I recently had lunch with my brother, a wonderful pastor and keen observer of the church. He asked me about the leadership development work I do across multiple church systems. I described the twin assumptions I critique in the following article and summarized them by saying that what these approaches to leadership betray is the fundamental Gnosticism so prevalent in discussions of missional leadership today. He understood what I meant. I said that most the leaders I meet with vision/mission and strategic plans to make great inroads in evangelism or church planting etc. are functional atheists....

The one question we hear more than any other these days is this: How do we form leaders for the new realities in which our churches find themselves? We observe many denominations that rush headlong into all kinds of ‘Leadership Development’ programs without thinking through some basic issues of how leadership is actually developed. Pastors and Denominational Executives go to a wide variety of leadership development programs, or denominations create their own Summer Institutes on Leadership.

I was recently contacted by someone creating a summer institute for a large church-based organization. He asked if I would participate. When I learned of the focus and the process of the institute, I declined. Why did I do this since I have been involved in developing leaders for over 30 years? The answer is simple! You do not develop leadership by learning ‘about’ leadership. You develop leadership by leading. This sounds like the proverbial ‘chicken and the egg’ dilemma. It’s the perplexing question: “Where do we start?” The answer to that question requires a real paradigm shift in our thinking about leadership.

Over these past 30 years I’ve seen and participated in the following five approaches to Leadership Development.

In parntership with   Presbyterian Global Fellowship, Mark Lau Branson, Alan Roxburgh and RMN Partners John McLaverty and Sara Jane R. Walker joined a group of Presbtyerians in Illinois for a Moving Back into the Neighborhood Workshop.

This was a wonderful time of teaching, discernment and equipping local congregations for missional engagement in our neighborhoods.

Watch this brief video that captures some of the elements of an MBiN Workshop and join us for upcoming workshops in your area.

• Atlanta - April 28-29
• San Bernadino, CA - May 14-15

Feel free to contact us for more information on these upcoming events or to arrange for an MBiN Workshop in your area.