Develop New Leaders: Becoming a multiplier

By Rich Cochran, Director of Leadership Development

The personal commitment to us develop leaders for Kingdom expansion will expose our hearts and motives as a leader very quickly. It’s the heart of the pastor, planter, and church leader that will determine if we will identify, train, and send leaders out of our churches to build the Kingdom of God.

Great leaders multiply leaders to expand the Kingdom.

Multiplying leaders is a great need for churches across Illinois. As pastors, we struggle with multiplying leaders because we seem to always be struggling to find enough volunteers for our own ministries. We have to determine in our hearts that we are called by God to build his Kingdom not ours. When we invest in other leaders and launch them to lead, we are multiplying our influence and more importantly we are multiplying the Kingdom.

This month I talked with several leaders across our state that have committed in their hearts to invest in others.

David Smith pastors First Baptist Church Grayville. He spends time with a college-age man called to ministry. They study the Bible together, talk about church, and David even includes him during sermon preparation time.

Chet Daniels pastors Redeemer Church in Urbana and has been investing in potential leaders since the church was established. Chet leads an intensive preaching cohort where he is developing preaching skills and sending them out to smaller churches in the surrounding area.

Rayden Hollis recently planted Red Hill Church in Edwardsville. He spends time with upcoming leaders and releases them as partners in ministry. He knows they will go off and plant a church somewhere else. His time with them will be short, but he equips because he knows to reach Illinois, we need new work all over the state.

All three of these leaders serve in different types of churches—a new church, a church started about eight years ago, and a church that has been around a long time. Each of these are in different contexts and all are under 250 in size.

Being a multiplying leader is not determined by location, church size, or church type. It is the leader’s heart to multiply new leaders that is the game changer.

The commitment:

Pray and Identify — Ask God to raise up leaders in your church and invite them into a mentoring and coaching relationship to develop their ministry gifts and skills.

Train and Partner — Offer intentional leadership training and partner with IBSA and others to train and equip leaders.

Send and Repeat — Commission and ordain leaders from your church and send them to a place of service as a pastor, planter, missionary, or church leader. Then do it again!

Join us for our next Developing Leader webinar on May 16 and hear from David Seaton, pastor of Collinsville Community Church.

Great leaders multiply leaders to expand the Kingdom!

Learn more at PioneeringSpirit.org.