In response to what has become a call in North America to develop servant leaders for Kingdom service, the North American Baptist Conference in conjunction with Vantage Point 3 (www.vantagepoint3.org) adopted the Leadership Training Model in 2001. To date more than 1500 developing leaders have participated in one or more of the three annual phases – Emerging, Equipping, or Enriching (see below). Leading Edge offers three distinct vantage points from which to view the world. Participants are challenged to answer the questions:

1.      Who is God?

2.      Who am I?

3.      What is God “up to” in my life?

The Great Lakes Association launched Leading Edge in 2005. It’s one thing to lament the lack of leaders in our churches but another to do something about it. We are banding together to develop leaders together in a way that exceeds what each church could do on their own. While leaders are home grown and trained within the context of their own church, they also benefit greatly from interaction with leaders from other churches at retreats held during the course of (each) year.

So far, five GLA churches have blazed the trail down this leadership development path:

Fellowship Chapel (Sterling Heights, MI)

Grace Community Church (Detroit, MI)

Grosse Pointe Baptist Church (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI)

Hope Community Baptist Church (Sterling Heights, MI)

New Beginnings Christian Fellowship (Kokomo, IN)

Here’s the focus of each phase in a capsule form:

Emerging Phase (Year One) – The emerging phase focuses on character formation. Biblically-based spiritual formation is at the heart of it. The emphasis is on being and development of the inner person before doing. When leaders fail, it’s more often because of cracks in their character than a lack of talent and skills.

Equipping Phase (Year Two) – The equipping phase focuses on skills formation. Building on the strong character development in the Emerging Phase, year two explores the “doing” of leadership. Each leader must get involved in the leadership of a ministry through their local church – either an existing ministry or perhaps launching a new ministry. This is a practical on-the-job, “What all does it take to lead?” learning experience.

Enriching Phase (Year Three) – The enriching phase focuses on strategic formation. Year three is designed to assist disciples to move toward greater effectiveness, not only in leading, but in developing others as well. This is a stage to take what one has learned and turn around to intentionally invest in others.

For more information about Leading Edge in the Great Lakes Association, contact Steve Oman at (586) 264-4692 or soman@fellowshipchapel.net.

To read more about the NAB Leadership Centers go to www.nabconference.org (click on Discipleship from the top menu and then Leadership Centers)