A "Successful" Church Leader

[ITS]

What specific criteria should we use to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

[dbear]

What specific criteria should be used to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

So many churches judge the success of a leader based on numbers within a given program. Although I understand this tension and agree that a successful ministry should naturaly grow, it might not expand in large numbers but be evident by the quality of people it produces that will go out from the church and make disciples. Specific criteria would be answers to the following questions which are not in any specific order: 1) Does this leader serve his volunteers? 2) Do the volunteers respond to his leadership? 3) Are people being equiped for service? 4) Is there longevity from the volunteers under him? 4) Are the people that the ministry is targeting being loved, cared for, equiped, and having their sepcific needs met? These are the questions that need an affirmative answer in order to determine if a leader is successful. If these things are taking place, the ministry and minister will be successful.

[Vern Caswell]

Question #1 ? What specific criteria should be used to determine if a church leader is successful?
The primary quality of a leader is determining if people are growing in their faith. Along with this, modeling the qualities of leadership is important. It is as much about walking the walk as talking the talk. Robert Greenleaf, in his book Servant Leadership, states, ?The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged on society; will they benefit, or at least, not be further deprived?? I agree with Greenleaf that measuring this would be tough. But, it at least gives the parameters that may be used to define effective, quality leadership.

[Jodi Michelle]

What specific criteria should be used to determine if a church leader is "successful"?
:wink: I've got mixed feelings about the specific criteria I'd list in order to judge a "successful" church leader, save one who is obedient to the Lord, due to the fact that so many times we may think one IS NOT successful, and judge and condemn him as such, only to find out years, sometimes centuries later how successful, (FOR THE WORK OF THE LORD) he really was, i.e. Jesus Christ. Perhaps that's what I'll be learning in this course. :lol: However, if I were to state my current thoughts on the matter, in addition to what I've already said I'd have to say first that he must be a servant demonstrating the humility and obedience of Christ. For if a leader can not serve and obey himself, how can he expect to accomplish anything in Christian leadership for the Lord.

[Vern Caswell]

Reply to: So many churches judge the success of a leader based on numbers within a given program. ...

I agree with this statement. It is about quality versus quantity. I would rather have one person on fire for the Lord than a whole congregation of lukewarm pew sitters. I do however disagree with the question about longevity as the best evaluator of a ministry. It is not about one person in a role for many years but about having many having many people waiting, training, becoming equipped for ministry, waiting in the wings. In this way, the ministry, whatever it is, does not suffer from a change in leadership. The ball is not dropped and the ministry continues to function even during a transition.

Vern Caswell

[hyper48]

What specific criteria should we use to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

I think that the criteria should be growth and reproduction. I am not referring to numeric growth, but the spiritual growth of those following the leader. By reproduction, I am referring to a leader who is invovled in developing other leaders. Both of these are seen in Jesus' ministry. The disciples grew spiritual as they were impacted by Jesus' minsitry and they were developed into leaders.

[hyper48]

However, if I were to state my current thoughts on the matter, in addition to what I've already said I'd have to say first that he must be a servant demonstrating the humility and obedience of Christ. For if a leader can not serve and obey himself, how can he expect to accomplish anything in Christian leadership for the Lord.

I concur with humility and obedience being important criteria to succuessful Christian leadership. C. Gene Wilkes in his book Jesus on Leadership list humility as one of the seven principles to servant leadership. In addition, he lists a leader being a follower as another principle, which is essentially obedience. Both of which are important principles of servant leadership.

[twwilson]

A "successful" Christian leader should be identified by the maturity of those who follow him not by the number who follow him. The sin of David numbering the nation of Israel and subsequent judgment repeatedly comes to mind when numbers are mentioned in regards to a Christian organizations success. So the litmus test of "success" in Christianity should be the questions that reveal Christian maturity (i.e. spirituality). Do the followers show Christian maturity: evangelism, discipleship, knowledge, fruit of the Spirit.

[twwilson]

What specific criteria should we use to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

I think that the criteria should be growth and reproduction. I am not referring to numeric growth, but the spiritual growth of those following the leader. By reproduction, I am referring to a leader who is invovled in developing other leaders. Both of these are seen in Jesus' ministry. The disciples grew spiritual as they were impacted by Jesus' minsitry and they were developed into leaders.

I agree with your balance of internal growth and external reproduction. Personally, I find this difficult at times because it is a slippery slope with external reproduction to fall into the habit of counting the number of people I have led to Christ. Better, the count should be the number I have witnessed to and the number I have helped mature in Christ.

