LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

A RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. MARY E. LOWE

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

RLGN 489 – MINISTRY PRAXIS CAPSTONE

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY ONLINE

BY

JEFF GEISSLER

LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA

AUGUST 7, 2016

PHILOSOPHY OF LEADER DEVELOPMENT

One of the church’s core philosophy of ministry principles is that everyone works. The

church is a body consisting of members who contribute to its healthy functioning. So, all

members of the church community should serve in a ministry for the church in accordance with

their giftedness, according to Romans 12:3-8. While every member serves, leaders on the other

hand, must be distinguished in three respects from other ministry roles. According to Oswald

Sanders, “real leaders are in short supply.”1 So, God fully utilizes the “person who is ready to

lead, to commit to full discipleship, and take on responsibility for others.”2 Since there are few

good leaders, the church must pray, search, and choose wisely those are willing and gifted to be a

leader in ministry. The criteria in leadership selection is threefold. First, a leader must be gifted

by the Holy Spirit for leadership. Second, a leader should be spiritually mature, having the

character for leadership. Third, a leader should be confirmed by the recognition of the spiritual

community, according to 1 Timothy 3:7.

When selecting a candidate for leadership, the most vital quality is his or her character.

Potential leaders should possess maturity, humility, and integrity. Since a leader will need to bear

much responsibility, a potential leader needs be able to handle the additional responsibilities of

leading others. A potential leader should be honest and transparent, according to 1 Timothy 3:8.

A leader should be emotionally and spiritually mature, according to 1 Timothy 3:2-3. A leader

must be humble and receptive to other ideas and criticism. A leader must not think too highly of

him or herself, according to 1 Peter 5:2-3. A leader must be knowledgeable and spiritually gifted

for leadership, according to Romans 12:8.

1 J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer, [Updated ed. (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007), 17.2 Ibid.

While the leadership development process will be discussed further, a brief summary is

provided here as part of the philosophy for leadership development. A.B. Bruce outlines the

leadership development process Jesus used to develop the Apostles. First, they were students of

Jesus, listening and watching. Second, they were “fellow-laborers” doing ministry alongside the

Master. Third, they were sent out to minister and received feedback from Jesus. Last, as Jesus

ascended, they were empowered to go and make other leaders.3 So, the leadership development

process can be broken into four easy to remember steps: (1) Show them how to lead, (2) Let

them lead with you, (3) Mentor leaders as they, and (4) Let your leaders grow into developing

others leaders.

MINISTRY AREAS THE NEED FOR LEADERS

There are four basic ministry categories needing leadership development. First, the

Christian Education or spiritual formation ministry has the need for the most leaders. Second, the

Pastoral Ministry needs some leaders to sustain and support it. Third, the worship ministry needs

a few leaders to help lead different aspects of worship. Last, the missions / outreach ministry

needs leaders to help lead various ministries that are focused on evangelism.

The Christian Education ministry is primarily responsible for the discipleship and

spiritual formation of the church’s members. As such, there are small groups that need leaders

for different demographics. The church will need gender specific small group ministry leaders,

Men’s ministry as well as Women’s ministry. Other small groups such as married adults, singles,

college, young professionals will need leaders as well. In addition to the small groups, Sunday

school classes will require leaders as well. This will be a need for leaders of children, youth, and

3 A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, 2 ed. (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2000), Location 659.

adults. The size of the church and its demographics will determine the specific amount of leaders

and corresponding Christian Education ministries required.

The Pastoral Ministry is primarily responsible for ministering to the needs of its

members. Specifically a church will require a prayer ministry as well as some sort of counseling

ministry. The counseling may take the form of a Stephen’s ministry or trained Christian

counselors, depending on the size and need of the church. This ministry supplements the ministry

of Pastoral staff, so it is a good way to mentor or develop pastoral candidates for ministry.

The worship ministry is primarily responsible for leading service worship. This ministry

is composed of both artists as well as technical workers who ensure smooth audio and visual

operations. The worship ministry will typically manage the service team ministry as well. This

will require leaders for each Sunday service. The worship ministry also typically provides the

creative talent that helps the church communicate its message to the congregation as well as the

local community. The amount of leaders and volunteers will greatly depend on the size and

sophistication of the church.

The Missions and Outreach ministry is primarily responsible for evangelization and

community impact. This ministry can require substantial resources and coordination, so the

leadership need is great. There are not only outreach events to coordinate and execute, there are

short and long term mission efforts that require leadership and resources as well. Without good

leadership, the Missions and Outreach ministry would be hindered. It requires leaders who are

gifted not only in leadership, but cross cultural communications as well as compassion.

LEADER DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The leadership development process is an ongoing activity. It begins with prayer, coupled

with active search and recruitment. It then develops leaders through a training or mentorship

process. The training process has four steps in developing leaders who become leader developers

or leaders of leaders.

