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General Superintendent's Challenge

The Board of General Superintendents is convinced that while there are many worthy objectives and strategies for the Church, the paramount need for today is leadership development. Therefore, we have initiated the Leadership Development Journey.

The Leadership Development Journey will involve the following four objectives:

Develop a lifelong leadership training movement for pastors, ministry staff, lay leaders, and all levels of demonimational leadership.
Raise up a new wave of leaders by: a) engaging churchwide participation; b) identifying potential leaders; and c) preparing leaders for service
Develop transferable models of achievement that lead from dream to delivery by evaluating needs, creating solutions, and formulating strategic action plans.
Build a culture of encouragement and accountability by enhancing vision catching and casting, and establishing partnerships for mentoring, encouragement, and accountability.

Hopefully, as this process proceeds, every level of Church life and all constituents of the Church will realize a sharpening of the skills whereby we all can be more effective in our leadership assignments. The times demand our very best. It is imperative that we find better ways to identify the people God would use to provide the leadership that will be demanded in the next few decades. At the same time, those of us now in leadership positions must sharpen the tools of leadership available to us that we might be the most effective instruments we can be for God's great Kingdom work.

The Board of General Superintendents is calling the entire Church to join with us on this exciting "journey." We can do more than we are doing . . . we must do more than we are doing. While The Wesleyan Church is experiencing good growth, we are not satisfied. The world is in desperate need. Every church must relate redemptively to its community. The status quo will not do . . . there must be a heightened awareness of personal need, a more effective witness, a greater harvest of the lost about us, to the glory of our Lord.
—General Superintendents of The Wesleyan Church

LDJ Conduits

The foundational strategies of LDJ engage four conduits (delivery systems):

Mentoring

(mentors are character & accountability focused) A group of leaders lead by a trained mentor in a peer context where members pray for each other, are friends with each other, learn from each other, establish personal and professional goals and hold each other accountable.

Coaching

(coaches are skill training and motivation focused) A one-on-one relationship of strategizing and accountability between a "high performance" pastor and a "high potential" pastor.

Consulting

(consultants are primarily issue and systems oriented) On-site visit by an individual or a team to a church for the purpose of helping them to interpret their past, assess the present and plan for an improved future ministry.

Teaching Church

(teaching churches are corporate mentors who assist other churches to reach new levels of effectiveness) A teaching church is a "high performance church" which coaches a "high potential church".

Mission

The mission of the Leadership Development Journey is--

To raise the quality of leadership throughout the Church on every level of Church life
To identify and recruit a new generation of men and women whom God can use to assist Him in building His church
Develop transferable models of achievement that lead from dream to delivery by evaluating needs, creating solutions, and formulating strategic plans
Build a culture of encouragement and accountability by enhancing vision and establishing partnerships for mentoring, coaching, and accountability

Vision

The Wesleyan Church will be revitalized as a growing fellowship of healthy churches led by effective pastors within a corporate culture characterized by interdependence. The Church will identify, recruit, equip and empower new generations of persons called by God to lead His Church into a greater harvest.

Core Values

Leadership.

God gifts and calls some for leadership in His Church. The health and effectiveness of the Church depends on the health and effectiveness of her leaders. Identifying, developing, and supporting leaders must be a priority of the Church

Relationships.

Ministry and leadership are all about relationships. We learn and grow best within relationships. Among the many types of relationships important to pastor-leaders, each needs: a mentor (for learning); a peer (for leaning); and a protege (for leading).

Learning.

What we need to know to be effective is expanding so rapidly we must be lifelong learners. No one person can learn enough fast enough. We will be most effective leaners when we learn with others.

Interdependence.

We need each other. We can accomplish far more together than we can ever do alone. We celebrate each other's successes and share in each other's struggles.

Accountability.

Our growth and effectiveness increases when we commit ourselves to answer to other trusted persons for our progress toward the person and professional goals we have set for ourselves.

Transformation.

We can be more than we are and we can do better than we are doing. We cannot continue to do business as usual. Who we are and what we do must be subbject to the transforming work of the Spirit if we are to be effective in reaching emerging cultures. Leadership transformation must precede congregational transformation.

Desired Outcomes

The initiatives of Leadership Development Journey are expected to generate the following outcomes in the life and ministry of our church leaders.

Leaders will catch a greater vision of what God wants to do through them and their churches
Leaders will be exposed to effective leaders, methods and resources
Leaders will develop personal skills of vision casting, change management, teamwork, conflict resolution, strategic planning, leading worship, and preaching
Leaders will gain a better understanding of their personal gifts, abilities, capabilities and how to apply them effectively within the context of their places of ministry
Leaders will embrace a deeper commitment to personal holiness and spiritual dependence
Leaders will engage in a plan for ongoing personal development and marriage and family enrichment
Leaders will be committed to a ministry of interdependence with their peers and their denomination
Leaders will grow intellectually, relationally, emotionally and spiritually

Phone: 317-774-3896

Email: heerk@wesleyan.org

Mailing: P.O. Box 50434, Indianapolis, IN 46250