As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Where are the pastors and missionaries for the next generation? Where are the leaders to be trained? The laborers have always been few (Luke 10:2). But why do they seem even fewer in the twenty-first century? Even more troubling, why are so many churches today no longer training leaders? Here are five possible reasons.
“In a mission to ‘multiply healthy churches by multiplying healthy leaders,’ Rock Point Church, Crawfordsville, Indiana, is training the next generation of church leaders through residencies and summer internships.” - GARBC
“The real challenge is helping the elders change their focus from a board-of-trustees mentality to a shepherding mentality. In this article I will share our journey of making that change” - 9 Marks
“I realized that something crucial was amiss…. I saw the same people rotating in and out of leadership positions. I realized that my church had a glaring absence of fresh faces, young leaders eager to step into roles of influence.” - GARBC Blog
Leadership development is one of those things that churches love to talk about but rarely seem to do. Pastors and churches need to prayerfully consider how they might assess and train men for ministry for the furtherance of the gospel. Over the past three years, our church has made significant strides by God’s grace in proactively identifying, developing, and deploying men for various ministries within our church.
“The caveat for any solutions to fill leadership voids is that it does not happen overnight. But we are working with a number of church leaders who are beginning to see success in finding the right kinds of leaders.” - Church Answers
Evangelize, disciple, and train leaders—these are the priorities of missionaries serving in foreign countries.
Evangelize and disciple—these are the priorities of pastors serving in the U.S. If a new pastor is needed, the church rarely looks within, nor can they because no one is ready to step into the shepherding role. A local church must hire its next pastor from another church or out of seminary.
By Paul Barreca. Read Part 1.
Seek Seekers
In 2 Timothy 2:1-2, Paul instructed Timothy to entrust the truths that had been taught by Paul and other spiritual leaders to “faithful men.” Finding these men is a vital part of an intentional plan to train men for ministry. Which men are to be trained? Jesus and Paul provide an example.
By Paul Barreca
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2Ti 2:2)
How does the church train the “faithful men” destined to be the next generation of pastors, evangelists, elders, deacons, and ministry leaders? It will require more than asking men to attend church services. There must be intentionality if church leaders want to see new generations of godly leaders equipped for ministry.
Discussion