Developing Effective Leaders

We develop leaders to direct other believers in ministry activities and we develop leaders to provide pastoral care at every level -- small groups and large congregations. We develop apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to fulfill the mission of Ephesians 4:10-16 . We do this through life groups, prayer, discipleship, and systematic training.

This process produces the leadership needed to carry out Life Church’s mission. In “developing mature believers” we take almost everyone who “comes through the front door” and we help them develop the same set of maturity characteristics. The process of developing effective leaders works somewhat differently. There are many different types of leadership both inside and outside of the body of Christ. We therefore do not expect everyone to be able to handle any arbitrary leadership challenge, nor do we expect everyone to develop the same leadership style.

We will focus on three categories of leaders within the ministry at Life Church:

Mature Believers. People who can be leaders within their own spheres of influence
Team Leaders. People who can lead projects or standing activities (such as greeters, ushers, audiovisual ministry, etc.)
Pastoral Leaders. People who can provide pastoral care (such as cell leaders, section leaders, zone leaders, district pastors, senior pastors)

Leadership Qualifications

Although we expect everyone to become a mature believer, not everyone is called by God to be a team leader or pastoral leader. Let’s explore the criteria that we will use to select leadership candidates and the qualities that we will seek to develop in them.

Mature Believers

In the discussion of developing mature believers, we introduced the concept of “spheres of influence”. Based on the criteria for spiritual maturity that we listed earlier, the mature believer is equipped to exercise a godly influence on the people within his/her sphere of influence. Since exercising influence is a form of leadership, the mature believer should be a leader in this setting. Thus every mature believer should be a leader within his/her own sphere of influence.

We will expect the mature believers who attend our services and life groups to join Life Church by completing our Basic Training Class and our New Members Class. We also expect them to continue their training by taking our Discipleship Training Class.

Team Leaders

Along with being a member and a mature believer, the leader of a project or activity needs some additional qualities: He or she must have the skills relevant to and a heart for the leadership area under consideration. The team leader candidate must also be actively mentored. We will normally expect the team leader candidate to have been actively involved in discipleship for three years and to be overseeing at least his or her first generation of disciples.
Many of the character traits that we seek in a team leader are described in the following scripture:

Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything. A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 3:8-14)

At Life Church we believe that these leadership positions apply to women as well as to men (the phrase translated “their wives” might just as appropriately have been translated “the women”). In order to qualify for team leadership all candidates must be have completed Life Church Leadership Training.

Pastoral Leaders

Pastoral leaders include the following roles:

Life group leader - shepherds a life group.
Section leader - shepherds up to five life group leaders and their groups.
Zone leader - shepherds up to five section leaders and their sections.
District pastor - shepherds up to five zone leaders and their zones.
Senior pastor - shepherds the entire congregation (all of the districts).

Along with being a covenant member and mature believer, the pastoral leader must have a heart for people and a calling to shepherd them. He or she must also be actively mentored. We will normally expect the pastoral leader candidate to have been actively involved in discipleship for three years and to be overseeing at least his or her first generation of disciples.

A candidate will be expected to serve faithfully and fruitfully at his or her current level of pastoral leadership before being considered to serve at the next level. Thus a life group leader should serve faithfully through the multiplication of at least two life groups before being considered for service as a section leader. Similarly a section leader should successfully multiply his or her section once or twice before he or she will be considered for service as a zone leader.

Many of the character traits that we seek in a pastoral leader are described in the following scriptures:

At Life Church we believe that pastoral leadership positions apply to women as well as to men (we believe that masculine references are culturally based and do not reflect a divine bar to women as pastors). All pastoral leaders must complete Life Church Leadership Training. They will also be provided with additional pastoral training.

Licensed Ministers

At Life Church we will from time to time license as ministers qualified members who give appropriate evidence of God’s call on their lives. We will provide licensing in various ministry areas including, but not limited to: evangelism, chaplaincy, counseling, music ministry, children’s ministry, and youth ministry.

In order to be considered for licensing candidates must be covenant members who have already qualified for and served in a leadership position for at least one year. They should be actively involved in discipleship and be overseeing at least two generations of disciples.

Licensing will normally be appropriate for those leaders who serve at the level of zone leader or district pastor.

Ordained Ministers

Life Church will also ordain qualified leaders who give appropriate evidence of God’s call on their lives. We will provide ordination in various ministry areas including, but not limited to: pastoral ministry, evangelism, chaplaincy, counseling, music ministry, children’s ministry, and youth ministry.

In order to be considered for ordination candidates must be covenant members who have already qualified for and served in a leadership position for at least three years. They should be actively involved in discipleship and be overseeing at least three generations of disciples.

Ordination will normally be appropriate for those leaders who serve at the level of district pastor. It is a requirement for those pastors who wish to be planted with a new congregation of their own to shepherd.

Chartered Congregations

Life Church will charter new congregations as part of its apostolic mandate to plant churches. There are several key ingredients required before a new congregation can be launched:

A man or woman called by God to shepherd a congregation as the senior pastor and having a vision for ministry.
A team of leaders that shares the vision of the senior pastor and is committed to support him or her in the work.
A congregation that shares the vision is committed to the ministry work.

A major goal of Life Church is to develop leaders who can launch new congregations. Our cell ministry strategy naturally lends itself to this goal. Once someone has reached the level of district pastor he has a prototype congregation of up to 1250 believers (5 zones of 5 sections of 5 life groups of 10 people). We will launch many of our district pastors as church plants.

We expect that candidates for church planting will meet the qualifications and have the experience level of a district pastor at Life Church.

Action Plan

Here is how we will develop effective leaders:

Life Groups

A person’s basic leadership ability will first be recognized within his or her life group as he or she submits to the authority of the life group leader.

Life Church Leadership Training

This training provides leaders with the basic skills that they need for leadership:

Leading by serving
Communicating vision
Understanding your own gifts
Recognizing the gifts of others

Life Church Pastoral Training

Pastoral training will build on basic leadership training to provide the unique skills required to shepherd God’s people at various levels. This training includes Life Group Leader Training.