Church Consulting
Julie comes alongside your church.
Group studies, facilitator training, retreats, speaking, and coaching – for churches, leaders, and small groups who want to see how each person was built on purpose, and what that means for the body they were placed in.
Already have By God’s Intelligent Design? Start here ↓leading a group, or her portrait
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For churches, leaders, and groups
Ways to work with Julie
Start with one By God’s Intelligent Design group study, or equip your own leaders to keep launching them. Retreats, couples groups, and speaking are here too.
Group study facilitation
7 sessions plus reunion night
The full study run for your congregation, twelve to eighteen participants, closing with a reunion and testimony night in week eight.
Facilitator training
One day
Four to eight of your leaders equipped to run the study themselves, so your church can keep launching groups long after the training day ends.
Design and Deploy
Church launch package
An introduction session to fill the signup sheet, a facilitator training day for your leadership, materials handled, and check-in calls at week four and after the reunion night.
Staff and leadership retreats
Half or full day
Your pastoral staff worked through the framework together, including the fivefold conversion, so the team is seeing itself in language it already uses every week.
Couples groups
8 weeks
An ABSOLUTE Plan for both partners, the Partner’s Workbook, and eight sessions built around what the two of you actually bring into a room together.
Conference speaking
Keynote or keynote plus breakout
Women’s conferences and ministry events. Every attendee leaves having taken a short assessment rather than only having heard about one.
Looking for one-on-one, couples, or themed group coaching? See Coaching →
The scriptural basis
One Body, many parts – by His design
Gifts are functions God builds into each of us – postures of service, not titles or offices. This honors every doctrinal tradition, so the whole Body can take part.
“And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
“Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
“My frame was not hidden from Thee, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.”
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org
Why it matters
Tensions you may not have named yet
God created each of us to answer the question “What is my purpose?” – and then to step into the role He designed us for. That’s where gifts come in… almost like superpowers. When they go unnamed, it shows up in scenarios like these.
Every ministry fair, every sign-up sheet, the same names. Everyone else sits and receives. It looks like a commitment problem. It usually isn’t.
The adjustment
It’s a design mismatch. People don’t volunteer for seats that don’t fit their wiring – and they can’t find the seat that does without a way to see the wiring. Consumers → Contributors starts with every member seeing their own design, and a ministry list that names where each posture fits.
Casting vision Monday, correcting Tuesday, inviting Wednesday, sitting bedside Thursday, teaching Sunday. One person, five postures, no bench. That’s the one-person show, and it ends the same way every time.
The adjustment
Ephesians 4 hands out five postures on purpose – for the equipping of the saints, not the exhaustion of one. And the title on the door doesn’t set the posture… a pastor isn’t always Pastoral by design. When the Body can see who carries what, the load moves. You weren’t designed to carry all (5). That’s the point.
One of you moves first, the other weighs. One fixes the thing, the other tends the person. Years have passed, and “you don’t get me” still feels like the theme.
The adjustment
Opposite wiring becomes a complete team by design. Once each of you can name the other’s pace and priority, the argument you keep having turns out to be a division of labor. By God’s Intelligent Design: The Partner’s Workbook is built for exactly this – two people, trading the Builder and Explorer roles, (8) weeks.
The planning meeting where the visionary and the guardian go at it again, and everyone else studies the carpet. Somebody leaves the team by spring.
The adjustment
Turn friction into fruit. Learning a shared language for conflict – “that’s your Prophetic asking the hard question” – builds interdependence instead of division. The friction was never the problem. Not having words for it was.
The natural teacher stuck at the welcome table, dreading every handshake. The gatherer counting offering envelopes in a back room. Both faithful. Both quietly being drained of motivation.
The adjustment
Every posture has best fits, and By God’s Intelligent Design lists them by ministry – Greeters and Parking, Curriculum Review, Care Ministry, and on down the line. Move two people and watch both of them come alive.
