Ministry leadership presents unanticipated challenges to those seeking to serve the church. Whilst formal theological programmes provide essential education in Christianity and ministry, they do not equip new ministry leaders to navigate the complex adaptive system that is ‘The church’. Upon completion of a formal educational programme, new church leaders are expected to be a
This article is part of a Festschrift to our honoured friend and mentor, Prof. George Lotter. Two of the authors of this article enjoyed mentorship and friendship from Prof. Lotter and so we are deeply grateful to him for the time and work he selflessly invested in our lives. It is under this theme of selfless investment in education and mentorship to develop leaders that we present this article. Prof. Lotter was himself a pastor in his early days and speaks often of the many leadership lessons he learned in situ as well as the many leadership challenges he felt he was not equipped to face.
Perhaps it was this seeming deficit in leadership preparation and the challenges faced in a leadership position that moved Prof. Lotter to focus in more recent times upon mentorship and leadership development through e-mentorship (Koch & Van Brakel
Before 47 A.D. there were no churches in these provinces; in 57 A.D. St. Paul could speak as if his work there was done, and could plan extensive tours into the far West without anxiety lest the Churches which he had founded might perish in his absence for want of guidance and support. (p. 3)
It is important to understand the historical context of Allen's, words at the height of British missionary triumphalism and the belief within mission circles that the world needed not only the gospel that the West was sharing, but also the culture of the West. Thus missionaries felt that whilst peoples in foreign lands were accepting the gospel, acculturating them was a far bigger and long-term undertaking. To quote Allen (
We have long accustomed ourselves to accept it as an axiom of missionary work that converts in a new country must be submitted to a very long probation and training, extending over generations, before they can be expected to stand alone. (p. 4)
We cite Allen here because we believe it is possible that the church in the West may have inadvertently reverted once again to an acculturation model of church life and gospel preaching in which the leadership of the church may lose sight of the organismic nature of the body of Christ and the power with which Christians are imbued to accomplish the mission of God, the
This article seeks to unpack the question of church leadership by presenting a model in which the church leadership is seen as the ‘nabling function’ (Booysen
In the face of this intellectual pluralism, contemporary practical theology researchers have employed a paradigm that emerged from the advent of modernity – a paradigm that Osmer ( Descriptive-empirical: What is happening? Gathering information to better understand particular episodes, situations or contexts. This is discussed in the section: Are Leadership Development and Mentoring Paradigms Needed to Support Missional Leadership as Enabling Function? Interpretive: Why is this happening? Entering into dialogue with the social sciences to interpret and explain why certain actions and patterns are taking place. This is reviewed in the section: Normative: What Should Be Happening? Raising normative questions from the perspectives of theology, ethics, and other fields. Pragmatic: How do we get there? Forming an action plan and undertaking specific responses that seek to shape the episode, situation, or context in desirable directions. (p. 3)
As Osmer (
Shepherds of Christ's flock are to lead his flock (Prime & Begg
The preeminent question of whether leaders are born or made affects the notion of leadership within the local church too. If leaders are not in fact born, but made, then the question is what processes, context, and practices facilitate this type of leadership development in the 21st century church in such a way to empower leaders to view themselves as a piece of the whole and yet also dependent upon the whole. Sanders (
The new context of the 21st century affects leadership development because an awareness of the desired outcome of the process is essential in order to effectively design the leadership development process to accomplish missional leadership as an enabling function within the local church. Whilst it appears that business organisations are committed to expending resources on leadership and talent development within their ranks, can the same be said for theological training institutions and churches? This question is germane at this juncture in history due to two key factors, namely that the church in the West is in decline (Elkington
The traditional modality of preparing people for vocational ministry seems to have fallen afoul of the 21st century's rapid pace of change. Osei-Mensah (
Part of this transition is that institutions are wrestling with the ongoing debate concerning the balance between orthodoxy and orthopraxy in their curricula. It would seem that, more than ever before, not only should people in vocational ministry be theologically adept, they also need to have incredible leadership capacity to navigate the complexity of a globalised world, a context in which leaders require both a skillset and mindset to successfully navigate what has come to be known as
In recent social history, the so-called ‘high powered’ executive was the model most sought after in leadership (Roodt
In specifically Christian contexts, as well as other contexts, this distributed leadership concept is sometimes called ‘servant leadership’ (Williams
‘True leadership requires development’ (Williams & McKibben Apprenticing was the original Christian model of leadership development. Christ instructed and developed his disciples according to that model. Paul worked with Timothy and Titus the same way. Apprenticing is a time-consuming and sometimes painful process, but usually a rewarding one for teacher and student alike. (p. 186)
In the new realm of
It is difficult to find any strong body of literature outlining a cogent leadership development practice for pastors, either precareer training or mid-career development. One study (McKenna, Yost & Boyd
It seems that there is a growing awareness that whilst Ministry Training Institutes (MTIs) are training people for orthodox ministry, they are not equipping people for orthopraxy leadership in a highly complex environment. Is it possible that MTIs believe that if they train for orthodoxy, somehow orthopraxy naturally follows? Or is it simply that the MTIs have not had the capacity to develop a lively and robust leadership development track as a viable part of the training regimen?
