From First Timer to Fully Deployed

Introduction

Derek Mathews (Men's Equipping Director) and Kyle Kaigler (Plano Campus Pastor) join Adam and John to discuss their process for leadership development in the local church. They explain what it looks like to intentionally take a leader all the way from visiting for the first time to being fully deployed in ministry.

• Discover through prayer (Matthew 9:35-38) and a good process (1 Timothy 3:8-10)
• Develop through intentional investment (2 Timothy 2:1-2)
• Deploy in their gifts, passions, and margin (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Leadership development needs to be a combination of casting a large vision and giving people practical next steps. All church leaders should keep Ephesians 4 in mind. It is the responsibility of church leaders to equip believers to do ministry themselves. It is not only full-time church staff that are called to "do ministry." That is the duty of everyone who calls themselves a believer. We cannot fall into the trap of doing God's work in our way. That will only lead to exhaustion and burnout.

Discover

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38)

The best method of discovering new leaders is through recruitment and recommendation by existing leaders. Leaders should always be looking for others who are faithful, available, and teachable. Remind your leaders to keep an eye out for when these individuals show up at your church. It is important to note that "mature" or "memorized the entire bible" are not requirements. They must simply be faithful in their pursuit of the Lord, have margin available in their life, and teachable with hunger and humility. Once these individuals are identified and are seen to be consistent over a period of time, they are invited into further training.

Develop

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:1-2)

The 6-week developmental curriculum Derek and his team uses is several things. One, it is highly relational. Leadership development should always occur in the context of relationships with other leaders. Two, it is highly practical. Make sure to think about every thing that should be true of a potential church leader, then design your training to emphasize these things. Watermark leaders spend in the book of 2nd Timothy. Everyone in the circle will practice teaching one another. At the end of these 6 weeks, there is an opportunity for leaders to share what they learned.

The goal should not be to keep people in the classroom. People can learn about ministry by doing ministry itself. Adults learn on a need to know basis. Make sure that training focuses on what leaders will be putting to use in the near future. Leadership development should also not be used as a way to fix problems when they arise. The most successful leadership development will occur when it is done consistently and faithfully regardless of the current season of ministry.

Remember that ideally, leadership development shouldn't reach a definitive end point. Always give people more opportunity to increase in their leadership.

Deploy

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ... (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Leaders will flourish when deployed somewhere that utilizes their gifts and passions. Consistently keep track of spots that need to be filled and needs that must be met. Communicate to the church body and key leaders often about what opportunities are available. Keep the vision clear about what people may be missing out on by not deploying their gifts. Give people significant ministry roles. When trusted leaders come to you with deployment ideas of their own, try to empower them to take initiative and start something.

The church should be a net exporter of leaders. Effective leadership development will always look like sending leaders out to do ministry, even if that means "losing" some of your best leaders. It is easy to get comfortable when all of your leaders stay in place, but it is often best to continue to multiply and move to new ground.

Conclusion

One of the most common questions and critiques of this process is that it can seem leadership development is just training lay members to do the jobs of the church staff. However, this is ignoring the call of Ephesians 4. It is only a gift and a blessing to participate with God in His church. When church staff withholds ministry from it's members, they are only robbing those members of opportunities to grow. It is the job of the church staff to equip members to do ministry themselves.

This process is not simply completing a curriculum or attending a class. It is a mentality of inviting others into ministry. Always bring someone with you when you do ministry. That turns all ministry opportunities into discipleship and development opportunities.

Resources

Leadership Pipeline and Training Resources