[Yeshib1]

dbear listed the following questions as criteria for determining successful leadership, "4) Is there longevity from the volunteers under him? 4) Are the people that the ministry is targeting being loved, cared for, equiped, and having their sepcific needs met?" I think these two ideas are critical. If a ministry continues, passes the test of time, and continues to thrill and challenge volunteers to be involved then the leadership involved was a success. Also, if the ministry fails to be relationship-centered I believe it borders on failure. Jesus' example in the Gospels of ministry was people-oriented. He ate with them, shared with them, cried with them. Leading others to see that love for one another is vital in successful leadership.

[ERICSHEPARD]

The first criterion of a successful leader is accountability. A true leader is accountable for the work and the actions of those they are responsible for. Wherever the buck stops that's the true leader in the organization.
The second criterion of a successful leader is a commitment to the vision. Subordinates sometimes only see the task and the objectives before them, a successful leader sees past the immediate to the overall goal, the very reason the organization exist and what it is trying to do.
The third criterion of a successful leader is faithfulness in spite of adversity, setbacks, discouragement or personal tragedy. Successful leadership in the church can never be gauged by outward appearance for our main example Jesus Christ would be deemed a total failure. In the last evaluation it will be whether we were faithful and obedient to the call.

[ERICSHEPARD]

In reply to twwilson on dec 18,2003
"A successful Christian leader should be identified by the maturity of those who follow him not by the number who follow him."

Definately maturity throughout the New Testament is the sought after goal and achievement among the believers, and we see this in the words of both the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul.
Jesus said to the disciples to go into all the world and make, train up, raise up disciples, ones that are just like you, who become like you, in all nations.
Also Paul writing to Timothy wrote, raise up and train men who will be qualified to raise up and train others also.
It seems from these verses that though its not about numbers, the mature believer will raise up others like himself, he will reproduce mature followers, who will also reproduce themselves in others.
Another aspect of raising up mature believers is they won't be satisfied with just the field they are working in but will desire to reach out as Paul to where Christ is not known.

[vacleslie]

Someone once said, "Before you decide whether I've been a good parent, wait until you see how my grandchildren turn out." I can really appreciate this because it points out the importance of character development. Our culture is so focused on success in the measurable sense that we often overlook the character factor. The church needs to be careful about adopting the "success" mentality where we only look at numbers or how well a program functions that we forget the the ultimate goal is growing people after God's own heart. I would rather be known as a leader that impacted people in a way that helped them see more of who Christ is than to be known as someone who led a ministry that was "successful" in all the wrong ways.

[vacleslie]

dbear said, "Specific criteria would be answers to the following questions which are not in any specific order: 1) Does this leader serve his volunteers? 2) Do the volunteers respond to his leadership? 3) Are people being equiped for service? 4) Is there longevity from the volunteers under him? 4) Are the people that the ministry is targeting being loved, cared for, equiped, and having their sepcific needs met? These are the questions that need an affirmative answer in order to determine if a leader is successful. If these things are taking place, the ministry and minister will be successful."

I value this comment because it is what I believe Jesus modeled. We are created for relationship and Jesus used this as the basis for what he did with his diciples. When he called them, he spent three years with them, day in and day out. He knew all about them and continued to show them how much he loved and cared for them. Because of that twelve men were transformed to the point where they impacted an entire world. Jesus knew the importance of being with people, encouraging them and equiping them, serving them, and most of all, loving them where they were at. The disciples followed Jesus not because his program sounded good, but because he genuinely cared for them.

[stevepiper]

Presumably from a particular church?s perspective, a successful leader is one who accomplishes the objectives of the church in which he or she is a leader. This calls into question the church?s objectives. But in answering this question, I think we need to separate the leader from a particular church setting. The model we should follow is that of Jesus. As Ford put it, Jesus had his own standard of success - he stood for the values of the kingdom (Transforming Leadership, p. 79). This is a value system that has the glory of God at its core. It is not interested in numbers but in drawing in born-again hearts and developing a depth of faith that sustains the believer in trials and indeed engenders joy in any circumstances. It is the development and growth of disciples who live faithful and holy lives. It seeks to produce leaders who in turn produce other leaders who also produce leaders. It is the godly application of spiritual gifts. Successful church leadership results in a body that serves so that God will be glorified.

[stevepiper]

In reply to vacleslie 18 Aug 2004: I agree with your thoughts on avoiding the world?s penchant for quantitative measures of success when assessing progress in the church. I recently read Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper which is on the topic of missions and he starts the book with these sentences, ?Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn?t.? (p. 17) In these statements, I think he hits the proverbial nail on the head with regard to what constitutes success in the church. A church is successful if all of its focus is on worshiping God. It follows that successful church leaders are focused on providing leadership that graciously, lovingly, but single-mindedly guides the members of the body toward fulltime glorification and worship of God in every aspect of their lives, not just for a couple of hours on Sunday morning.

