LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Leadership Development Strategy
RLGN 489-D01
MINISTRY PRAXIS CAPSTONE
Submitted to _________, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of the course,
1
1 Greenleaf, Robert K. The servant as leader. University of Notre Dame Press, 1997.
2 Van Dierendonck, Dirk. "Servant leadership: A review and synthesis." Journal of management 37, no. 4
(2011): 1228-1261.
3 Mat. 20:26-28 (NASB)
Introduction
Regardless of which area of Christian ministry we work in, we must understand our position
on the issue of leadership development. Whether we are teaching others to lead or are in a
leadership position ourselves, we need to be aware of our leadership philosophy and be able to
articulate it to others. Following is my philosophy of Christian leadership and my leadership
development strategy.
Philosophy
My personal philosophy regarding leadership revolves around servant leadership. According
to Robert Greenleaf, “The servant-leader is servant first…. It begins with the natural feeling that
one wants to serve, to serve first”.1 Servant-leadership is not motivated by the acquiring of
power. It is motivated by the desire to help others.2 This type of leadership is modeled throughout
the Bible and I believe it is the only correct way to lead in ministry. Jesus was the greatest
example of this type of leadership. Jesus made His thoughts on this clear when He said, “It is not
this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to
be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”.3 We can also look to John the
Baptist and Paul as other great examples of biblical servant-leaders to follow. Although many
people followed John the Baptist, he never thought of himself as being on a higher level than
anyone else. He spent all of his time trying to lead others to God and then Christ. Everything he
4 1 Cor. 9:19-23 (NASB)
5 Graham, Jill W. "Servant-leadership in organizations: Inspirational and moral." The Leadership
Quarterly 2, no. 2 (1991): 105-119.
2
did was in the service of others and God. Paul lived his life in the same way. His life and words
reflected that he believed that servant-leadership was the correct form of leadership for people
involved in ministry. Paul wrote:
For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win
more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under
the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win
those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not
being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who
are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become
all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of
the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.4
Paul spent all of his time and energy leading others to Christ and building the Church. Paul
mentored others in order to create other servant-leaders to take over the leadership of the Church.
His mentorship of Timothy in servant-leadership is why the Church has survived to this day. As
Jill Graham wrote, “Leader-modeled service (or servant-leadership) is a gift; it also tends to be
contagious so that followers of servant-leaders are inspired to pass on the gift”.5 This is why I
feel that servant-leadership is the philosophy that I will build my leadership on.
Ministry Information
The ministry in which I will be utilizing the servant-leader style of leadership is as the leader
of a women’s prison ministry. This is going to be an outreach division of our local church. I see
being under the umbrella of an established church as a major strength of our ministry. It can be
difficult to start a non-profit ministry of this type on your own. Also, there are many legal and tax
ramifications that can be avoided by being part of an already established ministry. Our plan is to
6 "Prison Fellowship Women's Ministry." Prison Fellowship. Accessed August 04, 2018.
https://www.prisonfellowship.org/about/in-prison/women-prisoners-ministry/.
3
eventually conduct in-prison church services, Bible studies, and an after-care ministry for
inmates who have been released. We also plan to create a library of Christian literature and
commentaries that they can have unlimited access to. We are still in the planning stages and are
looking to launch our program in November of 2018.
Personnel management is just as important in a volunteer organization as in a corporate
situation. Our leadership will consist of a leader, assistant leader, and a Christian counselor. We
envision having at least 4 other volunteers. We also have a small worship team that consists of
three people who perform acoustic worship music. We would also like to mentor volunteers
among the inmates who can help mentor others so that there is a community of believers inside
the prison that they can lean on when needed. Also, they may be able to use this foundation to
start their own ministry once they are released.
The one feature that I feel will be unique is that we will have a volunteer who is a certified
Christian counselor available for the inmates. Most prison ministries do not offer this. Although
the other volunteers are important and needed, a Christian counselor can help the inmates in
ways that they cannot. According to the Prison Fellowship website, most women prisoners “have
walked a long, difficult road of physical abuse, sexual abuse, addiction, mental illness, or
homelessness. Many are mothers, struggling with deep pain and shame”.6 A certified Christian
counselor will be more equipped to help them with to deal with some of those of issues and will
be an important addition to our team.
