What Your Church Needs to Train Leaders (You Probably Already Have It)

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“Good leaders make more leaders,” we are told. Given the proverb’s prevalence, I suspect this is generally true. From boardrooms to ball fields, from politics to parenting, a concern to train and multiply leaders can be found in one form or another.

The proverb also seems to have a scriptural precedent: Jesus trained up his disciples to be apostles, his apostles trained pastors to be shepherds, and those pastors trained up more pastors who were “able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2).

Although every Christian is a disciple who participates in “making disciples” (see Eph 4:11–16), not all disciples are “leaders,” per se. Every-member ministry does not make every member a “leader.” In the strictest sense (i.e., the sense in which the New Testament uses the word), “leaders” are specific disciples who are qualified, congregationally recognized, and gifted and called by God to serve his church by exercising godly authority from a divinely authorized office for the spiritual good of Christ’s flock (Heb 13:7, 17; cf. 2 Tim 2:4; Titus 1:9; 2:1; 1 Pet 5:1-4).

So how can churches train up such leaders?

An industrial complex stands at the ready, mass-producing leadership resources at a dizzying rate—books, blogs, techniques, programs, pipelines, conferences, coaches, schools, and more. Don’t misunderstand me. I am glad to benefit from good resources produced by godly Christians and like-minded organizations.

But what if the best tools for training leaders wasn’t “out there” in the minds and methods of best-selling authors and conference-circuit experts? What if every local church possessed everything it needed for this task?

I believe it does. In what follows, I’ll make that case from a Baptist perspective. Still, I trust those from other traditions will find the principles adaptable to their own church contexts.

A church’s foundational documents

A church’s doctrine, piety, and practice form its basis for training leaders, and one finds such things in a church’s governing documents—namely, its confession (doctrine), covenant (piety), and constitution (practice).

If church leaders are accountable (first) to God and (then) to their congregation, a church’s foundational (or governing) documents say, “This is what it looks like to be a godly, doctrinally sound leader within the structures and convictions of this particular local church.” Applied this way, leaders become accountable to the consent of the congregation, and the congregation is protected from the caprice of its leaders.

In view of this, I’m persuaded that insofar as a church has a confession of faith, a church covenant, and a good constitution, it already possesses much of what it needs to grow and train its leaders. With these in its possession, any church has the needed foundation upon which to develop and build its leadership, with God’s help.

Like scaffolding to a building, a church’s foundational documents shape how and to what end a church trains new leaders, i.e., those who teach sound doctrine (confession) and live godly lives (covenant) within the church’s polity (constitution). Guided by these, a church can be clear on the kind of leaders it needs to grow.

Likewise, the commitments will inform and shape the specific structures a church uses to build up leaders, the kinds of “tools” (e.g., books, conferences, programs, etc.) that might be more or less useful for training them up.

Let’s look at each in turn.

1. Use your confession to train leaders in sound doctrine

First, a church’s confession provides a foundation for training leaders who both believe and teach sound doctrine.

How a confession serves as scaffolding

A church’s confession of faith should be more than “Who We Are” content for its website or a perfunctory part of its membership class. It says, “Together, we agree with other Christians and churches that this is what the Bible teaches.”

Some wrongly protest that a confession undermines sola scriptura: “No creed but the Bible!” Far from it. First, Scripture (the “norming norm”) is always supreme. Second, a church’s confession (a “normed norm”) submits to Scripture. Finally, the church’s leaders submit to the church’s confession as they interpret and apply Scripture to the church.

In this way, a church’s confession guards the church’s teaching and preaching, and engenders trust between the church’s members and its leaders. Nobody wonders, “How can I know or trust what this person will teach us?”

A church’s confession guards the church’s teaching and preaching.

Sadly, many churches are plagued by disunity and disputes because their teachers have little doctrinal clarity or accountability. Yet the proper use of a good confession unites a congregation and protects it from being misled or wrongly bound by a zealous leader’s novel interpretation of Scripture.

My particular congregation subscribes to the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith. We use it in membership classes and Bible studies, as well as in our efforts to train leaders. In doing so, would-be leaders understand from the outset that they must not only be knowledgeable but accountable, as well.

How a confession can inform structure

Sound doctrine is the starting point for growing strong leaders. And churches do not lack for quality resources in this area. Assuming a church’s leaders are the chief teachers and defenders of the church’s doctrine, building a curriculum around key confessional doctrines seems like a wise starting point.

For example, our church supports a pastoral cohort in which I (a paid pastor) devote myself each year to leading a handful of faithful members to study our confessional doctrine, with special focus on the following areas:

Scripture and confession
God and Trinity
Christ and covenant
Law and gospel
The church

We meet every other Wednesday night for a couple of hours and discuss the assigned reading and writing from the previous two weeks, following this reading schedule.

However, good leaders are thoroughfares for scriptural knowledge, not cul de sacs. So each participant writes one or more position papers on a particular doctrine (example writing guide), then publicly presents their final draft to church members for critical feedback. By doing this, our members get equipped in sound doctrine, and prospective leaders grow in their ability to communicate it in a spiritually useful way. Win-win!

Again, a church with a solid confession of faith has the essentials for building doctrinally sound leaders!

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2. Use your church covenant to train leaders in practical piety

A church covenant provides a foundation for training leaders to lead and exemplify godly lives.

