Individual: $195 Team of 3-7 people: Organization budget >$1 million = $995 Organization budget from $500K-$1 million = $695 Organization budget <$500K = $495

Get Trained and Equipped to Use Innovation Tools to Make Your Ministry More Effective

Q: What will I need for this training?

You'll need: Either a team of 3-7 people to go through the process or a group of people willing to work through the innovation process with you. A copy of A Field Guide to Becoming Whole for each member of your team. Physical copies and an ebook version are both available from Moody Publishers. Use promo code CHALMERS at checkout to save 30%. A stable high-speed internet connection for Zoom calls. Training is offered in English. Training times are all posted in Eastern time zone.

Q: What if I can’t attend all the live classes?

Great question! You'll have the best experience by participating in all of the live classes. However, each session will be recorded and emailed weekly for the benefit of any participants who may have had an unexpected conflict.

Q: Will it work for people in the Majority World?

Yes! Innovate can work regardless of your ministry context. Please note: Innovate is delivered in English and requires a broadband internet connection for video calls.

Q: How long will I have to access teaching content?

One year! Each week you'll get a recording of the class that you're welcome to reference back to.

Q: How much time will I need to commit?

Each week you’ll spend 1.5 hours in class (online via Zoom) and around 1-2 hours outside of class working on assignments and with your community. Over the course of this 9 week training, you'll need to set aside about 30 hours to complete this course.

Q: Who should be on my team?

Innovate works best with a team of 3-7 people. Individuals who take Innovate will need to work with members in their community to complete out of class assignments. The innovation process works best with a diverse and committed group that includes members from the community you are designing for. For example: Trying to create a ministry for single moms? Be sure you have a single mom involved in the process.

Q: What if I can’t afford the course?

Our goal is to make Innovate accessible to all churches and nonprofits who are committed to effective poverty alleviation and community flourishing. For small and financially challenged teams we invite you to apply for an Innovate scholarship .

Q: How can I help financially challenged teams?

We’re so glad you asked! You can help make more Innovate scholarships available to financially challenged teams— contact us for more information.

Q: Can I sign up without a team?

Innovate works best with a team of 3-7 people. However, we are allowing individuals to register. Individuals who take Innovate will need to work with members in their community to complete out of class assignments.

Feel like there's more you could do to make a difference in the lives of the people you're walking alongside but not sure what to change?

Drawing from best practices in community development and easy-to-use innovation and design thinking tools, Innovate equips you with a biblical framework to help you identify changes that will help you strengthen your ministry.

At The Chalmers Center, we’ve been helping churches and Christian nonprofits design biblical poverty alleviation ministries for over two decades.

As a result, we’ve developed a powerful ministry framework based on:

God's story of change
Asset based community development
Creative innovation tools

The framework we've developed isn't just theoretical. It's already helped reinvigorate hundreds of ministries.

For example, we’ve worked with ministries that are focused on:

Sharing the gospel with women trapped in prostitution in Memphis
Working with men in Zambia who are unemployed
Revamping a soup kitchen/food pantry in Illinois
Creating a network of affordable car repair shops in the US

We created Innovate to equip you with:

Biblical guidelines for effective poverty alleviation ministry

Best practices from the community development sector

Innovation and design tools to work through questions and challenges

In the Innovate program, you'll be trained to apply what you're learning to a situation in your church or community so you can get feedback from Chalmers staff, Innovate coaches, and other practitioners.

You'll also be equipped to build and grow relationships with the people you serve alongside so that all the stakeholders are participating in the growth process.

How Innovate Works

Get trained

Join us for 8 live online training sessions and breakouts with other leaders.

Collaborate with others

Find a group of 2-6 people to help you work through the innovation process.

Test your idea

Design and test a creative idea for helping people in your community.

Iterate!

Get tools to help you keep learning and improving your ministry.

Through a nine-week blend of live Zoom classes, exercises in your community, and carefully selected videos and readings, Innovate guides you through the process of identifying and testing changes to your current program or designing a new ministry.

You'll need to set aside around 30 hours to complete this course.

Meet your guides Learn from experienced innovation experts

You'll be learning from Design Thinking & Innovation Specialist, Tabitha Kapic and Dr. Brian Fikkert, co-author of When Helping Hurts, Becoming Whole & President of the Chalmers Center.

Brian Fikkert

Tabitha Kapic

Who is this course for?

Innovate is for churches and nonprofit ministries

Tailored to your context, Innovate equips churches and nonprofits to improve their current programs or ministries.

Ministry Teams

You see the unmet needs among people who are materially poor, but don't know where or how to start.
Experienced Practitioners

You're looking to make the empowerment opportunities in your community more effective.
Social Entrepreneurs

You're driven by the idea of developing better solutions that foster effective poverty alleviation around the globe.

