Does your church have enough leaders? If you do, great, but if the church is healthy and growing you will need more someday. In fact, even if your church is not growing there is a strong possibility that you’ll need new leaders to replace your current leaders someday. So, do you have a plan? Does your church have a system in place to identify and develop future leaders? I hope you do, but if you don’t here are five ways to consider and try.
1. Invite someone to follow you.
There are future leaders all around you, some of them just aren’t ready to lead yet. Ask God to show you a potential future leader and give them an opportunity to serve with you.
2. Invite them to serve.
When you invite people to serve with you it gives you an opportunity to teach them the skills needed. It will also allow you disciple as you serve together.
3. Take them to a conference or workshop.
Expose them to new ideas then ask them what they saw and heard. Take time to debrief afterward, ask them questions and help them implement what they learned into their area of ministry.
4. Mentor them.
We see this in Jesus’ ministry with the disciples, he regularly sat and discussed things with them. He was preparing them to carry on the mission when He was gone.
5. Let them help train other people to serve along with them.
Once they developed enough competency, ask them to invite someone to serve with them. Watch how they do, and then meet with them afterward to reflect on how things went.
This is a simple way to develop people to serve, and by following these steps you will identify people with the potential to become leaders.
For more information and help, contact David Ludwig at davidl@brnunited.org.
