The Importance of Leadership Development (Pt 1)

Since the inception of the church, it has faced the challenge of developing leaders who could guide and direct the church in spiritual transformation and maturity. In the initial establishment of the church it was the practice to appoint individuals to serve as shepherds and leaders for the church. In Acts 14:23 we find that as Paul and Barnabas established churches they “appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.” The practice continued as the church grew and progressed into the second century of its existence. Clemet of Rome, writing towards the end of the first century, speaks of the practice of establishing elders and deacons to lead newly founded churches (S. Clemet of Rome, To the Corinthians, 42, The Apostolic Fathers, Clement Vol. 2 p. 293). However, they were not left without instruction. When Paul writes to Timothy and Titus he provides training and instruction for them regarding their responsibility as leaders within the church. Those who are appointed to be elders are not to rule arbitrarily but to follow carefully prescribed instructions that define their roles and responsibilities.

The need for leadership development continues today. This is especially critical in the small church where the pastor and the board often struggle to lead the people in the direction God intends. The task is further compounded by the plethora of literature that often gives confusing and even contradictory advice on what the board and leadership is to do. Through the fog of confusion we must delve deeply into scripture to develop a theology of biblical leadership that is not only biblically driven and theologically sound, but one that is relevant to the present struggles facing the church today.

The Crisis of Leadership

The small church continually faces the challenge of equipping its leaders to be effective. While the problem is not entirely unique to the small church, it is especially felt by the small church.

1. The church faces a crisis of leadership because of the vacuum of a biblical theology of leadership. Tragically, the church has neglected the formation of a comprehensive biblical theology of leadership. In the course of history it has carefully defined its theology of God, salvation, etc., but it has yet to develop a comprehensive theology of what it means to be a leader. When we study the theology of the church the focus is upon the spiritual and organizational nature of the church, but not upon the nature of its leadership. When attention is given, it is only in the area of the plurality and biblical terms used, but little is said regarding the nature and purpose of leadership. As a result a vacuum exists in our understanding. To fill this vacuum, the church has adopted secular model so that often there is little distinction between books written in the secular sector on leadership and those written within the circle of evangelicalism. While there is much that can and should be learned about leadership from those outside the church, it has still left the church feeling that something is tragically missing. The secular model has done much to help us understand leadership from an organizational perspective, but done nothing to help us understand the nature of biblically governed spiritual leadership.

2. The church faces a crisis of leadership because of the lack of training. More often than not, when someone is asked to serve on the board, there is no training provided in terms of their role and responsibility as a board member. As a result, they approach their position within the church like they would approach their role on the school board, community organization or how they would run their farm. The focus is upon attendance, budgets and programs rather than spiritual care, guidance and transformation. When the pastor brings up spiritual issues such as discipline, discipleship and prayer, the board responds, “That is your job, that is why you went to school.” Little do they realize that it is at the center of their job description. If we are to have a board that leads spiritually we must train them to be spiritual leaders.

3. The church faces a crisis of leadership because it has a limited pool of qualified leaders to fill leadership needs. The small church often does not have the luxury of having a surplus of individuals who are qualified and ready to step into leadership positions. While they may be qualified in terms of spiritual maturity, they lack the experience and knowledge to effectively lead the church. Pastors often respond to this shortage in one of two ways. Either they place people in leadership who are not qualified and then complain about the board’s lack of spiritual depth, or they leave positions unfilled which often results in the pastor functioning as a dictator rather than a team leader. However, there is a third alternative: train individuals to be more effective as spiritual leaderships. This training is often done best “on the job.” In other words, rather than restricting their involvement, we get people involved but in the process start to train them how to serve effectively. Barnabas provides an excellent example. When looking for someone to help him in his missionary journey he chose Paul, one who was ready but not equipped (Acts 11:15-16). This on the job training soon enabled Paul to become a prominent leader.

4. The church faces a crisis of leadership when it is organizationally effective but spiritually weak. The goal of the church is to transform people into the likeness of Christ (Col 1:28-29). Tragically, however, the church often has an efficiently running organization but has had little impact on the lives of people. Too often the church becomes merely a mirror to the outside world in which we live. It manifests superficial change but not the inward substantive change that God desires to accomplish. The church needs to train its leaders so that they are more concerned about the spiritual health of the church (character transformation) than they are about the organizational health (programs and numbers).

