Where are our
future church
leaders? They
are waiting to
be tapped on
the shoulder
and prepared
for service.
Where Are
A
Our Future
Church Leaders? by J.J. Turner
s a student of leadership
and author of numerous
books and articles on leadership and a practitioner of leadership
for more than 45 years, I am deeply
concerned about the decline and lack
of leadership in the church. Congregations that once had a dozen elders to
shepherd a flock of hundreds are now
down to two elders and a declining
membership. Requests for men to step
forward and take up the shepherding
staff go unheeded as few men desire to
prepare themselves for the eldership.
There is also a shortage of deacons,
teachers and preachers.
Various ministries in congregations go without proper oversight by
deacons (Acts 6:1-7) because few men
have a desire to “wait on tables” (v. 2
Photo: iStockphoto
niv84).
Requests for teachers go unanswered as Bible classes suffer from
a lack of staffing leadership. Even
efforts to get men to participate in
the worship service by serving on the
table find fewer men willing to serve.
In 2007, the legendary auto executive Lee Iacocca raised a question that
was not only for every American, but is
also one with application to the church:
“Where have all the leaders gone?” In
his book by the same title he wrote:
“Where are the voices of leaders who
can inspire us to action and make us
stand taller? What happened to the
strong and resolute party of Lincoln?
What happened to the courageous,
populist party of FDR and Truman?
There was a time in this country when
the voices of great leaders lifted us up
and made us want to do better. Where
have all the leaders gone?” (5).
My question is: Where are our
future church leaders? Where are the
men and boys who will step up to
the plate and prepare themselves to
be leaders in the local congregation?
Leadership is everybody’s business.
We especially need leadership in our
churches, homes, schools, businesses,
government, society and communities.
Where are our future church leaders? They are in some of the most unusual places, just as they have always
been when God called them to lead:
• Moses was on the back side of
the mountain.
• Amos was climbing trees and tending flocks.
• Joshua was in the shadows.
March 2012
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• David was shepherding sheep.
• Peter was in the fishing business.
• Paul was on a search and seek mission to destroy the church.
• John the Baptist was in the
wilderness.
• Jesus was in a carpentry shop.
• Matthew was collecting taxes.
• Timothy was maturing as a
young man.
It is obvious that God finds leaders in some very unusual places. He
didn’t comb through résumés, visit
schools or run ads in the paper looking for men to step forward to become
leaders. It is not the physical location
or pedigree God is looking for in a
potential leader – it is his heart: “But
the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not
on his countenance, or on the height
of his stature; because I have refused
him: for the Lord seeth not as man
seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on
the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 kjv).
Where are our future church leaders? They are on the pews, in Bible
classes and, in some cases, in their
mothers’ arms. These future leaders
need encouragement, mentoring and
training in order to step into greater
leadership roles. They don’t need a
title to lead because realistically all
leadership relates to influence, and
everybody has influence. Therefore,
we all have the capacity to be leaders, but only those who will prepare
themselves will become effective
leaders in the local church and those
who qualify for specific roles (i.e.
elders, deacons, etc.)
When I first became a full-time
preacher one of the things most
congregations were interested in was
leadership training. “Can you teach
a men’s leadership training class?”
was a question frequently asked in
the interview process. Through the
years I have watched the loss of interest in leadership training in local
congregations. More and more leaders have been selected to lead who
have been exposed to the leadership
models in business. Some of these
are okay, but leaders in the church
need to be trained in biblical leadership principles and God’s Word.
Our future church leaders are
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members of the body of Christ
(cf. Ephesians 4:11-16). Our future
church leaders will be motivated
by a desire to serve Christ and His
church. They will avail themselves
of training. They will take seriously
the role of leading.
Our present approach to developing
leaders isn’t getting the job done, as
is evidenced by the decline and lack
of leaders. Leadership that is effective
and biblical doesn’t just happen. It
takes special training and mentoring
to develop leaders in the church.
In our congregation, we conduct
a yearly Future Leaders Training
Camp for boys ages 12 to 18. During
this intensive boot camp week, boys
are taken though various aspects
of leadership from preparing and
delivering sermons to other areas
of church ministry. This is a way
of getting our boys on a track to
become elders, deacons, preachers,
song leaders, teachers, etc.
Leaders aren’t born; they’re
developed through training. This is
seen in the way Jesus selected and
trained His apostles for more than
three years. Leadership training may
take place through reading, viewing, listening, seminars, workshops,
conferences and classes. The key
is to have an organized yearly plan
of leadership training using various
resources. With encouragement and
the proper resources, we will see our
leadership ranks increase.
Where are our future church leaders? They are waiting to be tapped
on the shoulder and prepared for
service. They need to be encouraged
through personal contact. They need
to be in a class for leadership training. They need to become helpers
in preparation for taking over ministries. These future leaders need
to understand that all leadership
begins with the leadership of self
and that the home is the practice
base for leadership.
Where are our future church leaders? They are preparing today to
lead tomorrow. ❏
J.J. Turner is the president of the
Jeremiah Institute, a leadership development program. He may be reached by
email at [email protected].