It is hard to grasp why it is that extensive leadership development is not occurring within MTI's and in situ in ministry contexts in an ongoing way. One of the strongest philosophical statements against formal leadership curricula within MTIs is voiced by Huizing (
An example of this methodology is the work,
Most of all, MTIs and local churches need to help emerging leadership understand the range of leadership theory that exists. They also need to equip them with a clear understanding of what it means to be a missional leader, to serve as an enabling function for the spontaneous expansion of the church by freeing the system to accomplish the mission of God within the bounds of orthodoxy and orthopraxy. They also need to obtain a strong and grounded connection to the delimiters of administration, bureaucracy and necessary policy.
It would appear, then, that the major reason this is happening, i.e. a lack of substantial leadership development at MTIs, is due to a philosophical belief that discipleship may be adequate to prepare leaders and that the church must use only Christian theories of leadership to develop Christian leaders.
A primary focus of this article concerns the processes used when actually going about the task of raising leaders and equipping them for leadership. But, equally vexing is the societal assumption that persons are qualified to lead a ministry simply because they have completed a particular course of study. Notwithstanding certain biblical assertions of whom is qualified to be considered a leader, further study must be done as to what steps must be taken before this is recognised. If it can be demonstrated that completion of a course-based program of study is insufficient or the courses themselves may be the wrong kind for the desired objective, then we are presented with a harmful reality. We must concede then that it is possible that several church and non-profit leaders deemed to be qualified for the task may not be. If weak leadership is offered and substandard approaches adopted, the follow-on impact can lead to disaster and disillusionment. That would be a situation we can ill afford. And yet, that is the situation we seem to now face with three pastors a day leaving the ministry in North America (Elkington
Mentoring has often been seen (Bérard
The other question that needs to be interjected here is what worldview these veteran mentors do bring to the table? If they imbibe a Christendom acculturation model, then it is clear that this is the philosophy with which they will mentor their protégés. Where do we find missional, veteran, leaders who are willing to mentor emerging leadership? Added to this barrage of questions is yet another question of great importance: ‘What exactly is a mentor and what is the person supposed to do?’ How and why is this process important in theological education and leadership development? To qualify the last question, especially as it relates to the church on mission with God, the church as a complex adaptive system imbued with power by the Holy Spirit and able to accomplish the mission for which it is designed when released to do so.
Biehl (
If leadership were seen as missional and thus as an enabling function:
Would the calendar seem overloaded if every part of the local church, the system, was doing its work as designed?
Would mentorship of the protégé be that taxing if the focus of mentorship was to prepare that individual for the crucible moments of leadership with a humble realisation that their role as part of the leadership team and part of the whole system is to serve as the enabling function between complex adaptive system and administrative or policy processes?
Would mentorship of an emerging leader be that difficult if the system was designed to see equipping for ministry (Eph 4) as the role of missional leadership, as the essence of an enabling function, as the
Whilst methods of theological education continue to morph to make it more accessible to students (Burton
Fortunately, there is theoretical support for alternative methods of providing mentoring experiences that can be quite fruitful (Higgins, Chandler & Kram
Not only can mentoring be offered through emerging technology by mentors and their protégés, it can also be utilised in a much broader form – through the development of mentoring networks (Higgins
Why is mentoring in theological training so essential? As with other studies in the Humanities, students deal with highly theoretical ideas in the classroom (hermeneutics and source criticism, for example) but are forced to deal with highly practical realities in the real world (helping a new Christian learn how to study the Bible). West, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, speaks to this very issue when he states ‘we believe that facilitating on-going contact between students and local communities so that they can work with ordinary Bible readers is a key component of our Biblical Studies pedagogy’ (West
A diagram of the model is presented as
A model of church leadership as an enabling function.
