Dear brothers & sisters:
“Discipleship Uncomplicated”, The 8 Principles of Disciple Making by Dr. Warren Haynes
Principle 8 – Multiply Leaders – Empower Rapid Advance (part 2)
I have sat through numerous conferences, meetings, and focus groups on church growth, and I can tell you with confidence that these two practices are essential to growing ministries and organizations. One example is Sunday school: An effective Sunday school ministry is built on starting new units or classes. What do you need to start a new unit or Sunday school class? You need a leader and you need new members. Sunday school stagnation happens when the Sunday school stops developing new leaders who reach new people.
Another example is small groups. A church can experience tremendous growth by multiplying small groups. Again, what do you need to start small groups? You need a leader and you need new members. If you get the inside scoop on successful ministries, you will find they are built on developing leaders and reaching new people. Two examples in this generation are Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. Foundational staples of their ministries are the practices of developing leaders and reaching new people.
I have a friend who called the twenty-five fasting growing in America and asked them if they had a written pathway for leadership development. What he found was crystal clear. Every single one of these ministries had a clear process – in writing – on how they went about developing leaders. An interesting note: These congregations had diverse types of senior leadership, they came from different denominations, they expounded various doctrines, and they approached the process of developing leaders differently. However, all of them are absolutely committed to learning how to consistently develop high-quality leaders in their organizations, and all of them are growing.
