Implementation Phase
Student’s First Name, Middle Initial(s), Last Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Number and Name
Assignment’s Due Date
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Leadership Development and Discipleship
Leadership development entails a process that expands individuals' capacity to carry
leadership roles to others and organizations. Church leadership development enables people to
develop abilities and skills that God has blessed them with. Through leadership development, a
church leader can communicate, strategize and manage and display skills needed to lead other
Christians towards a common cause. As a church leader, an individual should build a strong
spiritual foundation. Leadership development is a key aspect of the growth and progress of a
church. Ideally, many churches are experiencing various crises due to bad leadership. Poor
leadership hampers spiritual growth because the church activities stops being biblically
centered1. Therefore, it is crucial to encourage leadership development to ensure the growth of
churches. Leadership development should be guided by biblical teachings. As churches struggle
to meet the congregation's needs and as the culture of the social change, developing good church
leaders is increasingly becoming indispensable. Churches should implement effective leadership
development structures to secure their future.
Discipleship entails a person's desire to become like Christ. Discipleship enables people
to know their creator and have a good personal relationship with God. Through discipleship, an
individual can learn what it entails to walk with the creator, have full control of the Holy Spirit,
and enjoy the joy of forgiveness of sins. When one concentrates on spiritual development more
than discipleship development, the skills and talents God has given this person become
undeveloped. Discipleship allows church leaders to grow in maturity and wisdom. As disciple,
1 Deborah, Ogochi K. "Strategic Leadership: It’s Integration with the Church
Leadership." Journal of Sociology, Psychology & Religious Studies 1, no. 1 (2019): 33.
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church leaders will strong faith in Christ and encourage others on how to lead a holy life.
Leadership development and discipleship allows the church to produce leaders who are focused
on advancing God’s will on people and building a strong fellowship among the church members.
Discipleship is crucial to the growth of church membership.
Principles of Church Leadership
Church leaders do not have the military power or fiscal incentives to the corporate world.
Church leaders rely on their leadership skills to lead the congregation and growth the church. For
church leaders to lead, they need to find leadership principles that will enable them to serve
others. Leaders may get these principles from books, classes, and seminars. However, church
leaders should derive the leadership principles from God's word. While the Bible provides
Christians with information about God's love and His redemption for humankind, it gives us
insight into spiritual leadership2. From the Bible, God used leaders like Abraham, David, and
Moses to accomplish His purpose. Church leadership can sometimes be challenging because it
entails meeting the needs of different types of people. Therefore, for the church to meet those
needs, it should have competent and well-trained leaders. Church leaders should look forward to
build a strong supportive team in churches. The team should handle various duties aimed
growing the church. Church leaders should look for ways to clarify church language and the
Bible. Use illustrations that give a description of biblical concepts and arrange weekend treats.
The Bible teaches us principles that should be applied to church leadership, including
leadership influence. A good leader has loyal followers. Church leadership is all about a position
one has to influence other people. Church leaders focus on encouraging others but not
2 Walters, Paul E., and Robert F. Holley. Clear, Calm, and Connected: Reflections on Church
Leadership. Fortress Press, 2020.p. 9
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manipulating them. Church leadership requires one to show love to others and build them. In the
Bible, Nehemiah demonstrated great principles of church leadership by mobilizing people to
rebuild the church and promote evangelism. As a church leader, one should show integrity. Good
leaders must give an honest speech which is a foundation of leadership. Good leaders will not
only practice honesty, but they will want honest people to be around them. The church must have
good leadership because people don't follow poor leadership.
Maintaining Faith in the Leadership
Leadership is all about earning and retaining the faith of other people. It is not about
being charismatic and ego-driven, but it needs one to be selfless and caring. Maintaining faith
and courage is a key ingredient to a powerful leader aiming to rise to their potential. Being a
good leader is not about the status or influence one has; instead, a good leader takes time to
recognize himself. There are various ways a good leader can maintain faith while in leadership
because leadership can sometimes be challenging. As a leader, one should expect conflict and
maintain team focus. Leadership can maintain faith in leadership by changing how they handle
conflicts, discussions, or debates. Leaders who get the best outcomes are the ones who prepare
for conflict before it emerges. They try to look for ways that will help solve the foreseen conflict.
As a leader, one should avoid biases by speaking and addressing everyday biased expressions in
church. A leader should be able to identify discriminatory statements and condone them.
Speaking out about biasness can help to reduce reoccurrence and establish positive norms.
