mybsf.org

AP and Class Staff Bulletin

August-September 2023

Tomb with stone rolled away

His Word, His People, His World

May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

—Psalm 90:16-17

As we launch into 30 weeks of in-depth Bible study in the gospel of John, what is God calling you to in your leadership role? What are you asking him to do in your life and the lives of those you have the privilege to lead? Psalm 90:16-17 has much to offer us as we think about these questions and prayerfully enter into this study year. In verse 16, there is a cry to God for His deeds to be shown to His servants and for His splendor to be shown to the children of His servants. The next verse asks God for His favor to rest on us, His servants, and to establish our work (ministry or otherwise). This request is made two times. The writer emphatically seeks a double portion of God’s establishing the work of our hands.
From this we can draw two important conclusions:

  • Our goal—our heart’s desire—is for God to be glorified.
  • Our work belongs to Him and is accomplished in His favor.

As a BSF leader of leaders, there is a lot to accomplish during the study year, and we can easily find ourselves taking the reins and establishing our own work—our own priorities. What can quickly follow is the temptation take the credit as well. But one of the many lessons we will learn in John is that only God can make what we do meaningful and lasting. John 15:5 tells us, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” The requirement is a right relationship with God. As we remain in Him, he makes our life and our work meaningful and fruitful. He establishes His people’s work so that His splendor is displayed in His world. What a comfort!
Will you ask God for that double portion of establishing your work as you answer the call to lead this year? Will you humbly depend on him to bear fruit in your BSF community? And how will you rejoice and celebrate His deeds and His splendor displayed in His Word, His people, and His world this year?

Upcoming Events

10-13 September 2023 TL Orientation

This orientation will be online instead of in person. Candidates and their Area Personnel have been notified with information about this online event.

Prayer Requests

Praise for:
  • AP, Class Staff, and Leaders as they lead for the cause of Christ in the world this year!
  • CAs, ALs, DAOTs, and AOTs who create a warm and welcoming environment conducive to in-depth Bible study.
  • Over 8,000 Leaders who accessed MyBSF Learning over the BSF break to enhance their skills and service in their roles in BSF!
Pray for:
  • Excitement and enthusiasm around the world to make Jesus known through John’s Gospel: The Truth.
  • Class Staffs of pilot classes to quickly bond with each other, AP, class leaders, and class members as they begin the John study year.
  • Classes to create an environment to know Jesus and mature in relationship with Him.
  • Foundations Courses to provide an additional layer of clarity and understanding for each Class Staff role.
  • New TL, OT, and DOT candidates attending the August and September Orientations to learn and quickly apply their training to lead this year.

Technology Updates

Account Security

We are implementing higher levels of security for your BSF experience. We care about the security of our members’ data. Many users re-use passwords across multiple online accounts, which can lead to data breaches. As a result, having only a username and password is no longer considered secure. Please help your members and leaders navigate these new security measures.

Password reset: You have already been prompted to reset your password; although, some of your members might not have done this yet. Please assist them as needed.

Security questions and answers: You are being prompted now to set up these important questions that will be used to verify your identity if you are locked out of your account. Currently, users can skip this, but creating their security questions will be required at the end of September. 

Multi-factor authentication (MFA): To successfully access your account, you must enter login credentials and a one-time code provided to your phone (through text or phone call).
WHY: MFA blends two separate factors—something you know (your credentials) with something you are sent (a verification code). This makes it more difficult for those who have harmful intentions to access your account.
WHEN: This change will begin for AP and Class Staff in October and November for those residing in Canada, India, Singapore, United Kingdom, and United States. Class leaders and members in these countries will be required to use MFA later in the John Study year. Other countries will be added later.   
HOW: You will be asked to provide a phone number to receive a text (SMS) or a voice call with a verification code. You will enter this code as prompted by the website you are logging into. Note: You need to do this only one time per year per device used to access BSF systems if you click “Remember Me” on the screen. 