[jragsdale]

What specific criteria should we use to determine if a church leader is "successful"?
There are several things that come to mind whenever I think about the success of a church leader. I would ask people in the community if they are familiar with the particular church that the leader is pastoring. If the community does not notice the impact of the church, then perhaps the church is not being successful therefore the leader may not be successful. Are people beginning a relationship with Christ as a result of his ministry? More importantly, are those people growing in Christ? I would also ask if he is leader over a team, if he were to not be there for a service...a week...or any length of time, would the team members be able to operate without him? A good leader is an excellent leader, if he pours himself into other people and molds them.

[jragsdale]

What specific criteria should be used to determine if a church leader is "successful"?
:wink: I've got mixed feelings about the specific criteria I'd list in order to judge a "successful" church leader, save one who is obedient to the Lord, due to the fact that so many times we may think one IS NOT successful, and judge and condemn him as such, only to find out years, sometimes centuries later how successful, (FOR THE WORK OF THE LORD) he really was, i.e. Jesus Christ. Perhaps that's what I'll be learning in this course. :lol: However, if I were to state my current thoughts on the matter, in addition to what I've already said I'd have to say first that he must be a servant demonstrating the humility and obedience of Christ. For if a leader can not serve and obey himself, how can he expect to accomplish anything in Christian leadership for the Lord. I understand your line of thought seeking to mirror Christ as our goal, but how do we determine success? Is success only if we are just like Jesus? That is impossible! As long as we are human, we would never be successful! Our success cannot be based on something we can not attain while we walk in the flesh. No...our objectives need to be set lower so we can determine our success. We should ask, are we making an impact for the Kingdom?

[matt07serv]

A successful church leader is one who has 100% full assurance that he has been called by God to be at his particular church in his particular position. The criteria used to evaluate this is to look at his confidence as he operates in his position. If he knows he is called by God and supposed to be their, then he will be used by God because he is exercising his faith and trust in Him. As far as the results of a successful church leader are concerned, I believe success is measured not by growth in numbers but by changed lives for Christ. Obviously that includes salvation, but also changes in relationships among the elders and congregation of the church to be more trusting and encouraging with one another. The actual growth of the body of Christ within the church. God wants His people to grow and overflow with the Spirit because it is only then when they are overflowing with the Spirit can they reach out to others with that overflow. This is the criteria I believe determines the success of a good church leader!

[matt07serv]

What specific criteria should be used to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

So many churches judge the success of a leader based on numbers within a given program. Although I understand this tension and agree that a successful ministry should naturaly grow, it might not expand in large numbers but be evident by the quality of people it produces that will go out from the church and make disciples. Specific criteria would be answers to the following questions which are not in any specific order: 1) Does this leader serve his volunteers? 2) Do the volunteers respond to his leadership? 3) Are people being equiped for service? 4) Is there longevity from the volunteers under him? 4) Are the people that the ministry is targeting being loved, cared for, equiped, and having their sepcific needs met? These are the questions that need an affirmative answer in order to determine if a leader is successful. If these things are taking place, the ministry and minister will be successful.

I agree completely that although large numbers in a church are nice a successful church leader will reproduce after himself followers who are full of the Spirit in genuine quality, not quantity. Servanthood is the first step in the life of any Christian, so first how does the leader serve those under him? He is to be an example to them so they can learn from him. From following his example, he should produce disciples that work for God because of God and not because of the leader. A successful leader always points the peoples' eyes to God and not himself. Yes, if these things are taking place the ministry and the minister will be successful.

[herbiedog]

An important criteria in determining success is the degree to which a leader successfully ‘reproduces’ him or herself in others. Leighton Ford’s work on transforming leadership argues that the church needs ‘both a supreme model and the source which Jesus provides for transforming leaders’. Jesus was extremely ‘successful’ in reproducing Himself in others, teaching them the principles and practices of reproduction. Church leaders will ensure the continuity, longevity and growth of the church to the extent that they are able to transform, train and develop leaders who will carry the ministry forward. It is my firm conviction that effective mentoring plays a significant part in the reproduction process. Good training may produce skilful leaders but effective mentoring reproduces character. Building a strong relationship, giving responsibility to and requiring accountability from others, are the hallmarks of mentoring leaders. Leading by example creates followers who will lead by example and so on. It was Jesus’ vision for His church and it must be the vision of modern church leaders who seek to be successful.

