LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PLAN.pdf

Leadership Development Plan

For

Dr. Vander Wiele

By

Roberto M. Lopez

RLGN 489 D06: Ministry Praxis Capstone

May 9, 2016

PHILOSOPHY OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Many books have been written on how to become a better leader. Some have reached a

status of best sellers, and they certainly have great principles and ideas, yet the Bible’s

by himself, but that was not the heavenly design. Jesus developed people around him by

spending time with them. He commissioned them to continue the work that he started and

handed them the responsibility of taking his teaching across the world and develop more

disciples. To use Mother Teresa’s analogy, Jesus’ life death and resurrection is the stone casted.

Jesus is the best leader in history, not only because of the testimony of his millions of followers

through history, but also because of his style of leadership, which we will discuss ahead. A

proficient leader is, among other things, an individual fully committed to the study of biblical

leadership principles and a person guided by the example of Jesus.

Some of the greatest world leaders in history have claimed to work for the interest of the

people, but that has been proven false time and time again. Worldly leadership implies that the

sagacity to obtain material possessions and influence. Thus, the leader exercises power and

perspective, Jesus leadership is based on humbleness and servitude. “By contemporary standards,

Jesus was a failure as a leader”2. Jesus greatest ability was a tender heart for the sick, the poor,

and the sinners. His greatest personal achievement was to embrace the cross and to perfectly

obey the will of his father. And his greatest human possession were probably his clothing that

were taken from him the day of his crucifixion (John 19:23). A true leader values others above

himself (Philippians 2:3) and sick opportunities to serve and sacrifice for others instead of the

opposite (Matthew 20:26-27). The world seems to be slowly catching up with this perspective.

Peter F. Drucker, a non-Christian author, states, “In the traditional organization—the organization

of the last one hundred years—the skeleton or internal structure, was a combination of rank and

power. In the emerging organization, it has to be mutual understanding and responsibility”3. Still,

purposes of this assignment, we will use our local church in Miami that has an attendance of

(2000): 581

(Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2006), 151.

approximately 300 adults and 60 children on Sundays and Wednesdays. According to the features

Spirit and truth mentality, but it definitely leans towards the marks of a Spirit-Oriented Church

and of a Pluralistic Church. Although not all pluralistic churches are the same, most of them

“seek personal experience in the spiritual realm and are highly reflective with regards to the

matter of faith”5.

rescuing the unbelievers in our community. This goal yields purpose and identity to our church.

Even our name “Rescue Church”, encompasses the goal of rescuing people from a dying world

and bringing them to the light. This work-oriented mentality inevitability affects the way the

church operates and offers everyone an opportunity to serve and to impact the community. On

the other hand, we believe that there is great value in discipleship. Therefore, each church

member is perceived as a potential spiritual leader and is expected to progress in his/her spiritual

development with the aid of spiritual mentors and church leaders.

of people are Hispanic-Latinos. Therefore, people that in its majority are immigrants and only

speak Spanish form our congregation.

“Leadership begins with God himself as the ultimate model of leadership. The underlying

used profitably by all people who are in a position to lead others whether in business or ministry,

in the school or in the home”6. The greatest leader to walk the earth understood the power of

teamwork. Jesus was not just man, but also 100% God and in his divine prerogative he could

have chosen perhaps an easier way to spread the news of the gospel and expand the kingdom of

heaven. However, he chose to develop men around him that could carry the fire after his

departure from earth. A church leader understands the principle of developing other leaders

around him to make a greater impact in the life of the church as well as in the world. He also

understands that developing mature disciples is not an event, but a process that requires time,

intentionality, an exemplary life, and exceptional dedication. A new believer aided by a local

expression of the church and Christ-like leaders should experience a journey from newborn to

implemented leadership development program. To develop authentic disciples we have to

implement a leadership development plan that promotes three important facets of church

leadership: the calling of a spiritual leader, the character of a spiritual leader, and the competence

of a spiritual leader.

contemporary term for the cross will be the electric chair. Disciples need to understand that

bring eternal rewards in the future.

