e-Newsletter - Volume 3, Number 4
"Lent: Dying, Rising, and Living Anew" Now Available For Bible Study Groups
by Bill Anderton

Click here to see a free video sample of our new course.

For this Lenten season, we are offering "Lent: Dying, Rising, and Living Anew" to support Bible study groups. We have configured two additional specialized products to facilitate groups want to use our materials for a congregation-wide Lenten studies.

Getting ready for Lent involves some thinking, praying and setting the stage for the changes that we hope to introduce into our lives in the weeks ahead.  Even though we may think we may be hidden away until we are ready, we find in the Hebrew Scriptures of the First Testament that God is not waiting around for the seasons to change. 

God is relentless: From the first day of Lent, the Ash Wednesday, the Scriptures we hear (and read and study) make God’s call to us clear: “Return to me with your whole heart.”

The first month of Winter in the Northern Hemisphere may seem too soon to begin thinking about Spring, and the lengthening of days which we know as the “Lenten Season.” But it isn’t ... especially not for the busy pastor who will be faced soon enough with “Ash Wednesday."

Join us in this weekly journey of video lectures by Dr. Rick Lowery, followed by video dialogue between Rick and his pastor, The Reverend Linda McCrae, as we prepare ourselves for the experience of study and preparation like the early church prepared converts before baptism on Easter Eve.

Group Public Use License

Normally, our courses are licensed for individual use; for being used by a single student or, occasionally, a husband-and-wife ministry team.

To support the use of our courseware in group settings such as Bible studies or small-group exercises, we also provide a Group Public-Use License which allows our video to be shown to groups of people in a church setting.

An example of the use of a Group Public-Use License would be for a group of congregants meeting together in a church- or middle-judicatory setting to watch our videos over a series of weeks (typically viewing one video per week) and, while in the group setting, discuss the material among the group while being facilitated by a group leader.

A single Group Public-Use License covers a group meeting in a single defined venue (a church, a ministry group, etc.) and lasts for the duration of the course (five weeks, six weeks, etc.) Also, the organization hosting the group and using the Group Public-Use License is welcome to assemble a group of any size from several people to hundreds of people.

A Group Public-Use License cost a few dollars extra to help defray the production costs of the courseware. In exchange, the group can “legally” show the video to the entire group with the blessings of the course’s copyright holder. Additionally, each of our Group Public-Use License includes one normal license for the Group Leader. Using this normal license, the Group Leader can participate in the fully-interactive course and Virtual Classroom where the interactive activities with other students and instructors will help prepare the Group Leader to lead the Bible Study or small group. It is assumed that each group will need at least one leader. However, if more leaders are desired, additional Group Leaders can be trained through the purchase of as many additional normal licenses as needed.

Individual Access License for Members of a Group

Individual participants of a group covered by the Group Public-Use License DO NOT receive the right to individually log into the Virtual Classroom and stream our video individually. The Group Public-Use License only covers playing the videos in a public group situation from the Group Leader’s account BY the Group Leader. Individual members of the group cannot access the Group Leader’s account.

However, for a small additional fee, each member of a group can purchase access to a specialized Virtual Classroom to view our videos from their home or offices outside the meeting times of the group. Individual Access Licenses provides the individual members of a group with their own access whenever they wish during the term of the class. Using this option, each individual member of a group can view or review our videos as many times as they wish. Also, the specialized Virtual Classroom provides limited interactive functions such as an interactive Class Forum and a few other functions that allow direct participation for the individual members of the members of the group.

Individual Access Licenses for Members of a Group are highly recommended for every member of a group. They have proved very successful for groups and are very popular. However, they are optional. Typically, certain cohorts of a group (those without personal computers or broadband connections) can be served by the public viewing and within-the-group discussion of the Group Public-Use License WITHOUT the individual access option. However, for those members of the group with the technical resources to benefit, Individual Access Licenses for Members of a Group provide a great benefit for a very small fee for each user.

Over Four Hours of High-Quality Video-on-Demand

The first components of the course are six video-on-demand sessions totaling 4:10 (h:mm) of high-definition high-quality professionally-produced multi-camera video.

Each of the six sessions begins with Dr. Lowery's lecture about the week's text.

After Dr. Lowery's lecture, each video contains a discussion of the text between Dr. Lowery and Rev. Linda McCrae of Central Christian Church of Indianapolis.

All video-on-demand sessions are delivered by video streaming that features Adaptive Streaming support to insure that each user receives the highest possible stream quality that each individual broadband connection will allow. The course and its videos can be accessed from anywhere at any time with nothing more than a web browser and a broadband connection.

Click here to see a free video sample of our new course.

The Course Is Also Available for Sermon Preparation In the Lenten Season

What better way to discover meaning for TODAY than to join with colleagues in this video course and its weekly live conference calls with Dr. Lowery in advance of each Sunday’s text.

Click here to register for sermon prep.

The Course Is Open Now!

The Virtual Classroom for this course is open NOW and you can register online TODAY with a credit or debit card and receive instant access to the classroom and all of the videos for the duration of the Lenten season.

To Register:
Click here to register for sermon prep.

Click here to register for the Group Public-Use License.

Click here to register for the Individual Access License for Members of a Group.

For More Information:
Click here for home page. 
Click here for brochure.
Click here for flyer.
Click here for details.
Click here for syllabus.
Click here for Rick's bio.
Click here for Linda's bio.
Click here for outcomes.
 

Christian College and TransformingTheChurch.org have endeavored to make this course as RELEVANT and as ACCESSIBLE to as many Pastors as possible. Our pricing is set in order to ensure that even those on a “lean” professional development or educational budget can participate. This is not only fresh, new content for Lenten preparation, but affords several hours of direct interaction with the instructor. We believe that the VALUE is unsurpassed, and we offer this course to the Church and Her Servants with hopes that you can participate.