[herbiedog]

What specific criteria should be used to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

So many churches judge the success of a leader based on numbers within a given program. Although I understand this tension and agree that a successful ministry should naturaly grow, it might not expand in large numbers but be evident by the quality of people it produces that will go out from the church and make disciples. Specific criteria would be answers to the following questions which are not in any specific order: 1) Does this leader serve his volunteers? 2) Do the volunteers respond to his leadership? 3) Are people being equiped for service? 4) Is there longevity from the volunteers under him? 4) Are the people that the ministry is targeting being loved, cared for, equiped, and having their sepcific needs met? These are the questions that need an affirmative answer in order to determine if a leader is successful. If these things are taking place, the ministry and minister will be successful.

“it might not expand in large numbers but be evident by the quality of people it produces that will go out from the church and make disciples”


Growth may be qualitative or quantitative, or both. It is possible for a church to grow numerically and spiritually, at the same time. A successful leader will find effective ways to do both. He or she will not attempt this on their own, but will ensure that appropriate measures are in place to empower others to help the church achieve meaningful and sustainable growth. A successful leader will delegate to facilitate, that is the leader will give responsibility to others and hold them accountable for outcomes. In effect a leader is creating ‘multiple successes’ since he or she is achieving in the realms of decision making, management, supervision, motivation and delegation, not to mention church growth in spirituality and numbers, in the congregation.

[Chris Carroll]

If the Church’s purpose is to go into the entire world as a witness, preaching the gospel to all nations (Matthew 28:19-20) and if local church, the visible expression of the Body of Christ, joins together for the worship of God, for edification through the Word of God, for prayer, fellowship, and proclamation of the gospel, and observance of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:41-47) then the successful church and its leaders, universal and local, exist under the Headship of Christ, and are to be about the right things as clarified by Scripture,. Neither the size of the church nor its public prestige should be used as markers for success. These are worldly markers. Rather, when church leaders work to maintain its purpose and pursue this purpose with right practices, conducting them love, a servant attitude, and faithfulness/obedience, then the church is successful and will show itself as such through the lives of its members.

[Chris Carroll]

An important criteria in determining success is the degree to which a leader successfully ‘reproduces’ him or herself in others. Leighton Ford’s work on transforming leadership argues that the church needs ‘both a supreme model and the source which Jesus provides for transforming leaders’. Jesus was extremely ‘successful’ in reproducing Himself in others, teaching them the principles and practices of reproduction. Church leaders will ensure the continuity, longevity and growth of the church to the extent that they are able to transform, train and develop leaders who will carry the ministry forward. It is my firm conviction that effective mentoring plays a significant part in the reproduction process. Good training may produce skilful leaders but effective mentoring reproduces character. Building a strong relationship, giving responsibility to and requiring accountability from others, are the hallmarks of mentoring leaders. Leading by example creates followers who will lead by example and so on. It was Jesus’ vision for His church and it must be the vision of modern church leaders who seek to be successful.
I appreciated your response and the focus you place on reproducing ministry through mentoring those who will carry the ministry forward. In my past work with Young Life, they referred to this proces as "working yourself out of a job." I have one addendum to your post. Mentoring is only effective if the character of the mentor is worth reproducing. What is such character to be based on? My assumption as I read your post was the life and minisry of Christ. Based on this assumption, the authenticity of the mentor's relationship with Christ and his/her ongoing sanctification via the activity of the Holy Spirit in his/her life is of great importance to God's ability to reproduce His minsitry through this person's life. Too often today, our Christian leaders pride themselves on "doing" church rather than "being" followers. Let's make one's commitment to "following" Christ the central requirement for allowing them to mentor others.

[71555]

What specific criteria should we use to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

Jesus says abide in me and I will abide in you (Johm 15). He will work out what He puts in you. I this standpoint, one should be able to lead in the fullness of the Spirit. What is a successful leader, one who has a close relationship with Jesus. If we get caught up in performance, it will screw up our minds. One test to check our effectiveness is to ask those around us about how they think we are doing and encourage frankness. If they are candid, then I think they trust you to receive criticism and input. Everyone will have something to say. If they do, they will see you as a open servant and humble. People will respond to the leader who takes initiatives in his or her agenda under these situations. Otherwise success can look deceptive. Some may follow, but will quit or move on.

