The average church has so much going on and seldom enough people to manage each task effectively. Finding volunteers to cover the work of ministry can become the constant focus. Because of this urgency, leadership development often falls by the wayside. We know it is essential, but because it’s not time bound and critical, it takes a backseat to more pressing needs.
But when churches aren’t developing leaders, ministry atrophies. Here are three signs that your church isn’t prioritizing creating leaders.
1. A lack of lay leaders.
In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul laid out God’s model for ministry:
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV).
In God’s economy, people are given gifts to do ministry. But many Christians are never invited to step into and learn about their gifts. When you don’t create opportunities for congregants to serve and develop their gifts, you have to hire people to come in and do the work of ministry, turning potential ministers into observers—people who are being served instead of serving.
Every church is full of an unbelievable amount of untapped potential. One of your goals as a staff should be to help people learn to step into that capacity for ministry. When you create a healthy atmosphere that prepares more people for ministry, you’re helping people develop spiritually—and becoming less reliant on “professional” ministers to serve the church.
2. High turnover.
It isn’t too tricky to nail many of the elements that help people want to return to your church after a visit. People will often come back if the messages and music are relevant or if you have a healthy plan to follow up on their contact information. But without leadership development, you’ll have a hard time holding on to them.
Many congregants have a strong drive to be involved, but they don’t always know how to get plugged in. When they respond to calls for volunteers, the things they’re asked to do don’t feel empowering. Instead of using their gifts, they end up serving in ways that don’t align with their passions.
When there aren’t enough leaders mentoring, equipping, and encouraging people to use their gifts, people become observers. Then they become critics. It’s not intentional or even out of a sense of frustration. Without an outlet to exercise their God-given abilities, people start to critique. That erodes their trust and investment in the church and ultimately leads them to look elsewhere.
Among ministry leaders, it’s easy to dismiss these people as judgmental and difficult. But quite often these are people who don’t have a better outlet for their passions and gifts.
3. No discipleship process.
Imagine that someone who’s never heard the good news walks into your church on a Sunday morning. Throughout the morning, the Spirit draws them to respond to the gospel, and they do so. What roadmap do you have in place to take them from a know-nothing follower of Jesus to a mature disciple? Is there a transparent process? Could someone in your church articulate it?
Churches exist to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19 NIV). And making disciples is another form of leadership development, as Jesus modeled equipping and releasing His followers. But without a plan, discipleship becomes haphazard.
It’s not enough for people to sit in pews and learn biblical and doctrinal truths. They’ve got to develop a passion for the work of the Kingdom and equipping others. That can only happen if leaders take them under their wing. If a church has a leadership deficit, it struggles to create disciples who are prepared to lead others.
Developing leaders is a must.
While developing leaders isn’t urgent, it’s critical. Churches are strongest when people are equipped to use their gifts and prepared to empower others. When churches abandon the mindset that staff members are the leaders and the congregation is the receivers of ministry, true growth starts to occur.
