Course Materials Set for Release

If you’re a member of Saddleback, chances are you’ve discovered what we believe and why. That’s in part because of our Christian Life And Service Seminars (CLASS) that help people take the next step in their spiritual journey while training them to be leaders —the “T” goal of Daring Faith.

Anyone new to Saddleback starts with Class 101 to learn the history of Saddleback Church, what we believe, and how to become a member. In Class 201, we teach what it means to be more like Jesus, how to spend time with God, and the importance of tithing and community. In Class 301, we share how SHAPE — Spiritual gifts, Heart (passions), Abilities, Personality, and Experiences can help others. In Class 401, we teach people how to discover God’s calling to impact the world.

These four steps to grow in faith are only possible with the right tools in place. That’s why, after several decades, our Creative Services team is releasing a revised version of CLASS materials. Set for release in May of this year, all four books have been rebranded, redesigned, and refreshed as part of the 2018 vision.

According to Saddleback’s Director of Curriculum, Betty Hopkins, “We’ve watched the original evolve into something new, just as the content of CLASS has also evolved over the years.”

In partnership with Pastor Rick and Teaching Pastor Tom Holladay, other Saddleback leaders collaborated in aligning the original emphasis, direction, and instruction back to the source, The Purpose Driven Church. Nearly a year was dedicated to reviewing transcripts by Pastor Rick to assure that each CLASS focused on specific topics of: Discovering Our Church Family, Discovering My Spiritual Maturity, Discovering My Ministry, and Discovering My Mission.

As the heart of Saddleback’s strategy, these four steps help motivate members toward fulfilling a relationship with God to belong, grow, serve, share, and go.

With this latest version of workbooks, the cover and interior layout reflects the clean and uncluttered style of Saddleback’s brand.

“We always want to  reflect the brand messaging in all communication pieces,” explains Betty, “—including course materials that embody the attributes of being friendly, engaging, welcoming, empowering, encouraging, and inspiring.”

For the design team, composition of interior pages was an important element of the rebranding project. According to Betty, the goal was to achieve successful composition by compiling, arranging, and aligning the interior pages in such a way that brought about balance, functionality, and effectiveness through a cohesive design.

Behind the scenes, the new print series of CLASS workbooks is already receiving rave reviews, leading to talks of an online version to be released in the foreseeable future.

To learn more about CLASS or to register for an upcoming course, visit saddleback.com/class.