The European Leaders of Christian Organisations Network identifies key problem areas of the leader's role with the aim of supplying practical tools and biblically-based solutions. It also addresses the various issues that leaders may encounter, ranging from how a leader deals with their own assumptions of character in others, strategic planning (vision-casting, planning daily activities, determining objectives, creating bridges), assessing of finances and resources and biblical models of leadership.

Applicants should be leading or helping to lead Christian organisations or churches. The Network will be led by John Lenton, founding dean of a Christian business school at Emmanuel University in Romania and a former senior executive with American Express in Europe. Also teaching in this Network are Raphael Anzenberger, Jim Cecy, Lars Dahle, Glynn Harrison, Nola Leach and David Roderick. Prior preparation will be set for all applicants.

John Lenton is the leader of the European Leaders of Christian Organisations Network.  He is a former Honorary Pro-Rector of Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania, an evangelical Christian university accredited by the Romanian Ministry of Education. John was instrumental in helping to launch, in 1998, the Griffiths School of Business at Emanuel University. Prior to moving to Romania in 1998, He was a Senior Vice President at American Express Europe, where he occupied a number of senior positions over a period of 15 years with the company, taking early retirement at the end of 1996 in order to devote himself full-time to Christian service. He has an MA from Oxford and an MBA from Harvard, and is also an ordained minister in the Church of England, having studied full time at Oak Hill Theological College shortly before moving to Romania.

Raphael Anzenberger is an evangelist, apologist, church planter, author, and speaker serving in France, with a passion to raise a new generation of evangelists who will bring the message of the Cross into all corners of French society. Married with 4 children, Raphael lives in Tours. He earned his MS in Economics from the Universite Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France, his MDiv in Evangelism from Columbia International University, Columbia, SC, USA and is currently working on his doctoral degree in Missions at this same institution. He is General Secretary of France Evangelisation and author of Moi aussi je voudrais croire, mais... (BLF Europe, 2008) and co-author of Questions autour de Dieu (Farel, 2009). 

Jim Cecy serves as Senior Pastor-Teacher of Campus Bible Church in Fresno, California. He is also founder and President of JARON Ministries International, a training ministry for Christian leaders in the US and abroad. He has a Masters of Divinity in Bible Exposition from Talbot Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary. He has pastored numerous churches in the Southern California area and is a conference and seminar speaker for hundreds of churches, schools, seminars, conference centers, Christian groups and denominations in US and abroad.

Lars Dahle is a theologian, educator, preacher and apologist. He works as Principal at Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication in Kristiansand, Norway, where he has lectured in worldviews, ethics and apologetics since 1991. Lars wrote his Ph.D. on Acts 17:16-34. It is entitled An Apologetic Model Then and Now? (Open University, UK). He is Chairman of Damaris Norway steering committee and on the European Leadership Forum steering committee, previously also serving as Vice-Chairman of NKSS (the Norwegian student movement within IFES).

Glynn Harrison MD FRCPsych is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Bristol, England, and a retired clinical psychiatrist. His research was focused in the psychotic disorders and evidence-based practice, for which he was awarded numerous research grants. He has acted as an Adviser to the World Health Organization and UK Department of Health. He is a Lay Minister in the Anglican Church and frequently lectures and gives seminars on biblical aspects of counselling and the interface between faith and mental health

Nola Leach is the Chief Executive of CARE (Christian Action, Research & Education), one of Europe’s leading Christian charities which provides resources and helps bring Christian insight and experience to matters of public policy and practical caring initiatives. CARE undertakes a variety of social caring and educational programmes and research.  It is represented in the UK Parliaments and Assemblies, at the EU in Brussels and at the UN in Geneva and New York.  As Head of the Public Affairs team, Nola leads campaigns on topics such as human trafficking, internet pornography and the value of human life from its beginning to natural end. She has overseen the publication of Living Free a sequel to the CARE book Searching for Intimacy – a resource designed to help those trapped in the net of internet pornography. Nola is increasingly in demand as both a writer and public speaker.  She has penned numerous articles, and regularly appears in the media. 

David Roderick is Director of Eurovangelism, a UK registered charity that has been supporting local churches in Europe for over 40 years. He started his professional life as an accountant with a large accountancy firm before joining an American Investment Bank in the City of London. In 1998 he left the bank and, with his wife Marion, moved to Romania to help set up the Griffiths School of Business at the Emanuel University of Oradea, where he taught Accountancy and Computing. Upon returning to the UK he joined Eurovangelism where he worked for 8 years visiting churches in the UK and across Central and Eastern Europe, before becoming Director in 2008. In addition to his role at Eurovangelism, he is part of the leadership team of a church in his home city of Bristol. He studied Economics at University College London and is currently studying for a Masters degree in Mission and Ministry in the Modern Age at Kings College London. David and Marion have four children and their greatest ambition at the moment is to get more sleep.

