Church-based Leadership Development
[Note Well: This page will be developed in much more detail in the future.]
The following statements summarize the way we approach leadership development in the local church. Taken together, they outline a holistic, integrated approach to church-based—as opposed to seminary-based—education.
Leadership is the process by which someone influences one or more people to achieve common goals (Leadership by Hughes et al.). But what happens to the definition if we add the adjective Christian to the noun leadership? We define Christian leadership as the process by which God moves in and through a Christian to influence others to accomplish God’s purposes (to serve, evangelize, disciple, and love God above all), using God’s Word as the guide.
Leadership development in the church must be aligned to Jesus’s mission for the church.
Studying the way that Jesus led his apostles during the first century is essential for constructing an approach to leadership, both theoretically and practically.
Both current and aspiring leaders must be Christians before they can be established in the core teachings of the Christian faith.
Both current and aspiring leaders must be established in the core teachings of the Christian faith before they can lead others.
The most important context for developing leaders for the local church is developing leaders in the local church.
Another critically important context for a leader’s development is within his or her own family.
The content of leadership development must be approached from multiple perspectives.
There is a general pattern for developing leaders in the church: identify leaders, train leaders, commission leaders, support leaders, reconvene leaders.
The strategies for leadership development include both formal and informal elements.
Leadership development requires time, persistence, and patience.
The outcomes of a leadership development process are both prescribed and, at times, wonderfully unpredictable.
We have two main strategies for developing leaders: The Equipping Series (to equip men and women to lead within their churches) and The Pastoral Training Program (to equip men to start, lead, and multiply churches and church networks).