Here's what you get when you enroll

8 LIVE Zoom sessions with the Chalmers Team
Assignments to help you listen in new ways, design, and test your creative ministry solution
Access to When Helping Hurts and Becoming Whole co-author, Dr. Brian Fikkert
Innovation tools to build your own effective poverty alleviation ministry
Direct connection to the Innovate Community
Curated learning resources on our course platform
Bonus #1: 3 Secrets to Building Your Innovate Team
Bonus #2: 3 Keys To Build Meaningful Relationships with Stakeholders

Team Registration

Innovate: Online

March 6 – April 24

~~$1195~~ $995
per team of 3-7

EARLY BIRD ENDS FEB 18

Includes weekly Zoom coaching calls

Schedule

Join Us on Zoom Sept 7 - Nov 2, 2023
Thursdays 12-2 pm ET

Over the course of 9 weeks, Innovate includes 8 live online training sessions, breakout sessions, and assignments designed to help you brainstorm, design, and test your creative ministry solution.

You'll need to set aside around 30 hours to complete this course.
Each week you’ll spend 1.5 hours in class (online via Zoom) and 1-2 hours outside of class working on team homework and with your community.

Sept 7: Week 1
Sept 14: Week 2
Sept 21: Week 3
Sept 28: Week 4
Oct 5: Week 5

Oct 12: Week 6
Oct 19: Week 7
Oct 26: Week 8
Nov 2: Week 9

Our Guarantee

You can have full confidence in enrolling in Innovate. We have been testing and improving this training since 2019 and believe it will be transformative for your team.

If you’re not satisfied with this training within 30 days of your purchase, contact us, and we'll give you a full refund.

Frequently asked questions

What will I need for this training?

You'll need:

Either a team of 3-7 people to go through the process or a group of people willing to work through the innovation process with you.
A copy of A Field Guide to Becoming Whole for each member of your team. Physical copies and an ebook version are both available from Moody Publishers. Use promo code CHALMERS at checkout to save 30%.
A stable high-speed internet connection for Zoom calls.

Training is offered in English. Training times are all posted in Eastern time zone.

What if I can’t attend all the live classes?

Will it work for people in the Majority World?

How long will I have to access teaching content?

How much time will I need to commit?

What is the cost?

Who should be on my team?

Innovate works best with a team of 3-7 people.

Individuals who take Innovate will need to work with members in their community to complete out of class assignments.

The innovation process works best with a diverse and committed group that includes members from the community you are designing for.

For example: Trying to create a ministry for single moms? Be sure you have a single mom involved in the process.

What if I can’t afford the course?

How can I help financially challenged teams?

Can I sign up without a team?

What if my team has taken Innovate before?

Have more questions? Get in touch.

Innovate is trusted by 200+ churches and nonprofits worldwide

"The [Innovate] design process led by Chalmers gives me hope because it helps church leaders move from talking about issues to implementing solutions."

Blake Schwarz
Director of Fellows & PCPC at Work
Park Cities Presbyterian Church
Dallas, TX

"This process has really helped me believe that we can equip people to live out the kingdom... I'm more confident that we can help people use their influence to make substantial changes."

Dr. Michael Rhodes
Lecturer in Old Testament
Carey Baptist College, New Zealand

"It made me personally think about ideas that are outside the realm of what I would have normally thought about. Trusting each of the steps has been really powerful and has allowed us to create something together."

Sarah Lockridge-Steckel
Co-Founder & CEO
The Collective Blueprint
Memphis, TN

"It's been really encouraging to see our team use this process to center the actual articulated needs of the communities we serve, as the focus of how we help."

Laura Green
Executive Director
Tekton Career Training
Atlanta, GA

“I appreciate the work you guys are doing so much because it’s causing paradigm shifts that need to happen. So much more Christ-centered, so much more Gospel-centered, and so much more hopeful.”

Susan Moffitt
Director of Family Care
Palmer Home, Nashville TN

When I took Innovate for the first time in Nicaragua, it was a great learning experience. We were introduced to a new model to carry out initiatives with existing resources in a very creative way, with biblical, easy and reproducible tools, where projects can be developed in a short time, where we can have the opportunity to show God's love.

Yaneth,
Free Methodists
Nicaragua

“I think one of the great things you guys were able to do is somehow guide people through the process who are at very different points. Regardless of where you’re at in the process, if you want to be a good neighbor, this is a fantastic place to start.”

Crystal Davy
Worship Director & Outreach Coordinator
Grace Chapel, Nebraska

“The idea of working together as a team, bringing out innovative ideas and ways of really ministering to the local church spoke volumes to me. I learned from Chalmers the emphasis of human flourishing. I think that’s really all it is about God’s story of change.”

Evah Mugari
Empowerment/Development
Partners in Transformation, Zimbabwe

Chalmers resources are trusted by:

Innovate Sneak Peek

Wondering what it's like to take Innovate? Check out this short video walkthrough of the training.