MyBSF Knowledge Base

During June and July, members searched the MyBSF knowledge base over 12,000 times! And now there’s a new option for members to search the knowledge base. When a member clicks the Need Help button on our websites, they can search the knowledge base before creating a ticket. This option appears on BSF Online, MyBSF, and www.bsfinternational.org (on the Find a Group results, Giving, and FAQs pages). If you are not familiar with our knowledge bases, visit the MyBSF Knowledge Base and the BSF Online Knowledge Base.

Alerts in MyBSF and BSF Online

Watch for alerts to get the latest updates and information. Alerts appear in the upper right corner when you log into MyBSF or BSF Online.

Need to Know

Be sure to read for all positions related to your class.

Coming Soon! AP and Class Staff Revelation Readiness Packet

John’s Gospel: The Truth provides a meaningful segue into planning for the Revelation (REV) study the following year. We are excited to partner with you to prepare for the growth in BSF that God will bring for such a time as this. Begin praying now for God to prepare the hearts of those in your areas, classes, and communities who will attend and to provide His wisdom and discernment as we plan together for the Revelation study! The Revelation study will ignite the flame of hope in His Word to unite and mobilize His people to impact His world!

In October, you will have a packet in your Resource Library for AP and Class Staff to work through to plan for Revelation Readiness. Some items in the packet include:

  • Communications and announcements that cast vision for REV study
  • Accommodations for growth for the REV study
  • Growth and logistics planning worksheet per class
  • Leadership development trainings for REV

Watch for more information about AP Global Zooms to cover the REV Readiness Packet and a dedicated Day of Prayer for REV Readiness.

John Mini Studies

We heard you! This year, we will release all three mini-studies for the John study at the beginning of the year so classes can take full advantage of these opportunities to introduce new people to Jesus. The mini-studies for John’s Gospel: The Truth are:

  • Encounters with Jesus: 3-week study (lessons 4, 5, and 6)
  • Is Jesus God?: 2-week study (lessons 14 and 15)
  • Finding Life in Jesus’ Death: 3-week study (lessons 26, 27, and 28)

Mini-studies will be available soon at https://www.bsfinternational.org/trybsf. 

Note about Reawaken Hymns

For PPKD we offered Reawaken Hymns to use with the study. Offering hymns in this form was a pilot project, which has moved our search toward a more global solution. The Reawaken Hymns will not be reposted. Because our usage contract was for only one year, we ask that classes and groups discontinue the use of and remove any Reawaken Hymns you might have downloaded to a personal device. For the interim, the Leader’s Hymnal and hymns in the public domain are great resources for music. You can also check out the Spotify playlist for John. Pray for us as we search for a global solution to offer classes going forward. Thank you for your patience. 

Victoria, Australia Only: Change or Suppression Act (COSA) Training and National Child Safe Environments Policy (CP 123)

COSA Training is required for all leaders (online or in-person) who serve members, children, or students who reside in Victoria, Australia. Download and read Change or Suppression Act for Victoria Australia_052023.pdf (Keyword Search: change) now available in the Resource Library, and then follow the link in the document to the required training about the Change or Suppression Act.

Important: Leaders and volunteers in Australia must sign the National Child Safe Environments Policy (CP 123) annually (Keyword Search: 123).

New Ideas

When you hear about new things happening in other BSF groups, classes, or leaders meetings, talk with your AP/OAP before adoptinging a new idea. Some examples of the strategic decisions AP/OAP have tools to help you with are:

  • Meeting options
  • Shared locations (men’s and women’s classes meeting in-person in the same location)
  • Online BSF Students
  • BSF Kids in Evening Women’s classes
  • Same day leaders meeting and class meeting
  • Calendar scheduling and adaptations for local holidays
  • BSF Students in Day Women’s classes
  • Sharing teaching and training roles between TLs/STLs, OTs/AOTs, and DOTs/DAOTs
  • Starting a new group in an alternate language

Remember to include your AP/OAP as a part of your team to brainstorm the pros and cons of adopting a new idea for your BSF community.