The question of leadership within the local church (Herrington, Bonem & Furr
When leadership functions, as pictured in
Perhaps one of the most helpful treatises on the nature of leadership required for this type of systems sensitive enabling leadership is MacIlvaine’s (
On the contrary, the most important contributions in the literature suggested that missional change is quirky, non-linear, and generally precipitated by a crisis. Whilst the ‘crisis-might-lead-to-missional-change’ theme usually shows up in missional texts, few authors seem to connect the dots that crisis is most likely the key that God uses to spark missional change.
Frost (2007:217–241) has developed an extremely helpful overview of the crisis catalyst in missional momentum, which he terms ‘liminality’. It seems (MacIlvaine
The transition from the Christendom model to the missional model will require a crucible event. MacIlvaine (
The shift from the Christendom model of pastoral leadership to the post-Christendom model of missional leadership is so radical, that for those ensnared in the former (Christendom) it will often take nothing short of some form of crisis (Kotter
Operating models of leadership.
Pastoral | Missional |
---|---|
Expectation that an ordained pastor must be present at every meeting and event or else it is not validated or important. | Ministry staff operate as coaches and mentors within a system that is not dependent on them to validate the importance and function of every group by being present. |
Ordained ministry staff functions to give attention to and take care of people in the church by being present for people as they are needed (if care and attention are given by people other than ordained clergy, it may be more appropriate and effective but is deemed ‘second class’). | Ordained clergy equip and release the multiple ministries of the people of God throughout the church. |
Time, energy, and focus shaped by people's ‘need’ and ‘pain’ agendas. | |
Pastor provides solutions. | Pastor asks questions that cultivate an environment that engages the imagination, creativity, and gifts of God's people in order to discern solutions. |
Preaching and teaching offer answers and tell people what is right and wrong. |
Preaching and teaching invite the people of God to engage the Scriptures as a living word that confronts them with questions and draws them into a distinctive world. |
‘Professional’ Christians. | ‘Pastoring’ must be part of the mix, but not the sum total. |
Celebrity (must be a ‘home run hitter’). | |
‘Peacemaker’ | Make tension OK. |
Conflict suppressor or ‘fixer’. | Conflict facilitator. |
Keep playing the whole game as though we are still the major league team and the major league players. Continue the mythology ‘This staff is the New York Yankees of the Church World’. | Indwell the local and contextual; cultivate the capacity for the congregation to ask imaginative questions about its present and its next stages. |
‘Recovery’ expert (‘make it like it used to be’). | Cultivator of imagination and creativity. |
Function as the manager, maintainer, or resource agent of a series of centralised ministries focused in and around the building that everyone must support. Always be seen as the champion and primary support agent for everyone's specific ministry. | Create an environment that releases and nourishes the missional imagination of all people through diverse ministries and missional teams that affect their various communities, the city, the nation, and the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. |
The leadership that embarks on accomplishing ‘mission with’ by enabling missional community, will apply all of the characteristics of the right hand side of
Once the crucible moment in leadership is encountered and leaders begin to view themselves as part of the whole and intrinsically dependent upon the whole, the local church, these ‘missional leaders’ who understand that the missional community is a complex adaptive system, will naturally (Lichtenstein
In the following section
The reader will note some of the key aspects of the model presented in
The leadership serves as enabling function by upholding the administrative, bureaucratic, and policy dimensions of church life. These dimensions ensure a healthy structure as well as ethical and legal compliance. This model also gives freedom to the members of the body to accomplish the mission of God and the ministry of the local church according to their giftedness, talents, and culture.
This model is bounded by orthodoxy (sound doctrine) and orthopraxy (sound function). This means that within the core tenets of the faith and within acceptable and agreed upon church practice, there is a great deal of freedom for members of the church to be a church accomplishing the mission of God as a community of God.
The leadership of the local church supports the ministry of the local church by serving to strengthen and support the health of each believer who comprises part of the complex adaptive system that forms that particular local church.
