Leadership in Ministry
Leadership principles
'Leadership is the act of influencing and serving others out of Christ's interests in their lives so that they accomplish God's purposes for and through them' (Bill Lawrence).
Many Christian leaders find themselves thrust into leadership due to a need, a position that must be filled, pressure from others, or a sense of calling, but without any confidence in their abilities to perform the task.
We tend to overestimate the importance of having a natural leadership ability and underestimate the power of an ongoing, deliberate and intentional process to improve and develop in leadership. There is no doubt that some possess innate gifts and characteristics for leadership; however, many leadership skills can be learned.
Regardless of our starting point, we can grow as leaders. Whether leadership comes naturally to us or not, we can learn to lead better. Growing personally as disciples and in our leadership abilities enables us to better serve God’s people by leading them well.
Whether you are an experienced leader or very new to congregational leadership, these principles may be helpful in your leadership role or as you mentor and disciple others into leadership.
Leadership development
Right at the very beginning of the Christian church, the apostles soon realised that they couldn’t do everything and raised up new leaders to take on some of their responsibilities. Paul mentored and discipled others. He developed and established leaders at each of the churches he planted. His epistles are studded with the names of these leaders, both male and female.
As leaders, one of our top priorities should be to develop new leaders and plan for succession. Rather than using the ‘sink or swim’ method of leadership training, we should be raising up those who are being mentored and discipled or learning and growing as leaders.
For many churches, proper leadership development feels like a luxury. After all, it’s challenging to develop new leaders when you’re already short on leaders. However, as hard as it can be, intentionally developing leaders is well worth the effort you put into it. Download the resource below for more information and resources on developing leaders.
'Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed' (Proverbs 15:22).
Mentoring
Being a mentor means taking an influential and important role in another person’s life. It may sound like something reserved for experts, giants of the faith, or people with many years of wisdom, but that’s not necessarily the case. Everyone has skills, experience and insights they can share.
'Mentoring is a relatively recent term, especially in Christian circles, but what it seeks to describe has been the focus of Christian community since its inception … It is a dynamic relationship of trust in which one person enables another to maximise the grace of God in his/her life and service. It has a sound biblical and theological basis with Jesus as the ultimate model, retaining all that is consistent with his life and teaching.' –John Mallison, 'Mentoring to Develop Disciples and Leaders'
Working with volunteers
Volunteers are vital to the life of our church. Volunteers faithfully serve in congregations and agencies of the LCA throughout Australia and New Zealand to make our mission and ministry happen. They are the body, hands and feet of our church. Our congregations and agencies could not function without volunteers.
The LCA is committed to volunteer involvement in our congregations and agencies and to supporting, resourcing and caring for them properly to the best of our ability. In Australia, we seek to comply with the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement, and they will also be helpful for congregations in New Zealand.
LCA Church Worker Support has a comprehensive ‘Volunteer Guide’ resource with accompanying resources, such as templates for role descriptions (see buttons to the left).
See the LCA Volunteer Identification and Selection Policy at www.lca.org.au/polices
The National Standards for Volunteer Involvement are managed by Volunteering Australia and provide a framework for supporting the volunteer sector in Australia. They provide good practice guidelines for organisations to attract, manage and retain volunteers and help improve volunteer experience.
Working with difficult people
'Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful' (Colossians 3:12–15).
In ministry, you are bound to encounter challenging people. There will be personality clashes, differing points of view and agendas, people who let you down, lone rangers who refuse to work as a team and many other examples we could list.
The LCA Standards of Ethical Behaviour clearly articulate the standard of behaviour we expect from one another in useful and practical terms. Underpinned by Scripture and church policy, these standards apply to all aspects of church life.
Download the document below to learn a few approaches when dealing with difficult people.
How did we do?
Did you find what you were looking for? Did you find anything out of date or not working properly? Please tell us how we can improve this page.
Contact us
Where to now?
