The CRCA encourages an intentional and sustained approach to raise up new leaders, as mapped out in a six-fold strategy (see below) of praying-teaching-training-mentoring-modelling-empowering. 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.
1. PRAYING
Pray for specific people, for specific needs in the harvest field, and for God to lay this as a burden on many hearts. (Matthew 9:38) MORE INFO
2. TEACHING
Cast a vision of God’s global gospel plan to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28), to bring blessing to the ends of the earth (Gen 12), to gather a people from every tribe, nation, language and tongue (Rev 7:9-10), and why it matters so much. (Matthew 28:19-20) MORE INFO
3. TRAINING
Create a culture of training in the church, where people are trained for every task they are called to do: Bible reading, leading in prayer, welcoming, leading a small group, sharing their faith, leading worship, etc. (Ephesians 4:12) MORE INFO
4. MENTORING
Mentor those with promise for future gospel ministry, where pastors and other mature disciples intentionally invest in one or two people each year, to help them grow in Christ, learn biblically and theologically, and be better equipped to serve. (2 Timothy 2:2) MORE INFO
5. MODELLING
Model love, commitment, joy, passion, evangelism, and enthusiasm; people will aspire to ministry when they see positive models of ministry in pastors/church leaders, even if such models involve enormous sacrifice. (Philippians 4:9) MORE INFO
6. EMPOWERING
Empower those you are raising up as leaders. The cycle of raising gospel workers is not complete until people actually do the work for which they have been prayed for, taught, trained, mentored, and seen modelled in others. This will include leading in their ministry roles, learning through correction, and being apprenticed by those in the church. (2 Timothy 4:5) MORE INFO
