Developing leaders is consistently one of the biggest needs churches and organizations face today. And as you read the pages of Scripture, the value on leadership development is clear.

Jethro challenged Moses to build a team of leaders who would oversee groups of 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 (Exodus 18:21). Paul challenged Timothy to entrust his teaching to reliable people who would teach others (2 Timothy 2:2). He also challenged Timothy to maintain important qualifications for overseers and deacons in the church (1 Timothy 3:1-13).

Leadership development is critical to the Great Commission. Without leaders and leadership development, new churches aren’t planted, existing churches are underserved, people groups are not reached, discipleship gaps widen, growth barriers are never broken, church conflict is managed poorly, and existing leaders experience burnout.

This installment of Make It Count addresses leadership development and provides helpful insights and ideas on recruiting, training and empowering leaders. As you review these eight lessons with your team, you’ll learn to do the following:

• Identify Leaders: Finding Leadership Potential
• Recruit Leaders: Attracting Leaders to Your Team
• Orient Leaders: Developing a Quality Onboarding System
• Equip Leaders: Providing Ongoing Leadership Development
• Entrust Leaders: Giving Opportunities to New Leaders
• Empower Leaders: Releasing Authority and Decision Making
• Encourage Leaders: Affirming Leaders in the Journey
• Elevate Leaders: Providing a Pathway to Promote Leaders

As you read and discuss these lessons, you’ll be challenged to develop an intentional plan for leadership development. And with each step you take, you’ll increase the capacity of your church or organization.

As you discuss these lessons with your staff and volunteers, determine to make the changes necessary to improve the health of your culture. It won’t necessarily be easy, but the outcome will be well worth it.

This eight-week study, which appears in the July/August 2020 issue of Influence magazine, is now available online as a free download. Church leaders can print multiple complimentary copies of this resource and use it to promote development, spark discussion, and inspire vision among team members.

The online resource also includes a fill-in-the-blank guide for team members to use as they follow along with the studies. It is also available in Spanish.

Adapted from the July/August 2020 edition of Influence magazine.