[BobSchwerdt]

What specific criteria should we use to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

"Success" is a seemingly slippery object in the area of church or ministry leadership. Still, it's slipperiness doesn't excuse us from asking the question. I think the primary criterion for success in a church leader must be seen in the people being led: are they growing more like Christ? Are they increasingly demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit? Another criterion might be 'are the people being led growing in their own unique ministries to others?'
If a church leader is called to be a servant (Matt 20:25-28) then success should be measured by the spiritual welfare of those under his or her stewardship. While I cringe at reports of success that focus primarily on congregational size, it may be true that a spiritually healthy, thriving church may woo some non-believers to the faith. On the other hand, a church that promotes self-satisfaction and indulgence might also attract many people--and I would not call that "sucess"--not the way we're looking at it.

[BobSchwerdt]

Hello, 71555:

Thanks for posting. I'm wondering if you can clarify what you mean by "lead in the fullness of the Spirit." We may well agree, but sometimes that can mean different things to different people. Can you help me understand what you mean?
Much of what you say belongs more to a description of a good Christian, rather than a good church leader. Whether or not we are leading, we should still keep close in our walk with Christ, and we should be open to appropriate criticism (though we shouldn't shape our faith and life to correspond to what pleases people or what they necessary want us to do/be).
Do you have any ideas that pertain distinctly to leaders?
Looking forward to your response.

[Anja van Slooten]

A leader is “successful” when he is faithful to his calling. If he is pouring himself out for God being a humble servant, developing others in faith and equipping them for the ministry he is successful. Matthew 25:14-30 shows us that it is not about numbers. It is about being faithful to Jesus and his calling. A successful leader is the one who can say like Jesus in John 17:4 “I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do”.

[Anja van Slooten]

An important criteria in determining success is the degree to which a leader successfully ‘reproduces’ him or herself in others. .

I would agree with this comment if the first sentence would be a bit different. If a leader is reproducing himself in his followers that can be a sign of failure since he has to reproduce Jesus in others and not himself. Growing up in a post-communist country I saw that church leaders are able to reproduce themselves in others, to bad that they couldn’t say like Paul, “ Imitate me as I imitate Christ”.

[BobSchwerdt]

Very well said, Anja. I agree completely, church leaders should see Christ formed in themselves and in their followers.

[SeaPeak]

What specific criteria should we use to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

The specific criteria to determine if a church leader is successful have several possible answers depending on the particular leadership role. A senior pastor for example is first judged successful in my mind if the majority of the people in the congregation are growing in the Word using their God given spiritual gifts and talents to edify the entire body, purposing to be obedient to the Great Commission. To determine this would require knowing how many people in the congregation are regularly attending not only the Sunday services, preaching and adult education classes, but participating in small groups, doing personal Bible studies, having family devotionals, reaching out to other congregants and people in their neighborhoods and at work. A successful pastor is not one who has a faithful mob leaning on his every word but a congregation that is loving one another, maturing, and reaching out to the lost. A successful Sunday School superintendent on the other hand would be one who always have teachers anxious to teach, where those taught of all ages enjoy coming to class and demonstrating that the Word is making a difference in their lives. In short spiritual growth and the raising up of new leaders from among those being led is the criteria for measuring the success of a church leader.

[agamtoks]

What specific criteria should we use to determine if a church leader is "successful"?

I have some qualms about the term 'successful' and interestingly it is in quotation marks. Whose standards of success do we use? Certainly not the world's. If there was a way of discovering if the pastor is walking with God, and leading people to a closer walk with God, that would be the first. Secondly for accountability purposes, if the church has acheivable godly goals, is the pastor leading the congregation to meet those goals?
In summary, a "successful" pastor is walking with God, leading others to a closer walk with God, and inspiring the people to fulfill the mission of the church.

[agamtoks]

Question #1 ? What specific criteria should be used to determine if a church leader is successful?
The primary quality of a leader is determining if people are growing in their faith. Along with this, modeling the qualities of leadership is important. It is as much about walking the walk as talking the talk. Robert Greenleaf, in his book Servant Leadership, states, ?The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged on society; will they benefit, or at least, not be further deprived?? I agree with Greenleaf that measuring this would be tough. But, it at least gives the parameters that may be used to define effective, quality leadership.

I agree with you that this growth is difficult to determine. But the things you quoted Greenleaf as saying; while they are good and commendable qualities, I am not sure they are exactly the definition of spiritual growth. Greenleaf, much as I rever his writing, writes from a secular standpoint. While we learn from him, I think spiritual growth transcends the personality development indicated in the comments here. While these are products of spiritual growth, there are other dimensions as well. But I agree definitely that whther others are becoming servants themselves is an indication of a good job of servanthood.