was in their shoes two years’ ago, but for just over a year I’ve had the privilege of working as Central Support Administrator for the school.
We now have a total of 32 BSSM graduates. Most of these have come from just four Barnabas churches, but this year we welcomed our first student from outside Barnabas, as well as our first international student. God has been gracious to us, allowing us to start small and gradually expand. We are excited to see what the future will bring, and are especially curious about the Class of 2017!
The Barnabas School of Supernatural Ministry is aimed at believers who are 18+ and we’re certainly a multi-generational school. We’ve had students who are in their twenties, right up to those in their eighties. All are welcome and we enjoy learning from one another.
Signing up to BSSM doesn’t mean you take six months off whatever you usually do at church. The school is a part-time course, specifically designed for those who live a busy lifestyle and who play an integral part in their home church. A large part of a student’s work is completed at home, in the workplace and within the sending church during the inter-conference periods. Everyone has their own way of juggling what needs to be done. Students are not on their own as they each have two people from their own church to support them on their BSSM journey. The pastoral assistant provides general support and the learning mentor meets their student each month to discuss the inter-conference assignments. This is just one way we ensure that students remain connected to their home church and that BSSM has a wider impact. This year, one learning mentor decided to read some of the books that her student had brought back from BSSM. Other learning mentors have been so intrigued and inspired that they signed up to do BSSM themselves the following year.
Several couples, including me and my husband, have now graduated from BSSM, either doing the school at the same time or consecutive years. You get the no-holds-barred account of anything from your spouse, so this to me is a real testimony to how good BSSM is!
The three BSSM conferences take place in January, March and May. Each conference starts on Thursday and runs through to Monday. These are really special times together with the other students, the team and most importantly God. Each day begins with devotions, followed by teaching sessions and activations where you get to step out in new areas of ministry. The beauty of BSSM is that the students support and encourage each other, providing a safe environment in which to try new things and be free to get things wrong.
We are blessed to have so many anointed people from across the country coming in to BSSM to teach and lead activations. The course is led by apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, rather than professors or theologians. The course tutors do not simply teach the Bible, they reveal the author.
If you are willing to be radically changed, stretched beyond your comfort zone and want to experience growth in your anointing, BSSM could be for you!
Find out more about the Barnabas School of Supernatural Ministry here!
Author: Kathie Davis-Bater