Day 1:

Leadership and Culture: Developing a Biblical Approach to Cross-cultural Leadership

Raphael Anzenberger 

Is leadership culturally bound? Is biblical leadership culturally bound? Or is there a model of leadership that transcends cultures? This session will explore the uniqueness of Christ leadership as a model that transcends all cultures, and the role of the Holy Spirit in shaping Christ-like leaders to move across cultural, social, economical and political thresholds.

Introductions: Getting to Know Each Other and Prayer Together

John Lenton

During this time, participants will spend some quality time getting better acquainted with one another and to pray for each other’s praises, concerns and needs.

Day 2:

Safeguarding My Personal Purity

Jim Cecy

Sadly, the evangelical landscape has been littered with the carcasses of lives and ministries that have been decimated by sexual sin. The need has never been greater to especially equip leaders to learn how to “abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thessalonians 4:3) and to teach those they lead to do the same (2 Timothy 2:2). This workshop, taught to hundreds of thousands of leaders in the US and abroad, will cover such subjects as “A Revival of Purity”, “Guarding our Minds”, “Guarding Our Bodies” and “Guarding Our Companions.”  Special attention will be given as to how to share these principles with others.

The Christian Leader: Knowing and Managing Your Character Flaws

Glynn Harrison

A frequent criticism heard of Christian leaders is that they ‘lack self awareness’. In response to this, there has been a remarkable growth in the use of psychometric tools (such as Myers-Briggs) that create simple maps of our personality traits and teamwork dynamics. Behind the superficial psychology, however, there can lurk deeper issues of identity, driveness, status-consciousness, co-dependency and compartmentalised sexuality. In this seminar we will ask how we can recognise, mitigate and manage these darker sides of leadership.

Day 3:

Facing Political Correctness and Hostile Media: Learning from a Norwegian Story

Lars Dahle

Evangelical institutions and organisations in Europe are increasingly facing the pressures of political correctness and the dangers of negative and unbalanced media coverage. In 2005 this happened to Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication in Norway over the issue of employment policies, values and lifestyles.  The first part of this story will be presented to the group with the invitation to consider in smaller groups how they would have tackled the key issues. After discussing the ideas and the suggestions from the groups, the second part of the story will be introduced, with an explanation of how the Gimlekollen leadership actually handled the issues at the time.  

The Top 5 Lessons Learned as a CEO of a Christian Organisation

Nola Leach

Much has been written on Leadership in the Twenty First Century. Calling on her experience of leading a major Christian Organisation in the UK through a periods of change Nola Leach will examine the challenges of leadership both personally and organisationally and how these challenges affect the growth and development of an organisation. She will look honestly at the difficulties and personal costs entailed in leadership and ask the question what are the distinctive marks of Christian Leadership?

Day 4:

Working with Volunteers

David Roderick

“Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless.” ~Sherry Anderson

Most organisations use volunteers but many fail to realise the full value and potential of individuals motivated by something other than a salary. Whether a church or a non-profit organisation, volunteers can play a key role in helping you achieve your goals.

So how do you recruit, train and manage your volunteers? What are some of the key principles for keeping your volunteers motivated and focused? What happens when things go wrong? In this session we will look at the some of the principles the speaker’s organisation and his home church have learned the hard way when dealing with large numbers of volunteers. From a single event with 90 volunteers to bless their community to a “volunteer revolution” which invited 150 volunteers to change their roles in helping church happen each Sunday, the session will look at a variety of ways to help keep your volunteers and your organisation moving in the same direction. 

When Leaders Fall Out…

John Lenton 

Leaders of Christian organisations can and do fall out with one another.  Strongly-held views, which come naturally to Christian believers, can overflow into difficult interactions with colleagues, resulting in friction, disagreement, dispute and even a parting of the ways.  The consequences for the Christian organisation may well be destructive.  An activity that God has blessed and used may come to an end, or at least be damaged: the Enemy delights in using human weakness to attack God’s work.

In this session, a case study (to be distributed and read before the session) will illustrate some ways that tensions can arise between leaders of a Christian organisation.  Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss in small groups possible strategies for resolving the conflict.  The speaker will draw on his own experiences to illustrate ways in which godly harmony can be maintained among colleagues even when some individuals do not fully agree with one another, and how peace can still be restored after a break-down in relationship between Christian leaders.