COLA

Cola is king in Australia.   Four of the five most popular soft drinks in Australia are cola flavoured.  Coca-Cola is by far the favourite cola drink.   Over 5 million Aussies drink Coca-Cola regularly.   Altogether, world wide, 1.7 billion servings of Coke products are consumed every day.   But did you know that COLA is also critical to growing a healthy church in the 21st century?

Now stay with me.   I am not referring to the sugar laddened drink of choice for many Australians.   I am referring to the claim made by Dr. Darrel L. Johnson in his book Twenty-First Century Church Leadership  (Xulon Press: 2016).   In this book he suggests that churches and pastors should form a Church Organizational Leadership Academy (COLA).   He envisions groups of churches coming together and ensuring that leaders are well trained.   He writes:  "This academy would be an official or formal place where church leaders (pastors, department heads, ministry leaders, and pastoral staff members) and potential church leaders can attend to learn current management and organizational practices, theories, and techniques of effective leadership." (p. 113)

While the idea of COLA might be novel, the idea of ensuring leaders are well trained is not!   As CRCA churches we have been saying this for years.  One of our key tasks is "to equip our church members to be disciples of Christ and multiply the number of well-trained leaders (ordained, non-ordained, full time, part time, voluntary) who are actively involved in God's mission." (TRAIN)  The question remains, however, is this happening in our churches?   Are our leaders being well-trained?   In my denominational role I have observed that very little strategic training is happening among our leaders.   And that is why I think the idea of COLA is a good idea.   Now it might be difficult for each church or pastor to provide sufficient leadership training for all their leaders.   This was why some years ago the TRAIN Workgroup trialed leadership training events in the various regions in Australia called Advance Together.   But the uptake was limited and this was only an annual event.   For our leaders to be well-trained, such training needs to be intentional and regular.  And this is where the Leadership Module developed by The Way - RTC can be of immense value for our churches and pastors.   Through this module your church can ensure that the leaders in your church are well-trained.   Check out this Leadership Module if you haven't done so already.   You might also want to check out the Discipleship Matrix which also provides a raft of ideas to ensure that leaders are well-trained. 

The point I am trying to make is this:  every church needs to have a leadership training pathway for all their leaders.   Noone should be put in a place of leadership unless that have received some initial training and are committed to ongoing training.   This includes EVERY leader.   Not just elders and deacons, but every person who serves in the church in whatever capacity.   Through this leadership training pathway a church will be able to communicate their shared vision for the church.  Every person who serves in a ministry capacity in the church needs to know how what they do contributes to the realization of the church's shared vision.  Churches need to ensure that leaders are well-trained both organizationally and spiritually.   Yes, they need to know how to study the Bible, how to pray, how to lead people to Christ, and be disciplined in the Christian life, bearing spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22ff; John 15:8), bringing glory to God.   But they also need to know how to develop ministries, lead meetings, maintain confidentiality and accountability, and work together in Christian unity (Ephesians 4:3).   Being equipped with leadership skills pastors and leaders will be better able to overcome members' reluctance to embrace change and promote ministry effectiveness.  Well-trained leaders will know how to handle conflict well and how to foster team-work.  Up and coming leaders will be mentored in their various roles.   Unless there is adequate training for EVERY leader, your church health will diminish, and local church ministries will remain inefficient and ineffective. 

COLA needs to be as important to our churches as Cola is to Australians.    Oh, you might not call it COLA, but you will insist that there is a leadership training pathway in your church which is mandatory for EVERY leader.   If this is not happening already in your church, can I suggest that you make this a top priority into the future.   And if you are serving in your church and you receive little or no training, you need to have a conversation with your pastor(s) or elders.  You have no excuse for not ensuring that every leader is well-trained.   Now that you know what to do -- simply do it!   The health of your church depends on it!   Aussies might drink Cola; you think COLA!