We looking for leaders. Future leaders. And we are not alone. For years people across the globe have been saying that the world is facing a leadership crisis. Many are saying that we need more and better leaders to tackle the pressing issues of our times. This is particularly true with all the economic and political uncertainty in the world coupled with the increasing erosion of moral certitude. We are looking for leaders.
This is true also in the local church. We are looking for leaders. I like how John Maxwell defines leadership: “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” These are the kinds of people we need in the church in these days of uncertainty. People who know the message of the Bible and the contours of Christian ministry. They do not only know these things, but they live it. What they read in the Bible they put into practice in life and in ministry. And what they know they pass on to others -- not just knowledge, but also Christian character and ministry skills. These are the kinds of leaders we need. And we need all kinds of them. Among children and youth. With women. With men. In pastoral leadership. Both inside and outside of the church.
There are nine specific strategies that are critical to the accomplishment of the CRCA mission and vision. There is the strategy of coaching. There is also the strategy of training. We looked at the training strategies for evangelism and disciple-making. There is also a commitment to train strategically for leadership development using both internal and external resources.
In a previous article I outlined the six tasks each church needs to focus on if they are serious about growing gospel workers. These tasks are: praying, teaching, training, mentoring, modelling, and empowering. You can check out the full article here. A summary of these six tasks can downloaded here. The bottom line is that churches cannot pick and choose among these six tasks. They are all essential and they work as a package. They are not a quick fix. They need to be sustained for years. We need to do all six of them constantly so they become a central part of the culture of each church. Then, by God’s grace, we may see in the future larger numbers wanting to engage in gospel ministry, some of them vocationally, and some of them in ordained pastoral ministry.
While the need is urgent for those to be raised up for ordained pastoral ministry, the fact remains that we need to raise up many men and women for a range of gospel ministries in the local church and beyond, full-time, part-time, ordained, and non-ordained. Out of this much wider pool, some men will, the Lord willing, step forward for ordination training. So what strategies are we as a denomination going to employ to stimulate leadership development among all our churches?
Besides promoting the intentional and sustained approach of growing gospel workers outlined above, there are a number of proposals right now before Synod to assist churches/church leaders in accessing a range of internship and apprenticeship options in the local church to proactively encourage young people to develop ministry and leadership skills post-high school. Churches need to create opportunities for young people to serve in ministry. Parents should be encouraging their youth to take up these ministry opportunities. As young people are empowered to serve, church leaders need to provide the requisite training, equipping, mentoring, and modelling.
In addition to this range of internship and apprenticeship options, pastors and church leaders will be equipped to encourage and challenge UNI students to consider gospel ministry. This will require churches to identify all UNI students in their church and develop a master list for contact and encouragement. As pastors and church leaders meet with their UNI students they will have occasion to discuss their career choices, gospel passions, CU involvement, local church engagement, etc. The CRCA will assist pastors/church leaders with suggestions how to conduct these meetings.
There are a number of strategic conferences and events in Australia to which our young people and/or UNI students should be invited to attend, such as: MTS Challenge conferences (or equivalent in each State), Engage (in Victoria), Next Gen (in NSW), Vision 100 (TAS), Reach Australia, etc. The TRAIN Workgroup is committed to ensuring that there is at least one annual focused event in each Classis/State for raising up gospel workers, pitched at UNI students and other young people aged 18-30.
In addition to these conferences and events, a major external resource we have for developing leaders are the resources developed by the RTC to help raise up people equipped for ministry. For example, there are the growing number of The Way Ministry Modules. Besides the foundational discipleship module, they have modules on eldership, leadership, and mentoring (with more to follow). The RTC also have a number of key events, such as: Think Ministry, RTC Elder’s Retreat, and the Preaching Conference. Pastors and church leaders would do well to take along potential leaders to these events. And there are a number of RTC flexible mode units for ongoing study. The benefit of these units is that people can gain some formal training and test the water for further study with under-graduate or graduate Diploma courses.
The CRCA is committed to see training happen throughout Australia in all our churches. Training for evangelism. Training for disciple-making. And because we are looking for those who know the way, go the way, and show the way, there is also training for leadership development.