An Adaptive Change Project in Developing Leaders

Volume 7 Issue 2 Article 3 2021 An Adaptive Change Project in Developing Leaders Scott Laird Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/discernment This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Laird, Scott (2021) "An Adaptive Change Project in Developing Leaders," Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry: Vol. 7 : Iss. 2 , Article 3. Available at: https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/discernment/vol7/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Digital Commons @ ACU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ ACU. An Adaptive Change Project in Developing Leaders Scott Laird Abstract: This study investigates a process for developing local church members to become leaders, people of spiritual influence. Organic, reproducible leadership development in a church located in a mission field is crucial for churches to survive and thrive. Applying Robert Clinton’s “Leadership Emergence Theory,” where spiritual influence is a function of time, process items within life, and our responses allowed church members to discover and use their spiritual influence to bless others. We intentionally explored the theological concepts of discipleship, providence, giftedness, and community as being foundational in developing leaders. In addition, each person applied “Leadership Emergence Theory” to their own life by writing and sharing their life narrative. Evaluating the effects of the intervention over a period of three years and drawing conclusions to enhance future ministerial practice made the methodology a case study in leadership emergence within a mature mid‐sized church. The practical application of “Leadership Emergence Theory” opened the participants to the providential work of God within the community of God and their own lives. They discovered they have a story worth sharing and that they are part of God’s story. Often the first year of processing one’s life was painful but during the second year, participants embraced the painful moments of life as opportunities for ministry through enhanced spiritual influence. New ministries and leaders were launched within the local church based on God’s transformation of participants, not a predetermined outcome. Developing deep trust within the groups provided a framework for vulnerability and transformation. Using this approach to develop spiritual leaders—people of spiritual influence—continues to develop leaders in the local church and has the potential to work within other congregations. Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry, 7, 2 (2021), 36‐62 . Scott Laird 37 Statement of the Problem The Great Falls Church of Christ1 has not established an effective long‐term leader development model and I, as the minister since November 1994, have sought easier fixes than a long‐term commitment of mentoring to develop local leaders. Average attendance for GFCC over the past ten years was 238.2 As a mid‐sized church we predominantly relied upon programs for growth3 while employing my administrative skills to facilitate ministry.4 I developed and implemented several programs to produce leaders since my arrival in Great Falls but have consistently been disappointed by the results. Some of these included a thirteen‐week class on elder training followed by a one‐year small group program to provide skills and tools for potential elders. A summer preaching series to provide an opportunity to explore preaching gifts and develop skills. Three Shepherds’ Networks5 to connect, inspire, encourage, and develop existing and future elders in the Northern Plains of the United States and Canada. Men’s and women’s groups have been in existence since 1995. Small groups called LIFE Groups (Love, Involvement, Fellowship, Evangelism) have existed since 2001 to provide heart‐to‐heart, face‐to‐face interaction6 with a secondary focus of using small groups as a training ground for new leaders. These programs blessed the church but did not solve our leader shortage. It could be that a program‐based model has not been an effective structure because it does not employ God’s transformational work in developing spiritual leaders. These programs increased ministry skills but were not transformational. Consider the following insight from Bob Logan, church planter, consultant, and coach: We are experienced enough in programs to know that they generally do not work. No program, however good, can The Great Falls Church of Christ will be referenced as GFCC hereinafter. “Church Record,” Great Falls Church of Christ, Great Falls, MT, 1948‐2018. All the statistics concerning the Great Falls Church of Christ come from these records. 3 Gary McIntosh, One Size Doesn’t Fit All (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1999), 30‐35. 4 Gary McIntosh, Taking Your Church to the Next Level: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2009), 147‐48. 5 “Church Record,” 2011‐2018. The Shepherds’ Network Northwest Connection has been a joint training venue provided by Harding School of Theology and the Churches of Christ in Montana. 6 John W. Ellas, Small Groups and Established Churches: Challenge and Hope for the Future (Houston, TX: Center for Church Growth, 2005) 54‐55. 1 2 Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry, 7, 2 (2021), 36‐62. 38 An Adaptive Change Project in Developing Leaders provide what a church needs to develop leaders. . . . They might be helpful if they are part of something larger, but all by themselves they won’t do it.7 Part of the problem in developing leaders through programs lies in an expectation of a predetermined outcome. Our congregation has looked for positional leaders, elders, deacons, teachers, etc., rather than explore the potential of transformational leadership where individual Christians are encouraged, mentored, and equipped to discover their giftedness and the good works God has prepared for them to do.8 Review of Some Related Literature The development of spiritual leaders is a pressing topic within the local church.9 Spiritual leadership is a gift from God (Rom 12:3‐8) that can lie dormant and undetected until the circumstances of life and providence of God provide an opportunity for it to be discovered and developed (Ex. 3:1‐4:17).10 Discipleship to Jesus Christ calls every follower to grow and develop. This includes how and whether an individual is called to lead. Robert Katz argues that leaders “are not necessarily born but may be developed,”11 providing encouragement for emerging leaders to know that God can develop their spiritual influence. Three books provided a helpful overview of the development of leadership theory as it applied to this project and Leadership Emergence Theory (LET).12 Bass & Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Robert E. Logan and Tarra Miller, From Follow (...truncated)