The pioneer who runs people over for the mission. The truth-teller whose truth turns into a weapon. The gatherer who plays to the applause. The nurturer who keeps a false peace. The clarifier with all the answers and none of the effort. Nobody’s telling them, because it’s their strength.
The adjustment
That’s the shadow side, and every posture has one – the Driven Dictator, the Harsh Judge, the Performing Pleaser, the Appeasing Enabler, the Proud Elitist. It’s a moment under stress, never a permanent identity… and the Fruit of the Spirit is the antidote to every one of them.
These are the conversations a group study opens up… and the ones Julie walks churches through.
Certified ABContrast Affiliate
The tools Julie brings
Julie is a Certified ABContrast Affiliate, which puts a powerful toolset and product line in her hands – along with By God’s Intelligent Design, the faith-based study built on it. She can work with you on your own, with the two of you as a couple, or with your whole group.
The assessments
ABContrast
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The ABSOLUTE Plan – a 60-page report contrasting all six areas of your authentic behavior, with your authentic strengths, your natural struggles, and personalized growth strategies. Regularly $180, currently $67 per person.
Use Julie’s code Julie20 at checkout for 20% off. Julie may earn a commission when her code is used.
See the ABSOLUTE Plan → -
Group Comparison – the whole group on one results matrix, so everyone can see where it clusters and where its blind spots sit.
Ask Julie → -
PERSPECTIVES – six free assessments, one for each area of life, with instant results. A good first step before the ABSOLUTE Plan.
Start free – Instant Results →
The study
By God’s Intelligent Design
The book series that carries the ABContrast framework into spiritual gifts and fivefold ministry – the main book, the Individual’s Workbook, the Partner’s Workbook, and the Facilitator’s Guide.
Julie can run the study with your group, train your own facilitators to run it, or walk you through it one-on-one.
The ABContrast 4-5-6
Already have the book? Your six free assessments are waiting
The study runs on the ABContrast 4-5-6… (4) directions combine into (5) types, measured in (6) areas. Each area gets its own free PERSPECTIVES assessment – less than a half hour for all six. The free versions work perfectly for this study.
4directions
Your preferences of pace and priority.
Pace
Forwardinitiative, intensity, action
Reservedreflection, restraint, observation
Priority
Practicalsystems, tasks, logic
Interpersonalpeople, warmth, inclusivity
5types
The ABContrast’s names in fivefold terms:
- Autocratic=Apostolic
- Static=Prophetic
- Dynamic=Evangelistic
- Empathic=Pastoral
- Harmonic=Teaching
6areas
One free assessment for each context.
The Fivefold
Which sounds like you?
No test here… the free PERSPECTIVES assessments take care of that in a few minutes. Explore with a tap on the line that sounds most like you.
Where it lands on the map.
You might be the Apostolic type in how you lead.
An example from Area 3 – COMMAND (leading)
You might be the Pastoral type in how you connect with others.
An example from Area 2 – CONNECTION (socializing)
You might be the Prophetic type in how you think things through.
An example from Area 1 – CONTEMPLATION (thinking)
You might be the Evangelistic type in how you work on a team.
An example from Area 6 – CONTRIBUTION (teamwork)
You might have a Teaching gift when you lead.
An example from Area 3 – COMMAND (leading)
You might be the Pastoral type in your closest relationships.
An example from Area 5 – CLOSENESS (relationships)
You might be the Prophetic type in how you follow.
An example from Area 4 – COOPERATION (following)
You might be the Evangelistic type in how you connect with others.
An example from Area 2 – CONNECTION (socializing)
You might be the Apostolic type in how you contribute to a team.
An example from Area 6 – CONTRIBUTION (teamwork)
You might have a Teaching gift in how you think.
An example from Area 1 – CONTEMPLATION (thinking)
You might be the Evangelistic type in your closest relationships.
An example from Area 5 – CLOSENESS (relationships)
You might be the Pastoral type in how you follow.
An example from Area 4 – COOPERATION (following)
APOSTOLIC (Pioneer)
driving vision – pioneers new works, like Paul
Forward + Practical
Best fits: Church Plant Team, Strategic Planning Committee, Outreach Coordination, Capital Campaign Team, Leadership Development.
