Creating a Leadership Pathway

At Path 1 at Discipleship Ministries, we are committed to fostering new Christian communities and equipping leaders to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We believe that strong church planters and congregational leaders need strong resources—and we’re here to broker knowledge, fuel multiplication, and empower leaders to carry out this mission.

We invite you to follow our Path 1 Church Planting Resources Hub where we will release a monthly series highlighting the best books, tools, and strategies for church leaders. Each month, we’ll feature one must-read resource with insights, practical applications, and engagement opportunities.

For the month of March, we are offering this book by Kelly Brown and Ken Willard, entitled Church Ecology: Creating a Leadership Pathway for Your Church. This is a practical resource designed to guide you through the process of growing leaders in your church. Developing a leadership pathway opens endless possibilities for us to be one with Christ, one with one another, and one in God’s transforming ministry to all the world—not just for the moment, but for the future.

Overview of the Book

Churches of all types today are struggling with a leadership gap. For generations, our pastors and congregations have been aging, and there are fewer people connected to our ministries. More than at any time in the history of The United Methodist Church, we need strong leaders at all levels—leaders who are grounded as disciples, intentionally growing as leaders, and who, in turn, develop new leaders.

Church Ecology: Creating a Leadership Pathway for Your Church is designed for pastors and lay leaders as a guide to creating a leadership development pathway specific to the needs and context of their ministry. The authors draw on years of working with ministry and business leaders to provide tools you can use in your church right away.

Key Concepts

• Prayer. Leadership development in a church must be built on prayer. God provides each church with the resources needed to carry out the ministry God is calling them to do. Spend time praying for the leaders you have and for you to see the leaders God’s Spirit is bringing to you in the future. Who are you inviting to pray with you for this leadership development process?
• Study the System. You have a process of leadership development in place now. It may not produce the fruit you want/need, but it is there. Write out all the ways you and other leaders in your ministry are growing as leaders. Reflect on how current leaders got into their roles. What about where your church has been and is now that can best guide you in this leadership development process?
• Begin. This is the first stage in a leadership development process. In this area, you are discerning and identifying your foundational elements of leadership (such as leadership flowing out of discipleship, and we are never through growing as leaders). How do new leaders in your church get into leadership? What forms of orientation and training do they receive?
• Baseline. In this stage, you share with leaders the basics critical to your ministry. This is not technical or logistic information about specific roles. Instead, the basics focus on key leadership competencies, skills, and behaviors that contribute to the success of individuals and the organization. Which three to four leadership competencies are most important today in your church?

Think of those two areas—“Begin” and “Baseline”—as the onramp. They are a way to get all leaders on the same page and to set expectations for leaders in your ministry.

The following three areas are intended to be an ongoing leadership development process. The specifics may be adjusted as things change and customized to individual leaders.

• Belong to a community of leaders, a leadership cohort, or a small group where leaders can learn, grow, and be held accountable to other leaders. Ideally, the small group will be similar to the leadership bands John Wesley developed.
• Become a leader like Jesus. Leaders grow first as disciples, then as leaders. Leaders should read, attend classes, seminars, and websites where leadership is taught and learn more about themselves as leaders.
• Bless others through leadership by using their leadership gifts in the church and community.

Your church probably already has a team to focus on leadership and development— the committee on nominations and leadership development. Too often, that committee focuses only briefly on the nominations process. What might it look like for your church to transition that team into a group that can create and drive the leadership development process?

Small-Church Leadership

An entire chapter in Church Ecology: Creating a Leadership Pathway for Your Church concerns small-church leadership. Churches of any size can and should be developing leaders. In fact, growing leaders might be more critical in small-membership churches. Don’t let the attendance numbers of your worship service limit you or your impact on the kingdom. Contextualize the concepts to fit your ministry. Focus on what will work, not what does not work. Take ONE step to grow your leaders this year.

Additional Reflection Inquiries

1. How can we develop a clear leadership pathway in our church that nurtures discipleship, encourages leadership growth, and ensures a continuous cycle of developing new leaders?
2. What intentional strategies can we implement to engage younger generations and new members in leadership roles, ensuring a sustainable future for our church’s ministry?
3. In what ways can we align our church’s leadership development efforts with our mission to be one with Christ, one with one another, and one in God’s transforming ministry to the world?

If you need additional resources to help you lead your new start up or existing ministry, visit umcdiscipleship.org, or contact Bener Agtarap at [email protected].

Ken Willard is a credentialed member of the International Coaching Federation at the Professional Certified Coach level. He is a certified ministry coach with Coaching4Clergy, and a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. Ken serves as the Director of Congregational Vitality for the West Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Before moving to West Virginia, he spent ten years coaching pastors, consulting with churches, and leading workshops nationwide. Ken is the author of seven books, and he has a new book to be released in the fall of 2025.