Multiplying Missional Leaders

Leadership is one of the most over-used and overwrought topics in Christian ministry today. Yet for all the books, blogs and conferences, there are two staggering realities we must come to grips with: First, while most churches believe they have leadership development programs, in actuality, they have programs that recruit and train volunteers, not leaders. A volunteer is someone who executes someone else's vision. A leader is someone with a vision of their own. In truth, there are often only a few leaders in the average church and everyone else are simply executing their vision. It's the genius with a thousand helpers. Perhaps more troubling, though, is that our development programs are not about releasing leaders to the missional frontier, but volunteers keeping the machine of the church running. To be sure, we should attend to the organization of the church, for it is a significant thing when the scattered church gathers. But as the Church stares precipitous decline in the face-as we look to re-embrace the missio Dei-we must learn again the art that Jesus mastered: the task of multiplying missional leaders and releasing them to the cracks and crevices of society where there is little-to-no Kingdom presence. People often like quippy sayings like, "We want to be known more for our sending capacity than our seating capacity." This book is about how that can become a reality in your community.