Pray

The prayer team and church leadership should be praying for God to send them leaders

and for wisdom in selecting and developing them. The leadership needs should be continually

evaluated and communicated to the prayer team. The prayer team should be praying for God to

send new leaders. It should also be praying for spiritual guidance and wisdom in the recruitment

process.

Search / Recruit

The search and recruitment effort should be shared between church leadership and the

specific ministries needing leadership. Part of the recruitment process is communicating the need

for leaders. This can be done by leaders recognizing potential leaders and asking them to

prayerfully consider serving in leadership. It can also be done by communicating the need to the

congregation. There should be a formal screening process regardless of the recruiting method.

The screening process should evaluate the character of the potential leader, using personal

references and a background check. Next the process should allow the Holy Spirit to confirm the

potential leaders through the community and prayer. The development process will also serve as

a refining process, weeding out those who do not have the gifting or character for leadership.

Develop

The leadership development/training process has four steps. First, training the potential

leaders. Second, a mentor paired leadership program to work alongside the potential leaders.

Third, a formal mentoring process where the leaders are closely supervised as they lead

independently. Last, a train the training process where leaders are developed into mature leaders

that help develop other potential leaders.

The training process should include formal leadership and biblical training. This process

ensures that all potential leaders have the same foundation for leadership. They are given the

leadership rules and are assigned to shadow or follow experienced leaders. The training should

include different scenarios for the potential leader to practice their leadership skills.

The mentor paired leadership process is a time when the potential leaders are given an

opportunity to put their training into action. They are given feedback immediately by their

mentors. At the end of this process, the mentor evaluates the potential leader for areas of

strengths and weaknesses which is the basis for deciding whether the potential leader can move

onto the next step in the leadership process.

The mentor leader process allows the leaders to lead autonomously, but with assigned

mentors. The mentor guides the leader and helps in his or her development. The mentoring

process can be ongoing to help support the leader and ensure accountability.

The train the trainer process is the final step in developing fully mature leaders. A good

leader learns to develop other leaders, which is known as the “law of reproduction,” according to

John Maxwell. According to Maxwell’s survey, eighty five percent of leaders say they were

influenced by other leaders. 4 Good leaders, according to Maxwell, know the “leader’s math”

which emphasizes multiplication rather than addition in developing leaders who they themselves

develop other leaders.5

The Bible is full of examples of leaders developing leaders. Moses developed Joshua into

a leader. Elijah developed Elisha into a leader. Jesus developed the apostles into leaders. Peter

4 John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You, rev. ed. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007), 133.5 Maxwell, 208.

and Paul developed leaders as well. As a matter of fact, Paul explicitly tells Timothy to train

other leaders just as Paul had trained him.6 So, this process follows the biblical model of leaders

developing other leaders to continue in support of ministry needs. The train the trainer process

should include formal advanced leadership training that equips the leaders to mentor other

potential leaders. It should also include mentoring the trainers, thereby ensuring support and

accountability as well.

MANAGING LEADERS

The pray, search and recruit, and develop leaders process helps maintain an ongoing flow

of leadership development. The needs of different ministries are communicated to the prayer

ministry. The prayer ministry prays for new leaders of different needs. The search and recruit

process continues to communicate leadership needs as well as identify good potential leaders in

specific ministries. The leadership development process is designed to develop leaders who

develop other leaders, thereby ensuring new leaders being developed.

In order to maintain healthy leadership, there should continual monitoring and

mentorship. The mentors should continually evaluate their leaders, watching for burnout or

spiritual issues. The mentors should continually pray and support their leaders, which helps to

maintain their spiritual health.

Accountability is crucial for leaders. So ministries should be audited periodically to help

ensure integrity and identify lack of resources. This auditing process should attempt to evaluate

the leader’s effectiveness as well as workload. The audits can help assure church leadership and

mentors of the integrity of the leadership, as well as identify potential gaps or problems. An

annual audit of different ministries will provide good metrics for the church to make informed

decisions as well as adequate funding for ministries.

6 2 Timothy 2:2.

In addition to the pray, search, and develop process, the church should consider paired

leadership when possible. Paired leadership, or co-leadership, helps balance the responsibility

loads of leaders. While God equips and empowers his leaders, there is always potential for

burnout. So, a paired leadership model can help alleviate some of the burdens of responsibilities

and prevent overworking the leadership.

In summary, leadership development is crucial for a healthy church community. While all

church members should be actively serving their church community, those who are appropriate

for leadership are few. It is vital for the church to establish a biblical criteria for selecting leaders

as well as rules to ensure consistency across ministries. Churches should not neglect a good

screening process nor a mentoring process of integrity. If the leadership development process is

followed, it will help ensure quality leadership throughout the church’s ministries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bruce, A. B. The Training of the Twelve. 2 ed. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2000.

Maxwell, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You. Rev. ed. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007.

Sanders, J. Oswald. Spiritual Leadership: Principles of Excellence for Every Believer. [Updated ed. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2007.