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6-17-07 -- Growing Leaders
Servant vs. Leadership
“We have many people serving,” says Mark Miller, executive minister at Indian Creek Christian Church, Indianapolis, Indiana. “But we need to grow in identifying and building leaders.”
Serving others is a mark of leadership, of course—one of many ideas covered in Indian Creek’s “Leadership Culture” program developed to equip staff and volunteers to lead more effectively.
“During our tremendous growth over the last few years, we became a staff of ‘doers,’” Miller says. “To continue growing we need to also become mentors of volunteers.”
Miller connected with Ken Blanchard, author of Lead Like Jesus, to explore a Christian model for teaching leadership.
“The book focuses on Jesus’ leadership style as portrayed in the Gospels, including his interactions with the disciples and with other leaders,” says Miller. “From this material and other sources, we developed a curriculum that serves as a baseline for everyone currently leading or hoping to lead at Indian Creek.”
The class is mandatory for Indian Creek staff and recommended for elders and volunteer ministry leaders. The two-year program runs one Monday night a month from January-May and August-November and offers sessions on spiritual giftedness, interpersonal skills, and spiritual formation. The evening classes include discussions and team activities and conclude with an assignment to practice before the next class.
“We hope to create a new culture of shared terminology and reference points,” says Miller. “I want to equip our leaders to move forward together in a more united way.”
www.thecreek.org
City Life
Jade and Kim Kendall, Team Expansion missionaries with Hope Inner City and leaders at State Avenue Church of Christ, Cincinnati, Ohio, serve in some of Cincinnati’s poorest neighborhoods, but their ministry intentionally does not include soup kitchens, clothing giveaways, or many of the traditional programs associated with urban outreach.
“We believe relationship building is the most effective way to spread God’s love to any people group, but especially to those in the inner city,” Jade says. “These areas are saturated with programs, but lack authentic relationship-building churches.”
This philosophy requires huge investments of time and effort, while often producing not very impressive statistics to share with potential donors. But the Kendalls believe only intense relationships can solve intense problems.
“In addition to financial poverty, inner-city residents experience devastating emotional poverty,” Jade says. “People say, ‘Why can’t they just get a job and get out?’ It’s like telling someone who’s depressed to just cheer up. People live in a constant state of grief, without a support system or healthy coping methods.”
The HIC staff does connect with programs, but in relationship-focused ways. “If we see six people who need tutoring, we won’t start a tutoring program,” Jade says. “We’ll take them to one consistently and support them while they learn.”
The team also welcomes help from suburban churches, especially congregations that understand the philosophy of HIC. “I hope churches will be eager to remember the city, just as Paul was eager to remember the poor in Galatians 2,” Kendall says. “And they help most when they ask how they can be part of the mission.”
www.hopeinnercity.org
Studying Skills
Ethnos Church, Beaverton, Oregon, resembles a lot of other new congregations: members gather for Sunday night services, individuals frequently post to the church’s online forums, and small groups meet throughout the week. But Ethnos’ culture also includes a growing hunger for learning about theology and biblical interpretation. Troy Sanders, an Ethnos member who leads the study group, shares more.
What prompted the group to start?
Solid biblical doctrine is a personal passion of mine, because our theology influences the way we live and worship. As I spent more time beating this drum on our discussion forum and other pastors shared why a solid hermeneutical methodology was important, more people showed an interest in developing the skills and abilities necessary to gain a solid theological foundation.
How is the study organized?
We started by reading According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy because I wanted to look at the unity of Scripture. Since then we have started reading Introduction to Biblical Interpretation by [William W.] Klein, [Craig L.] Blomberg, and [Robert L.] Hubbard and reading through the Old Testament in the traditional Hebrew order of books to practice the methods we are learning and to see the OT in a fresh way.
How have people grown?
People are beginning to truly understand what it means to read Scripture in context. It has been very cool to see people devouring Scripture and coming to the study with questions and thoughts. For our church culture, that is a huge step.
What’s next?
We are in the process of making the next study more structured. We’re developing a syllabus and assignments and narrowing the focus to the “meat and potatoes.”
We are also developing a full theological curriculum where we would offer studies and courses in Bible survey, theology, apologetics, and possibly even classes in pastoral theology and preaching.
www.ethnoschurch.org
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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