The shadow side: the Driven Dictator. The antidote: Patience.
PROPHETIC (Guardian)
elevating truth – guards integrity, like John the Baptist
Reserved + Practical
Best fits: Finance and Budget Committee (Ensuring Integrity), Safety and Security Team, Curriculum Review, Intercessory Prayer Team, Tech and Production (Systems and Excellence).
The shadow side: the Harsh Judge. The antidote: Gentleness.
EVANGELISTIC (Gatherer)
inspiring action – gathers and inspires, like Peter
Forward + Interpersonal
Best fits: Greeters and Parking Team (First Impressions), Coffee and Hospitality, Social Media and Marketing, Youth Ministry (Games and Energy), Special Events Team.
The shadow side: the Performing Pleaser. The antidote: Faithfulness.
PASTORAL (Nurturer)
nurturing care – shepherds the heart, like Barnabas
Reserved + Interpersonal
Best fits: Small Group Co-Leader, Care Ministry (Meal Trains, Hospital Visits), Nursery and Preschool (Nurturing), Recovery Group Facilitator, New Believer Follow-Up.
The shadow side: the Appeasing Enabler. The antidote: Self-Control.
TEACHING (Clarifier)
adding perspective – clarifies and mediates, like Apollos
Balanced – the center of all four
Best fits: Bible Study Teacher, Small Group Curriculum Writer, Discipleship Mentor, Next Steps and Class Instructor, Mediation and Conflict Resolution Team.
The shadow side: the Proud Elitist. The antidote: Humility.
A hint, not a result – most people land differently from one area to the next, and the free PERSPECTIVES assessments show you all six.
Start PERSPECTIVES now!A note on the framework
This isn’t a personality test that tells you who to be.
It reads what you already do, in six areas of life, and puts language to it. Nothing is predicted. Nothing is assigned. The results are yours to weigh against what you already know to be true about yourself – and about how you were made.
Books and plans
What you’ll need
Everyone can start free with the six PERSPECTIVES assessments. From there, here’s what to get – on your own, as a couple, or as a group.
Individuals
Working through it on your own.
You need
Highly recommended
Optional
The ABSOLUTE Plan – $67. An investment-level add-on, should you choose… or just start now for free at PERSPECTIVES.
Couples
Two of you, working through it together.
You need
(2) copies of By God’s Intelligent Design
one each, so you can both write in your own
$21.95 eachAmazon →
Highly recommended
Optional
An ABSOLUTE Plan for each of you – $67 each. An investment-level add-on… or just start now for free at PERSPECTIVES.
Groups
Are you ready for a group study? (7) sessions plus a reunion – 90 to 120 minutes each – groups of (6) to (18) – about (2) months
Optional
ABSOLUTE Plans for everyone – $67 each. Group codes let the facilitator buy them for the whole group at once – easier to hand out, easier to sign up. Add the Group Comparison and see how the whole group lands on one results matrix. Julie can set it up.
Ask Julie about group codesAbout the ABSOLUTE Plan – recommended, never required
The ABSOLUTE Plan contrasts all six areas of your authentic behavior – revealing your authentic strengths, identifying your natural struggles (Shadow Sides), and presenting personalized growth strategies. Regularly $180, it’s currently discounted to only $67 per person. That’s a great value for this 60-page customized report. Add it now or anytime… and By God’s Intelligent Design readers can get a Complimentary Fivefold Version of the report, too – just reply to your ABSOLUTE Plan results email and ask for it.
Ordering your own? Enter Julie’s code Julie20 at checkout for 20% off eligible premium content. Julie is a Certified ABContrast Affiliate and may earn a commission when her code is used.
Julie to confirm – anyone in one of her group studies who adds an ABSOLUTE Plan gets a one-on-one session walking through the report.
Pastors and leaders – bring Julie to your church
Group studies are forming now. Is your church next?
Start a conversation