Maintaining faith in leadership requires authenticity. Leadership requires to be genuine. A leader
should also develop himself, growing an authentic self and becoming self-developed. Gain self-
awareness, confidence, and courage to be able to handle difficult circumstances because of your
authentic self.
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The most challenging aspect of church leadership is keeping the relationship with God
alive and afresh. Church leaders experience different temptations every day, affecting their faith
and spirituality. Therefore, church leaders should always keep clear conscience by walking in
obedience to God’s word. The more a leader engages with God’s word, the more they maintain
faith and stay healthy in spirituality.
Communication in Church Leadership
Effective communication is an important way to call people towards the ministry.
Consistent communication helps keep the congregation informed and inspires them to follow the
values and principles that leaders instill in them. Ideally, communication keeps Church leaders
and congregation on the same page about the activities and expectations within the church3.
Effective communication allows the church to focus on one accord and encourage each other
towards leading a holy life. In churches, communication is also the key that unravels God’s
message. Church leaders should always focus on communicating with God and people.
Communicating with God provides church leaders with direction in handling church matters.
When leaders fail to communicate with God, they tend to lean on their understanding, leading to
trouble. Effective communication is crucial in driving church changes and initiatives. Church
leaders should focus on developing communication skills to enable them steer the church to
better future and ensure growth of church membership.
Clear and accurate information are the basic components of effective communication in
churches. Leaders should ensure people get accurate information to avoid getting the wrong
information. Healthy communication requires consistent practices. A leaders’ words should align
3 Spore, Roy L. Productive Leadership: A Guide for Ministry in the Small Church. Wipf and
Stock Publishers, 2021. P. 12
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with their actions. When a leader becomes consistent with his actions and words, it will be easier
to convince others. Active listening is also another essential component of communication in
churches. Church leaders should listen to others and encourage diversity of opinions. Healthy
communication is driven by the desire to be heard and hear others fairly. Listening to others can
help leaders understand what people want from their leadership. Active listening ensures that the
church is on the same page and shows the love of Christ. Church leaders should focus on seeking
the feedback of the congregation on various matters. When leaders practice good
communication, they are likely to safeguard the church from conflicts.
Collaborative Leadership in Church
From a biblical perspective, collaborative leadership entails bringing pertinent
stakeholders and urban churches together in collectively addressing the issues. Christians study
scriptures to learn the plural model as a foundation for the church. The plurality does not only
serve as a community and unity expressed in the church but also serves in various ways, which
include embodying and expressing the new testament principle of independence. Plurality
recognizes human limitation by acknowledging no one can possess a complete complement of
God's gifts. When Christian becomes aware of the idea, it discourages and prevents narcissists
from feeling more empowered than others. Collaborative leadership built a structure that requires
men to model the church's unity. Plurality call upon leaders to share responsibilities and help
build members in the church. Collaborative leadership provides a strategy to deal with
institutional necessities concerning the church. Collaborative leadership ensures care, support,
and accountability in the church. When there is collaboration, church leaders will remain
engaged in church matters.
4 Deborah, Ogochi K. "Strategic Leadership: It’s Integration with the Church
Leadership." Journal of Sociology, Psychology & Religious Studies 1, no. 1 (2019): 31-40.
7
Unity of the collaborative leadership provides the church with strength to accomplish its
mission. The collaboration between church leaders and congregation reflects God’s will to His
people and how He designed the church to function4. Collaborative leadership promotes unity
and diversity, which are the key themes of Christianity. Church leaders should demonstrate
practical partnering to encourage Christians to love each other, develop one mind and always
work together in their spiritual journey. Collaborative leadership provides common ground for
the church members to agree on various matters affecting the church. It promotes collective
effort in growing the church and promoting evangelism. Collaborative leadership lifts the
leaders' focus from their own interests to the ultimate objective. Collaborative leaders have a
great capacity to impart innovative strategies and ensure the effective growth of the church.
Bibliography
Deborah, Ogochi K. "Strategic Leadership: It’s Integration with the Church Leadership." Journal
of Sociology, Psychology & Religious Studies 1, no. 1 (2019): 31-40.
8
Spore, Roy L. Productive Leadership: A Guide for Ministry in the Small Church. Wipf and Stock
Publishers, 2021.
Walters, Paul E., and Robert F. Holley. Clear, Calm, and Connected: Reflections on Church
Leadership. Fortress Press, 2020.