Program Implementation
7 Luk. 4:17-19 (NIV)
8 "HOW GOODSEED TOOLS CAN HELP YOU." The GoodSeed Blog. Accessed August 08, 2018.
https://www.goodseed.com/how-to-train-for-prison-ministry.html.
4
Starting a new ministry within a church is not as easy as it would seem. Anyone can come up
with what seems like a great idea but implementing it is another story. After much prayer, I
talked to several other women’s prison ministry leaders and did a great deal of research in order
to get a feel for what needs to be accomplished. I also visited the prison. I talked to several
inmates who are interested in having a program like this available to them to see what may
appeal to them. I also talked to a former inmate who told me what a difference prison ministry
made for her. I talked to the head of the prison to find out what the boundaries and limitations
will be. Knowing what we are allowed to do while there is incredibly important. We cannot just
walk in there and expect to be able to do whatever we want without any limitations. We then
went over the proposed programs that we would offer to make sure they would be workable.
My next step is to recruit a team. We are called to minister to those in prison. As Jesus
unrolled Isaiah’s scroll, “he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor’”.7 Everyone on the team has to know that everything we
do and say is to be based in Scripture. As the leader, I am planning to recruit an assistant or co-
leader, several volunteers, a Christian counselor, and a small acoustic worship team. Education
will be of utmost importance before we even think about actually ministering to the prisoners. I
plan to utilize the Goodseed teaching tools to educate our team.8 It is imperative that anyone
involved in this ministry is educated and trained in this type of ministry. Prison ministry cannot
9 Bredfeldt, Gary. Great Leader, Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership.
Chicago: Lifeway Church Resources, 2006.
5
be successful without training. Having a team that is on the same page scripturally and is
properly trained is the only way to have a team that will be successful and long-term.
In order for this ministry to continue past my leadership, I will prepare a master plan of
everything that has been done in order to create this ministry. This will include an outline of what
the initial purpose of the ministry program was, how the team was chosen and developed, any
training that was utilized, and how to maintain the program in the future. Everything that was
done, successful or not, needs to be documented in order to help the future leaders become more
and more successful. The current leaders should always be mindful of mentoring new leaders that
will take their place in the future. That is the only way to create a long-lived, consistent ministry
that will be successful.
Summary of Leadership Development
In order to keep the momentum of our successful ministry going, we will ask people who
have benefitted from the program to present their story to our church on a regular basis during our
worship services. It is important for the church to see firsthand that the prison ministry is making a
difference. This will help to keep the congregation interested in the program and help to increase
our volunteer numbers. We will continually mentor new volunteers to participate in administering
the program. As Gary Bredfeldt stated, “The church is fundamentally a teaching- learning
organization. Its future depends on the effectiveness of its leaders and members as they function
as both teachers and learners”.9
The most important aspect of this ministry is for us to spread the Gospel. If we aren’t
spreading the Gospel and helping others to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, then we
are wasting time and resources. Obviously, everyone will not be receptive, but we can plant the
10 Mat. 28:18-20 (NIV)
6
seeds. Sometimes we may plant the seeds that others may water, and we will not see the fruits of
our labor but we will have to comfort of knowing that we have done as Jesus commanded us in
Matthew 28: “’Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’”.10
7
Bibliography
Bredfeldt, Gary. Great Leader, Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership.
Chicago: Lifeway Church Resources, 2006.
Graham, Jill W. "Servant-leadership in organizations: Inspirational and moral." The Leadership
Quarterly 2, no. 2 (1991): 105-119.
Greenleaf, Robert K. The servant as leader. University of Notre Dame Press, 1997.
"HOW GOODSEED TOOLS CAN HELP YOU." The GoodSeed Blog. Accessed August 08,
2018. https://www.goodseed.com/how-to-train-for-prison-ministry.html.
"Prison Fellowship Women's Ministry." Prison Fellowship. Accessed August 04, 2018.
https://www.prisonfellowship.org/about/in-prison/women-prisoners-ministry/.
Van Dierendonck, Dirk. "Servant leadership: A review and synthesis." Journal of
management 37, no. 4 (2011): 1228-1261.