“The problem seems to be that many influences apart from the transformational power of

the scriptures and the Holy Spirit have shaped our spirits. Because of this the life most

disciples have followed has been one of attending, serving, and giving. These are

wonderful things and are evidence of sincerity of heart, but the acceptance of these

activities as enough has led to generations of believers whose lives are a mile wide and

In order to break this cycle the leadership development program must encourage believers to

persevere in the pursuit of Christlikeness.

The second calling of a disciple besides being like Jesus is to make other disciples. This

process starts by preaching the gospel, but it takes much more than that. A leadership

development program has to provide tools that empowers believers to preach, but that also

between teaching someone what Jesus taught, and teaching them to obey what Jesus taught. The

later produces a greater fruit, but it requires a greater effort on behalf of the mentor and the

follower. How can someone be a leader and teach others to obey if that person does not live a life

of obedience and commitment to Jesus himself? That type of hypocrisy will cause and is causing

a negative impact in the lives of people all over the glove because a leader reproduces what he is

regardless of what he teaches.

of the virtuous character of the spiritual leader rather than his influence or charisma. A Christian

leader has to be a virtuous person. There are many virtues of authentic Christian leaders listed in

different passages of the Bible (. A sound development program for church leaders has to focus

on the biblical parameters to be a leader and the distinguishing traits of true disciples found in

passages such as 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and Galatians 5:16-26. The program should aid

itself in the great available literature regarding this topic. Books such as: Spiritual Disciplines

For The Christian Life, Ministry Is, Great Leader-Great Teacher, and Conformed to His Image

are just a few great books that serve as practical guides to develop a virtuous character.

Bredfeldt argues regarding leadership competence, “Without competence, an inertia and

lethargy occurs. Bad leaders, then, can simply be good people who are incompetent for the

9 Bredfeldt, Gary J. Great Leader Great Teacher: Recovering the Biblical Vision for Leadership,

(Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2006), 113.

called to have the same function, so we have to stick to what we are good at, and what God has

should look like, “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and

teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”.

The purpose of the gifts and the ministries is for the church to grow. In order for a church to be

healthy and function effectively, the best time to develop a healthy body is right from the

beginning. The health of a church is determined by the maturity of the leadership and an

understanding by that leadership of how they build a healthy body. Before a church has its first

public service, it is wise to have the leadership team already exercising their gifts in the

development of those who are becoming Christians.

According to all the concepts discussed in this section, in our church we will develop a

program that considers all new believers as potential spiritual leaders. This program will develop

new Christians into spiritual leaders through five steps. The program starts from the time a

person professes public faith in the person of Jesus Christ. As soon as the person becomes a

believer, he or she will be assigned a spiritual mentor. This will be a mature believer or a church

leader that will stay in relationship with the new believer until the entire process is over and

perhaps develop a life-long friendship that promotes mutual spiritual growth. This is the first step

In the second step, the new believers will enroll in a level one discipleship class that

the different spiritual disciplines for the Christian life. The main purpose of the third step is to

course, the now equipped believers will start serving at a ministry at church that fits their gifts

and abilities. To provide this opportunity, our church will conduct what we call “ministry fairs”

several times a year. In this ministry fairs, church ministries will be assigned booths to promote

their work and to recruit volunteers. In addition, all year long, church members in general

including developing new believers will have the opportunity to serve as volunteers for any of

the church ministries by registering as volunteers in our website or in the welcome center.

believers the attitude of a servant and the urgency of the great commission. After the completion

of this level the now mature Christians will be assigned new believers that they will mentor. This

step will develop their potential as leaders in the church. In the final and fith step of the program,

all mentors and leaders of the church will have to participate in a Leaders’ Academy that will

provide an ongoing training in a monthly basis. The main purpose of the last facet of the program

called Leaders’ Academy is to provide continuous training for church leaders and spiritual

mentors, and to increase their competence. It is not a secret that church leaders struggle with

many challenges including lack of motivation. Therefore, the goal of the academy is to