What is the most important resource in Epic? Our people. Our people make us who we are. Where people are concerned, we want to take very seriously our responsibility to meet the needs of our staff – emotionally, spiritually and physically in the context of healthy growth and adulthood.
We on the Epic P&C team are charged with taking care of the people capacity to engage the mission through strengthening sustainable teams & reproducing leadership; and shaping the culture of Epic and Cru as we recruit, develop, and mobilize missionaries and lifetime laborers for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
First, we are stewards of the people God has called to journey with us for a season as interns, PTFS or volunteers; or serve with us long term as staff. The sending team of our Epic P&C oversees most of the “HR” aspects from recruiting (Full time/part time/international STINT) to MPD & doctrinal training, and hiring them. We also launch our interns to a year-long ministry to serve God through the various Epic movements in the U.S. and overseas. We accomplish that through venues like Launch Weekend, orientation and training calls, and intern/PTFS mid-year conference, etc. to provide training and to build up our developing staff.
Second, we are more than just building our ministry and meeting the needs of our staff. We care about who they are becoming. Epic missionaries serve out of our identity in Christ; using changed lives to change lives. We are also stewards of Epic’s culture of building up our staff as leaders. The attributes and activities define us as a group to cultivate a holistic missional culture by shaping the hearts of our staff towards what God calls them to be and to grasp the heart of reaching the lost in all we do. P&C cares for our staff via wise counsels, team visits; develop and invest resources, and staff training conference, etc.
We invite and challenge as many as possible to live lives of surrender and significance. Epic staff are often challenged to step out by faith to reach a new level of leadership. Our placement point person asks our staff to become missional team leaders, summer mission leaders, conference leaders and even bigger challenges to lead nationally. We want our people to expand their territory of influence and be placed in positions where their God given gifts can be used.
We would like our staff to live and serve with a spirit-filled life as we win, build and send. We hope our staff know oneself and who God creates each to be; serving as we are and using our gifts well to honor our Lord. We make use of team visits and conferences as face-to-face contact points; but we also like staff to take the initiative to contact us when they need help in their personal growth or ministry. Self-leadership and owning one’s ministry are some areas that help define our staff’s progress and maturity.
Overall, in People & Culture, we seek to ensure that our Epic values and culture are lived out at all levels of involvement and leadership as we also seek to develop leaders consistently. We want to provide a developmental environment that enables every person we encounter to excel in learning and training and to follow the calling of God in their lives.