Video Resources for the John Study

For John’s Gospel: The Truth, we are providing short clips from our Masterclass video series on our YouTube channel to help our members dive deeper into this year’s study.
Clips from this year’s Masterclass theologian (and BSF board member), Dr. Mark Strauss, offer a short insight or teaching about an aspect of each adult lesson of the John study.
This year, instead of posting weekly to our YouTube channels, videos will be uploaded to YouTube in batches of ten throughout the year for members to access for each corresponding lesson. The schedule for videos to be added to our YouTube channel for the John study is:

  • Lessons 0-9: Available from 1 August 2023
  • Lessons 10-19: Available from 2 October 2023
  • Lessons 20-29: Available from 1 December 2023

To view the Masterclass videos, go to our BSF YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreBSF

New Leadership Development Tool Kit

The new Leadership Development Tool Kit is now available in the Resource Library (Keyword Search: tool kit). View the Leadership Development Tool Kit Guide also available in the Resource Library (Keyword Search: guide) for a helpful overview of this new resource.
Tips for using the Leadership Development Tool Kit:

  • Discuss as a Class Staff your plan to use the All-Leader Trainings to build unity within your leadership team.
  • The tool kit is available as a PDF file and as a Microsoft Word file. See the “Tips for Using this Tool Kit” section of the tool kit for navigation tips. 
  • If you prefer to work from a printed document, select the pages you want to print in your print dialogue box before you select Print to prevent printing the entire document.

We Want Your Input

At HQ we are continuously evaluating various components of the BSF study. Because you currently hold a key leadership position, your insights and inputs are valuable. There might be times throughout the year that we would like to contact various Class Staff or AP to participate in a short, informal interview (30 minutes–1 hour) to learn more about certain aspects of your role or to receive feedback on something new we are testing. While we will not be able to use everyone who signs up, if you would be willing to participate if needed, please fill out this form. We want to honor your time, so we would not ask you to participate in more than one interview.

Train on Children’s Program Essential Policies

The Children’s Program Essential Policies have been updated and are available for ALL leaders in the AP Manual, Class Staff Resource, and Leader’s Core. It is recommended that every class that has a Children’s Program train ALL leaders early in the study year on the Essential Policies for the safety of every child and for greater awareness of security concerns.

Class Staff members can coordinate training leaders using the Leadership Development Tool Kit or the “Build-Your-Own Training Template” located in the tool kit. An additional resource is the one-page Essential Policies At-A-Glance, which is found in the manuals and can be used for easy reference.

AP/OAP: 2023 Fiscal Year-End Expense Reports

BSF’s fiscal year ends 31 August. All AP (inside and outside the United States) are asked to submit a fiscal year-end expense report no later than 6 September 2023. However, if no expenses have been incurred since your last expense report, no year-end report is needed. Please do not include any September expenses or receipts on this fiscal year-end August report.

AP Outside the United States Only:

Each AP team member should submit their own expense report as of 31 August 2023 to Intlfinance@bsfinternational.org and your RD no later than 6 Sept 2023.

  • If you are the account holder, please use form AT-301a and include any non-account holder’s expenses in the “Non-Account Holder” section. In your submission, include form AT-301b to detail the non-account holder expenses.
  • If you are the non-account holder, please submit form AT-301b to your account holder to submit along with their expense report.
  • Confirm the ending balance of your advance account as of 31 August 2023. A bank statement included with your expense report submission confirming your ending balance as of 31 August is preferred, if applicable.
  • If you received AA Remittances (class funds) during the break, report the receipts even if you had no expenses to report.

AP: Validation of CP Checklists

At the start of the study year, AP should validate that Children’s Leaders and Regular Volunteers are up to date on all screenings and recertifications in the CP Checklist. All members on the CP Checklist should be marked Eligible. AP should validate that each member in their area is marked Eligible or work with Class Staff to update the dates of the leaders and volunteers marked Ineligible.

