Having already worked through the discussion paper on the three likes of eldership development, and three C’s, we’re now going to think about how important the three D’s of eldership development are to us as a church. Where the three “likes” were all about Jesus, and the three C’s were all about our church, the three D’s are all about our training.

If we are going to develop elders who are ready for what being an elder is really like, then we need to design (not one of these D’s) that into the process of eldership development. This is where the three D’s shape the core of this, and they describe (still not yet a D) a system we have developed that is highly relational and highly valued at Make Leaders. It’s a training system that is fundamentally:

1. Discipleship

2. Dynamic

3. Directional

Now these could just be three buzzwords, but they do mean something and they mean a lot to us.

1. Discipleship is at the core of the Christian life, a walk, a way of following Jesus - and a glad obedience of Jesus’ mission for us to make disciple-makers (Matthew 28:16-20). Eldership development must be first and foremost shaped around seeing leaders who will make disciple-makers of Jesus Christ. We don’t seek to train elders to be just decision-makers (the subject of another article), but disciple-makers.

2. As we train in disciple-making as core business of eldership and shepherding the flock, we also design our training therefore to be dynamic. Because shepherding the flock is dynamic. In gospel ministry, and especially in leading in gospel ministry, there is kind of a weekly calendar and daily structure, but often and on a daily basis that can change as things go sideways or whatever-ways. Ministry is often serving and leading people to Christ in chaos. Just like theological colleges teach future pastors how to think, we have designed our church’s eldership development to teach future elders how to serve in dynamic situations. This is why we have a monthly schedule of training (because elders meetings are monthly and we want to see candidates imbibe that culture) but it’s also why we don’t prescribe every set-piece before the training meeting and employ things like pop-up readings and problem-solving, because that’s what being an elder is like.

3. If discipleship is so valued, and formed in such a dynamic way for leaders, then being directional in our training is too. What do we mean by that? It’s kind of like leadership theory in the military, the difference between “command & control” and “mission command” (or “commander’s intent”). We don’t have the space to get into that, look it up (I love reading mil-leadership on my days off to exercise my brain). The point I hope becomes clear is when we say: “we don’t want to tell leaders what to do, but rather, how to think.” We have designed our training so that we develop thinkers, reflectors who respond in dynamic situations with discipleship-driven instinct.

Now all this could be just smoke and mirrors of leadership platitudes. And that is why we have this discussion article for our Make Leaders Monthly - for we want you to talk it through. And we want you to try it.

What do you think? Do you see why it’s designed this way?

Make Leaders Article by Russ Grinter | Pastor & Teaching Elder

Russ is weak, but Jesus is strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Russ gladly boasts of his weaknesses by preaching, writing, and speaking the gospel - because Jesus changes everything.