9 Ways To Develop Leaders In Your Church
We know that our job is to equip the people for good works, not to do good works instead of the people. However, how do we develop leaders in our church? Putting people on a board and calling them leaders or calling older, longer standing church members elders is not exactly developing leaders in the church.
The question becomes, “if I have to leave forever in 4 weeks, who in this church/ministry will take over the leadership?” Whether you know the answer to that or not, here are 9 ways you can begin to develop leaders in your church starting today.
Don’t be the one to pray for everything, ask others to pray. Whether you’re opening a board meeting, staff meeting, planning meeting, service or small group … have someone else pray. You should not be the one praying at meetings. Someone else can do it.
Bring someone with you on every visit. When you’re going to the hospital or to visit someone at their home, bring someone with you. Have them participate in the visit by praying or sharing their thoughts or story. You’ll have time to talk to them before and after the visit on the commute.
Always ask “what do you think we should do?” Before you share your opinion, ask for thoughts and ideas from the people who are involved in the meeting or ministry. Invite participation and collaboration rather than just share your opinions. Be careful not to shut anything down in the meeting. If someone says something way off base, talk to them about it at another time.
Have people in your church preach, host and give announcements in public meetings. Don’t just email them what to do, meet with them and work with them in preparation and review what and how they will present. Then review with them in person 24 hours after. It takes a bit more work, but the result will be people who can confidently present and preach.
Gather small brainstorming groups to address issues such as: facility, outreach ideas, web site etc…). Whenever you come up against a problem, find a way to invite a brainstorming group to help you solve it. You may be able to fix it on your own, but why not take time to gather people to contribute. You may discover budding leaders in your midst.
Only lead 50% of every meeting. Whether it’s a staff meeting, board meeting, prayer meeting, bible study or even Sunday service, you don’t need to be the only talking head leading the meeting. Plan ahead to recruit and train others to lead other parts of that meeting. Set them up for success by communicating clear expectations and resourcing them.
Ask people, “what has God been saying to you lately?” or “what has God been laying upon your heart?” and then work to help them do what God is asking them to do. God is speaking to your congregation and is calling them into a journey of obedience with Him. If all they end up doing is the tasks you set before them, they don’t have the time or energy to do what He is saying. Approach trusted people with that question and see what God does.
Encourage the buddy system. It’s simple, “everybody needs a buddy”. Whoever is involved in ministry, must be recruiting, training and releasing their buddy to do what they do in ministry. You can learn more here.
When you have people leading a ministry, (1) give them clear outcomes and help them know what they are responsible for. (2) give them the authority to do it. (3) meet with them regularly to debrief with them, coach them and resource them. We need to give the people that lead clear lines of responsibility, authority, accountability, coaching and support. Otherwise, we’ll either frustrate those leaders or create monsters who operate outside of authority and accountability.
You don’t have to do it all. What you have to do is raise up leaders. Pick one of these and get started today.
Jeremiah works as an Effectiveness Coach with the ABNWT District of the PAOC. He is a passionate and creative leader who believes that the church is the hope of the world. He uses collaboration, innovation, and inspiration to challenge churches and their leadership to engage in the only mission Jesus ever sent his church on: making disciples.