Leadership Development: Churches Don't Have to Go it Alone,Part II

Despite all that has been written, conferences that have been attended, and our best efforts, leadership development remains a critical need for our churches. Over claims of either relevancy or expediency, some churches have abandoned higher education and have started training leaders from their own ranks of volunteers. This three-part series suggests that the academy can assist the local church with this need by taking a holistic approach to developing emerging leaders and finding ways to partner with the local church in the process. The first article (Fall 2009) briefly reviewed the academy's relationship with the church and addressed ways to increase a leader's capacity to lead, focusing on the first domain, the leader's heart or character development. This second article examines the next domain of holistic development, the leader's knowledge. It will seek to answer the question, “What do ministry leaders need to know and where should it be learned?” The third article focuses on the final domain—skills. The expected abilities of ministry leaders will be discussed. All three articles will consider the implications to the curriculum and suggested church involvement.