AP validation for start of class year should be completed by 15 October 2023.

CP Checklist

All Children’s Leaders must be background screened as regional law requires and re-certified using the Regular Volunteer Information and Yearly Recertification (CP 111) form before attending the first Leaders Meeting, whether your class is meeting in-person or online. Every Regular Volunteer on the CP Checklist must also be re-certified using CP 111. Forms can be sent and signed digitally through Foxit eSign.

In the CP Checklist, the Recert Date field is blank at the start of the new BSF study year and must be updated for all leaders and Regular Volunteers to be considered eligible. Class Staff should update the CP Checklist so that ALL members are marked Eligible. In MyBSF, select Hide from CP Checklist for all leaders and Regular Volunteers who will not be serving in the children’s program.

Note: Australia and New Zealand are excluded from the yearly recertification requirement.

August Financial Report

All classes must submit an August Monthly Finance Report in MyBSF by 5 Sept 2023. Include any activity since the last submitted Finance Report—items such as: class bank account activity, bank fees and related receipts, or expenses during the break.

  • Confirm the ending retained balance on 31 August 2023 is accurate. It should match your class bank account “ending balance” on 31 August 2023.
  • Classes in countries other than the United States: If you do not have a class account, your August ending retained balance should reflect the “actual” amount of BSF funds you have in your physical possession on 31 August 2023.
  • If there has been no financial activity during the break, submit a $0.00 financial report for fiscal year-end purposes.

The Obsolete Revised New List Is Now Obsolete

With class forms posted directly into the Resource Library in MyBSF, the Obsolete Revised New List will no longer be published by BSF HQ. The Obsolete Revised New List was provided for CAs who received annual forms shipments from HQ. The List provided a reference tool for CAs to manage their printed forms inventory.

CAs, DAOTs, and ALs, please consider keeping a minimal inventory of printed forms. Ensure you are using the most current version of the forms you use by checking the Resource Library. Keyword Search on forms by using the three numbers assigned to each form. For example, use the Keyword Search: 105 to find the Adult Registration (I 105) in the Resource Library. The Class Forms Table of Contents for John’s Gospel: The Truth provides a list of all forms available in the Resource Library and will be posted soon.

BSF Kids Video Resources for the John Study

For John’s Gospel: The Truth, we are providing BSF Kids videos on our YouTube channels to help preschool-age children dive deeper into this year’s study.
The BSF Kids videos (ages 0-5) showcase a BSF Children’s Leader sharing a short biblical story from that week’s lesson.
This year, instead of posting weekly to our YouTube channel, videos will be uploaded in batches of ten throughout the year for members to access for each corresponding lesson.
The schedule for videos to be added to our YouTube channel for the John study is:

  • Lessons 0-9: Available from 1 August 2023
  • Lessons 10-19: Available from 2 October 2023
  • Lessons 20-29: Available from 1 December 2023

To view the Kids videos, go to our BSF Kids YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreBSFKids

CP Checklist

All Children’s Leaders must be background screened as regional law requires and re-certified using the Regular Volunteer Information and Yearly Recertification (CP 111) form before attending the first Leaders Meeting, whether your class is meeting in-person or online. Every Regular Volunteer on the CP Checklist must also be re-certified using CP 111. Forms can be sent and signed digitally through Foxit eSign.

In the CP Checklist, the Recert Date field is blank at the start of the new BSF study year and must be updated for all leaders and Regular Volunteers to be considered eligible. Class Staff should update the CP Checklist so that ALL members are marked Eligible. In MyBSF, select Hide from CP Checklist for all leaders and Regular Volunteers who will not be serving in the children’s program.

Note: Australia and New Zealand are excluded from the yearly recertification requirement.

 

DAOTs, please check the CA tab for information you might need.

Please be sure to read the “BSF and BSF Online” tab.

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