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.
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