How a church covenant serves as scaffolding

Character is everything in church leadership. Notably, elders are to be “examples to the flock” (1 Pet 5:3) by living “above reproach” (1 Tim 3:2). Paul reminded Timothy, “godliness is of value in every way” (1 Tim 4:8; cf. 6:6).

But what does “godliness” look like? Toward what kind of conduct should a would-be leader aspire? How should it shape his ministry in the church? By what standard can a congregation identify and affirm godly leaders? For these common questions, a well-crafted church covenant can provide clarity.

For example, our church’s membership covenant commits every member to Christian unity, love, holiness, witness, generosity, and more. It reminds us, “This is how we aim to live together, by God’s grace.” For our leaders, especially, it defines the kind of exemplary life from which they can say, “Follow me as I follow Christ” (cf. 1 Cor 11:1).

How a church covenant can inform structure

My seminary professor once quipped, “Sound doctrine, lacking love, is bad doctrine.” His point was that credible teachers exemplify the truth of Scripture in their own lives. They are faithful disciples of Jesus who help others follow Jesus.

What does this look like? It begins with prayer. Doctrinal knowledge without communion with God is unbelief and hypocrisy. Practical piety flows from a vital relationship with God through his Word and prayer.

A church filled with praying people (1 Tim 2:8) likely prioritizes prayer in its training. This is one reason why I ask every aspiring leader to read David’s McIntyre’s excellent little book, The Hidden Life of Prayer. When we meet for our cohort meetings, we pray name by name through a portion of our church directory so that aspiring leaders learn to intercede for our members and grow in particular affection for those they aspire to lead.

Credible teachers exemplify the truth of Scripture in their own lives.

Our church covenant also guides prospective leaders into practical piety by encouraging them to be:

Uniters: “We will eagerly pursue the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Lovers: “We will walk together in brotherly love, exercise affectionate care and watchfulness over each other, and graciously admonish and encourage one another according to God’s Word at appropriate times.”
Gatherers: “We will gather together regularly and pray for ourselves and others, as required by God in his Word.”
Disciplers: “We will work together to bring up those who are under our care in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
Evangelizers: “We will, by a pure and loving example, seek the salvation of our family and friends.”
Burden bearers: “We will rejoice at one another’s happiness and aspire to bear one another’s burdens and sorrows with tenderness and compassion.”
Mortifiers: “We will, by God’s grace, put to death our sinful desires and live carefully in the world, remembering that since we have been united with Christ in his death and resurrection, we are now called to lead new and holy lives.”
Members: “We will work together for the continuation of a faithful gospel-ministry in this church as we uphold its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrine.”
Givers: “We will, by faith, contribute cheerfully and regularly toward the ministry and expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel to all nations.”

Imagine the spiritual health and vibrancy of a church in which leaders exemplify and multiply these scriptural principles! This doesn’t require experts, programs, or pipelines. Everything a church needs for cultivating practical piety is summarized in a church covenant.

3. Use one’s constitution to train leaders in faithful practices

Finally, a church’s constitution provides a foundation for training leaders to operate with and lead according to that church’s polity and practice.

How a constitution serves as scaffolding

If a confession of faith summarizes a church’s doctrine and a covenant summarizes its piety, then a church’s constitution summarizes its practice (or “polity”). It builds on Scripture to develop the particular scaffolding for a church’s membership, discipline, leadership, mission, and more. In simpler terms, a constitution describes how a church will constitute its life and ministry.

Consider how a congregation’s confidence in its leaders might grow, knowing they aren’t led by pastoral fiat. Instead, its leaders can say, “We’re not making things up as we go along, but submitting ourselves to what we all understand to be God’s design for his church.” I wonder how much spiritual abuse might be subverted if more congregations knew how to relate these documents to its leadership, and vice versa?

Too often, churchly constitutions are under-appreciated and overlooked when they possess much of the DNA for ordering the church’s life and ministry.

How a constitution can inform structure

Godly leaders are thoughtful churchmen. They think well about the mission, membership, and discipline of their church. They are committed to guarding the gospel, defining the church’s membership, and promoting godly order among its members (1 Cor 14:33).

To these ends, a good constitution is a blueprint for scripturally based church polity. A good constitution can be used to train faithful churchmen in the following areas, to name only some examples:

Church constitutions aim to practically and prudently apply scriptural principles on these and other matters. How will new members be brought into the church, and on what basis? How will the ordinances be administered? Who is eligible to be an elder or deacon, and how are they recognized? What is the expected relationship between the church’s members and officers?

Some may conclude that these kinds of concerns are pedantic. Granted, not everyone thinks that polity is that important—at least, not until conflicts, controversies, and other difficulties arise. That’s when a church’s leaders in the context of a church’s polity (every church has one) are put to the test. When (not if) these emerge, healthy congregations look to a united front of convictional churchmen who lead by scriptural principle and not pragmatic caprice.

In our church, we use our church’s constitution as the starting point for training aspiring officers. We include supplemental material to reinforce many of its principles. For this, I commend ministries like 9Marks and Practical Shepherding, which focus specifically on church polity and leadership. If you’re not a Baptist like me (that’s okay, God still loves you), consider other helpful resources for training churchmen in your particular tradition, and let your constitution be your guide.

Conclusion

In this brief post, I aimed to persuade you that in your churchly documents, you have everything you need, in principle, for growing and training leaders.

If more churches and church leaders looked within rather than without, and dusted these oft-neglected tools for training and instruction, I believe they would set a trajectory for becoming a more godly, ordered, well-led, and well-fed congregations.