Leadership Development is Always Needed
By Mark K. Richardson
If you have been in working in church ministry for any period of time, you have probably been through many courses and seminars designed to develop you and those who serve with you as leaders. You have surely read your share of leadership books and heard more than your share of leadership proclamations and platitudes, such as “Everything rises and falls with leadership.” Everyone in the secular and church worlds, it seems, has a style of leadership training and development, a collection of leadership experts and consultants, and scores of success and horror stories to share about how it should be done. The leadership sections of most bookstores, Christian and secular, have grown substantially over the years, and nearly all institutes of higher learning have advanced degrees in leadership development. All of this underscores just how important leadership development is in this era.
Leadership development has always been important for the basic reason that there is always a need for more and better leaders. The Church of God reformation movement is no exception. We have a great need to develop more and better leaders as we move forward. Leadership development cuts across every sector of who we are, and it flavors much of the content of the sessions and events of this year’s North American Convention. What is important about leadership development in the current time, especially as it relates to the Church of God reformation movement, is that it be driven by our overarching mission of “Transforming Culture by being the Body of Christ.”
It is crucial that our leadership development efforts are led and inspired by the Holy Spirit. They must be comprehensive, collaborative, and coordinated between the diverse ministry groups within our movement. The wonderful and gifted people of Church of God Ministries are committed to answering the clarion call of God to develop (or better, disciple) leaders at all levels, such as
• the enthusiastic and amazed youth who wrestle to understand the call of God ,
• the young adult who is answering God’s call and preparing for service,
• the young ministers who are functioning in the areas of their calling,
• the middle-aged men and women functioning in the call,
• the older adult who has labored long and well in the vineyard,
• the lay leadership within our congregations and agencies, and
• the missionaries who commit themselves to sharing the gospel where God sends them.
Church of God Ministries is excited to renew our passionate pursuit of leadership development to facilitate our mission of transforming culture. The leadership development programs, training, consulting, and resources we provide, will be humbly offered with that mission foremost in our hearts and minds. Our efforts and offerings will reflect our strategic values to love, to reach, to connect, to grow, and to live. We eagerly look forward to working with you to transform the culture.
