Building leaders September 25, 2007
Posted by Elizabeth in Iowa , trackbackOne of the things we’ll be doing with this blog is discussing key concepts, trends and fads that are important in evangelical Christianity today. Today’s topic, and one we’ll be returning to frequently: leadership.
Evangelical Christians value few things more than grassroots leadership. Leadership development opportunities within churches and Christian communities that I’ve been involved in have always been open to everyone (literally—I once saw a homeless man who attended a small church encouraged to lead a Bible study of middle- and upper-class churchgoers because of his extensive knowledge of the Bible). And usually these opportunities are designed to draw on and build upon the different strengths of each person.
As a college student, for example, I went to Mexico as a missionary in the colonias along the border, building houses and relationships. To prepare me to be a student leader, before I even left my dorm room, I was provided with a huge list of tasks that I needed to do to mentally prepare myself. And then, before I was allowed to go out into the field, I had to take a lengthy battery of tests to identify strengths and weaknesses. The findings from those tests were used to place us in appropriate leadership positions. Once we began our work in the communities, we had a huge amount of intensive on the job training, with constant re-evaluation of how we were doing with our day-to-day tasks.
That’s just one example. To take a deeper look at evangelical Christian leadership development concepts, check out this article which landed in my inbox today. The deliberate, methodical and deeply intellectual approach that the article suggests is typical of many Christian efforts at leadership development and organization building.
ALSO, today Zack and I signed up for two Christian leadership-training conferences: the Mission American Coalition’s and the Christian Community Development Association’s annual conferences. These are just a few out of countless leadership-development conferences—for pastors, lay-leaders, women, men, college students, teens and others—that take place each year designed to support and develop Christian leaders.
Comments»
I am a prime example of what Elizabeth is writing about — this new trend of churches raising up leaders from all walks of life. As a teenage growing up in a small independent Christian church environment in the 1980s, my parents and my culture empowered me (and other young women) to be a leader in school, neighborhood and other parts of life. My church, on the other hand, refused to allow women to speak publicly, lead in ministry (kids was fine — I assume because men didn’t want to do that), or serve as formal leaders in our church. As a young woman, this dichotomy was difficult to live with and DEFINITELY made it difficult for me to find my “place” in Christian community — so I walked away from church for a while, despite my total awareness (and appreciation!) of God in my life.
I am now part of a “church plant” in a major metropolitan area where I am regularly invited to speak and teach in our assemblies, I have led mission teams, and I am a recognized leader in our church. Finally, it seems that my life and my church are compatible! I receive support, care and training. I am empowered to be who I am (who I believe God made me to be) and to explore new ways of expressing my faith.
It is good to see local churches intentionally nurturing grassroots leadership in their communities. It is a relief and a sign that we are working to reflect the of the New Testament church, which was a powerful force for good in its time. A very cool book that talks about the vision and community-based action of the early church is Desire of the Everlasting Hills by Thomas Cahill.