In this model, the local church is seen as a complex adaptive system. ‘A system is always taken to refer to a set of elements joined together to make a complex whole’ (Chapman Natural systems. Studied by biologists and ecologists, amongst others. Examples include the human body, frogs, forests and catchment areas. Engineered or design systems. These are artifacts that are planned to exhibit some desirable emergent properties under a range of environmental conditions. Some examples of engineered or design systems include a motor vehicle, a computer and nuclear power stations. Purposeful or human activity systems. All institutions and organizations fall into this area. Some examples of purposeful or human activity systems include churches, schools, prisons, and hospitals. (p. 29)
In the model presented above, the local church constitutes a complex adaptive system. When thinking of the local church, it is helpful to note that Bellinger (
This systemic, mutual interaction of the many different parts within the local church for the maintenance and strength of the system as well as the accomplishment of the mission for which the local church was designed, seems to be the point of many New Testament passages concerning the local church; passages such as Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 2:19–22; 4:1–16, Philippians 1:27–30, Colossians 1:18. When the system is healthy and functioning well in maintaining itself, the
We propose that Paul's letters to the churches at Ephesus and Corinth (Eph 4 and 1 Cor 12) can provide a window into the kind of leadership needed to serve the church. It is critical to note that Paul writes to the whole church in each letter, not a ‘leader’ or even group of leaders. He addresses issues that we typically would consider ‘leadership issues’ including communication, conflict, roles and functions. As a living breathing organism, the Early Church was emerging in homes and diverse communities, adapting to an environment marked by constant challenge, change and uncertainty.
One of Paul's primary concerns is the unity of the church. In Ephesians 4:1–2 he describes a ‘worthy life’ as one that is ‘eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit’. He exhorts them to ‘make every effort to maintain this unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’ (Eph 4:3). Continuing the theme of unity he writes in 4:4–6, ‘There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God.’ Paul provides instruction on how to stay together, instructing these local groups to live in unity within a context of diversity, in terms of gifts and roles. Paul insists on unity even though the old lines were blurring between Jews and Greeks, slave and free. He also affirms that every single member has been graced with gifts from the Spirit. The gifts are for the common good of the whole, not for self-promotion or leverage within the church. There is not a hierarchy of gifts, nor does there appear to be a hierarchy of leaders within the leadership process. Using the metaphor of the body, Paul instructs them to function interdependently, or towards the ultimate purpose (πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν) (Walvoord & Zuck
The approach that Paul presents differs from traditional leadership approaches, where exerting personal charisma or influence over the group is the primary approach to accomplish the leader's goal (Conger
The leadership Paul desires in the church has parallels in current leadership theory including servant leadership (Greenleaf
The ideas of Mary Parker Follett, dub the ‘prophet of management’ by Peter Drucker (
Follett (
Follett (
The leadership function located the ‘unifying thread’ within the competing ideas and demands. Leadership created a shared control and generated power for the entire organisation. Follett (
The final parallel between the kind of leadership that Paul calls for and the kind of leadership Follett wrote about is captured in Follett's unique construct of the invisible leader (Metcalf & Urwick
It is the Spirit that ultimately gifts, empowers and holds the fledgling groups of believers together. All of the believers are in a partnership of following Christ, the invisible leader. To tie back to complex adaptive systems, the invisible leader is very similar to the construct of the strange attractor of meaning (Burns
In an attempt to answer Osei-Mensah's original question (How do we develop orthopraxy leaders?), the new kind of leadership training must be one that de-emphasises professionalism and emphasises missionary. That is to say, leaders must lead with the
There are a number of words used to describe the concept of leadership in the Old Testament (OT). However, it is important to note that many of these words describe the literal action of leading and do not give insight into the process and development thereof. For example the word (yad) ??ד is the primary root word from which the other terms are derived. In addition to being translated as
There are also several nuanced words that are used to describe an action of some kind (Thomas
נָחָה is used the most in the book of Psalms, 21 times in all. Most of these references speak of God's leadership to humankind – especially in times of need. They speak of leadership as being essentially destination oriented. A follower is led from where they are to where they need to be. In the Psalms, this includes being led to: still waters (23:2), paths of righteousness (23:3), truth (25:5), a level path (27:11), the Rock (61:2), the way everlasting (139:10). It is important to note that the Psalms are poetic literature and thus the meaning is often couched within metaphors. However, it is clear that the follower is seeking direction from the leader. The leader is one who helps them see perspective (139:10), find a better way (43:3; 60:9) and ultimately assists them in their life purpose (23:2–3). As Williams and McKibben suggest (1994:247), the shepherd does not drive the sheep but leads them. The implication is that the process is directed at the wellbeing of the ‘sheep’ and not the shepherd. It is others-centred. Whilst this picture does not provide us with a complete analysis of the biblical imagery of leadership (or even the OT) it does provide a useful analogy for the leadership approach advocated for by the authors.