5. The church can face a crisis of leadership when there is a turnover of pastoral leadership. Small churches are plagued with short-term pastors. As a result often there is a lack of continuity of leadership that is necessary for the spiritual growth of the congregation. To offset this, the board plays a greater role, not only in the organizational health of the church, but also the spiritual healthy. If the church is to maintain its health even with the turnover of leadership, then its board must be both stable and involved in the spiritual care of the congregation. When pastors leave, it is the board that must provide stability for the congregation. If the board has been active in the leadership, when there is a change of leadership the church does not suffer for the “sheep still have shepherds who are caring for them.” The problem of the turnover of pastoral leadership can be further compounded by the burnout pastors experience because they lack support from the board. James E. Means rightly points out, “The reasons for brief pastoral ministries and burnout differ widely, and are sometimes complicated, but the fact that the typical church loses its pastors with remarkable regularity is compelling evidence that better leadership is needed throughout the church.” (Means, Leadership in Christian Ministry, 21). God never intended the leadership of the church to be placed on the shoulders of one individual. To do so will only result in both dysfunctional leadership and dysfunctional churches.
6. A crisis of leadership arises when powerbrokers within the church exert control but lack a genuine understanding of the purpose of the church. Many churches, especially the small church located in a rural community, will have individuals who exert significant influence over the rest of the congregation. When these individuals have a biblical understanding of the church and leadership, they can become a key asset for the pastor in leading the church towards the accomplishment of its biblical mission. However, at times they lack such an understanding and as a result they conflict with what the pastor is seeking to accomplish. Rather than become frustrated with their lack of support, the pastor needs to begin to train them so they become a valuable team member for the pastor. More often than not, when the power brokers in a church fail to support the programs of the pastor, it is not because they are carnal, but because they fail to understand what the pastor is seeking to accomplish.

7. The small church can face a crisis of leadership when the church no longer allows new people to be in leadership positions. One of the needs for leadership training is to prevent ingrown leadership. When new people are not being trained for leadership, the leadership can become stagnant where new people either are not available to serve or new people are not allowed to serve. The result is that the church lacks new ideas that can keep the church moving forward in ministry. The world in which we live is constantly changing and the needs and opportunities for ministry are constantly changing. This requires the church to adapt its ministry in order to reach a new generation. If the church does not adapt and change it will slowly die as it falls into the abyss of irrelevancy. Bringing new people into leadership positions brings fresh ideas and perspectives that enable it to remain relevant. One of the purposes for training new leaders is to provide qualified trained individuals who understand both the context of the past, the foundation of Biblical truth and the issues of the present.

8. The church often faces a struggle when there is a lack of ministry participation. Perhaps at no point in the history of the church has the church been so active and yet accomplishing so little in terms of genuine transformation. The problem is that we have reduced the church to a spectator sport, where the crowds come to cheer on (or criticize) the few who are actually doing the ministry. The result is people who become church hoppers. Driven by a consumer religious, they seek churches that only minister to their needs rather than become active participants in the church who exercise their spiritual gifts for the growth of the whole body. If the church is to be transformed into the vibrant and dynamic body of Christ that God intended where every member does its part (see 1 Corinthians 13), then it must begin with the leadership.

9. A lack of leadership results in a lack of effective ministry. James Means sadly points out the truth that should trouble leaders, “Numerous churches in every major city carry on feverish activity of all kinds, but have little that qualifies as authentic ministry. Many churches have no meaningful evangelistic outreach in their communities; outreach is relegated to a committee whose primary concern is sending dollars overseas. They lack true discipleship ministry. Genuine ministry involves comforting the bereaved, caring for the sick, disciplining the wayward, feeding the hungry, erecting support structures for the poor, preaching the Word, encouraging the aged, healing the wounded, strengthening the weak, sheltering the homeless, equipping the saints, developing spiritual gifts, and sending missionaries. Many churches conduct services and run programs that never touch these needs.” (Means, Leadership in Christian Ministry, 22). Often the reason is that the leadership has never been taught what is the purpose of the church. As a result they focus on perpetuating the past and present rather than dynamic ministry that ministers to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the people. They focus upon running programs rather than spiritually transforming people.

10. A crisis of leadership develops when conflicts are not resolved properly. Conflict is an inevitable part of ministry. The critical question is not how to avoid conflict, but how to handle it when it arises. If the board fails to function properly and provide necessary leadership, conflicts will devastate the church. A trained board not only will help prevent conflicts from arising, but when they do they will deal within appropriately so that it does not damage the overall health of the congregation.

11. The church faces a crisis of leadership when there is a lack of teamwork between the board and the pastor. Tragically the board and the pastor often develop an adversarial relationship. Forman, Jones and Miller write, “Some organizations that work with churches have identified tensions between the senior pastor and the governing board as one of the greatest hindrances to church unity and effectiveness (Forman, Jones, Miller, The Leadership Baton, p. 24). The pastor resents the intrusion of the board and the board suspects that he pastor is trying to take control of the church. The result is that there is a breakdown in the teamwork that should exist. The pastor fears training the board, thinking that if the board is trained they will become even more controlling. The board mistrusts the pastor because they often do not fully understand the purpose and ministry of the church and why the pastor is doing what he does. The more the board is trained, the more they will be able to work with the pastor to accomplish the purpose of the church.

12. Leadership training is needed because of the danger of lone-ranger ministry. The church was never meant to be the work of one individual. Yet often pastors become lone-rangers who are caring for the spiritual needs of people with little and no help for the board. While the board takes care of the organizational issues, it does little for the spiritual care of the congregation. The result is that the pastor becomes burned out and discouraged and the congregation becomes passive. Both the ministry and leadership of the church was never meant to be done by one person. God entrusted the ministry of the church and the spiritual care of the congregation to the whole board. When the whole board is working to minister to the needs of people, then the pastor is no longer a lone ranger but a member of a ministry team that strengths the church and transforms people.

If the small church is to remain effective in the future it needs to begin preparing its leaders in the present. While this remains no small task, it is vital for the ongoing health of the congregation.