As with the OT, the New Testament also has a number of words that are used to describe the process and action of leadership. The most common usage comes via the use of the prepositional phrase marker (
As we saw with the OT usage (especially in Psalms), πλανάω is destination oriented. In this case, the follower needs to take care as to how he is being led and where he is being led to. Jesus cautions (see above) several times against being led ‘astray’. The phrase ‘lead you astray’ is the essence of πλανάω. This indicates the effects of negative leadership as well. It speaks to the responsibility and culpability of the leadership role. In a world where many aspire to be a leader –at least positionally – perhaps it would serve as a sobering reminder that when taken lightly, executed poorly or abused egotistically, such leaders can do unforgivable harm to their followers. This kind of
It would seem as though whilst leadership may be directive, it need not be coercive (Clinton
God's nature is thus therefore best understood as a ‘community of persons’ (Cartledge
This is not easily understood or appropriated, but once it is, it has profound effects on how we see the community of the church and by extension, its academies. God exists ontologically in triune community, and the leaders of God's people ought thus to reflect such communal-mindedness in the way that they relate to one another and carry out the work of the kingdom. Hess (
People use the word
Some have indicated that Paul's conception of the church (1 Cor 12:12–27) was a ‘body of interdependent believers, all of whom contribute to the functioning of the whole’ (Grenz
If the nature of the church is to reflect God's communal nature, then it stands to reason that training for leadership of the church would include serious consideration of what it means to lead a community. At the core, mentoring is a communal relationship and would be a fitting method to train church leaders to lead within the context of a community of faith. With mentorship added, theological education becomes more than passing on a body of knowledge (experiential or otherwise), to include learning how to be in partnership with God together, in community, and what this together-with-God type of communal leadership entails. Research suggests that mentor relationships often prove beneficial to all parties involved (Wilson & Johnson
As the Father, Son and Spirit work together in trinitarian synergy, so we ought to model the same in our communities of faith. Note the apostle Paul's specific use of the plural You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. (1 Th 1:6–7)
The idea here is, as the community modelled ( For Christians it's always a love game: God's love for the world calling out an answering love from us, enabling us to discover that God not only happens to love us (as though this was simply one aspect of his character) but that he is love itself. (p. 118)
It is our assertion that mentorship must exemplify and model (τύπος) community and interdependency, not individualism and independency. In Sanders’ (
During his protégé's fledgling career Paul bestowed much useful advice to Timothy (1 Tm 6:13–15; 20–21; 4:1–2) but it was his posture towards Timothy that displayed the paradigm of which we speak. We quote Sanders ( Paul assigned Timothy tasks far above his conscious ability, but encouraged and fortified him in their execution … a great deal of Timothy's training was received on the job as he traveled with Paul – a unique privilege for so young man. (p. 180)
Paul not only gave Timothy tasks to accomplish, but also allowed him to participate in life together, and therewith to observe his mentor's flaws and strengths. Earlier in this article, we have alluded to the fact that this sort of community-driven (missional) mentorship is lacking in the church and is lacking in theological education paradigms as well.
We have seen that leadership is a biblical concept. We have seen that the concern of the leader as exemplified in the ‘shepherd/sheep’ motif of Psalm 23, is towards the wellbeing of the protégé. This is also seen in the example of the trinitarian God, who as a perfect exemplar of community leads us on God's mission as a church (Wright
In the context of the
A proposed model of local church leadership training.
This article seeks to develop a framework from which a new leadership development paradigm can emerge for church leadership. Given the rapid attrition of church leaders, it seems imperative that the church attempt to find new models to equip those who possess a Christian worldview to effectively navigate the challenges inherent in church leadership in the 21st century. The model presented in
Obtain a firm understanding of theology through formal educational outlets.
Focus on their own development through internships and entry-level ministry work.
Continue to enhance their Christian worldview as a dyadic learning process that incorporates both mission and professionalism.
Pursue knowledge of current leadership and systems thinking literature.
Embrace both formal and informal mentorship opportunities as they progress in their ministry career.
The leadership development framework presented in this article creates an opportunity for empirical testing and is supported by literature. By replicating previous research in the new context of church leadership, this model can be tested and adapted in a manner that allows for optimal leadership development for emerging church leaders.
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationship(s) that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.
R.E. (North-West University, University of Ontario and University of Ontario Institute of Technology) drafted the original framework of the article using the leadership model designed and developed for a presentation at the 15th International Leadership Association in San Diego, by Prof. L.B. R.E. also served as lead author on this project and implemented Osmer's heuristic as the guiding framework for the research, and drafted the sections on missional leadership. D.M. (Summit University) developed the section on mentorship and missional leadership. J.M. refined the sections relating to leadership as enabling function, as well as synthesised the contents of the article into a brief and focused conclusion. S.S.M. developed the material on systems, complexity and M.P.F.