2021 Leaders of Christian Organisations (Groups A & B) Network
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The Leaders of Christian Organisations Network is designed to equip and resource Christian leaders. This Network seeks to provide practical wisdom, useful leadership insights, and biblically-based solutions to key problem areas, as well as to encourage leaders facing key organisational challenges. This Network also addresses significant issues that new or experienced leaders may encounter, from how to deal with their own assumptions of personal integrity and virtue, to topics like strategic planning, vision-casting, time management, and delegation, prioritising organisational objectives, and assessing finances and resource development.
Prior preparation will be set for all applicants.
Applicants should be leading or helping to lead Christian organisations or churches. They should be seeking practical tools and biblically-based solutions in key problem areas of the leader's role.
Network Leadership
Network Speakers
Jen Charteris, originally from South Africa, is the executive director of Crosslands, which provides in-context theological training from Foundation to PhD level across the UK, Europe, and beyond. Previously she spent over 25 years working in strategic change, organisational consulting, and… Read more
Ray Evans is the FIEC Leadership Consultant serving over 600 churches in the UK. He gives advice to leaders, their teams, and the churches they serve. He writes a regular leadership blog on the FIEC web site, and is the author of books such as Ready, Steady, Grow, and Church Leadership. He has… Read more
Marcus Honeysett is the director of Living Leadership. Living Leadership trains, disciples, and provides soul care for church leaders in the UK and beyond through its networks and associates, and by serving other ministries who share the same aims. Living Leadership provides mentoring,… Read more
Dave Patty has been involved in training youth leaders and leading national and international youth movements in Europe for over 30 years. He serves as the president of Josiah Venture. He is also a founding member of Concentric, which mobilizes and equips youth ministry trainers in over 60… Read more
Mirek Pieszka was a pioneer and the first national director of ChSA (IFES Poland) in the nineties, and he later assumed the role of associate regional secretary for the IFES European Region. Through the IFES ministry, he has been coordinating many strategic developments, including Student… Read more
Peter Saunders was born in New Zealand and originally trained as a General Surgeon, before serving with the Africa Inland Mission in Kenya and completing two years mission training at All Nations Christian College in the UK. Since 1992 he has worked in full-time Christian ministry first with… Read more
John Stevens is the National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, a family of over 500 Bible-centred churches in the UK, a position that he has held since 2010. Prior to this he was one of the founding pastors of City Evangelical Church Birmingham, which was planted in… Read more
Network Programme
Sunday, 16 May
Whether you’ve been in leadership roles for years or you’re new to leadership in a formal sense, we all know what it’s like to be led by different kinds of leaders. This session kicks off the track by taking us back to the most basic questions of what leadership is under Christ. It will be an opportunity to revisit your assumptions about leadership in general and to reflect prayerfully on your own leadership in particular. (Joint session with the Leaders Network Group B)
As leaders, we're all deeply conscious of the challenges and responsibilities of leadership in a volatile and uncertain world. This session will reflect on the essential character of a leader - created, fallen, and redeemed. We will consider the importance of character for leadership in general, and prayerfully consider its impact on our own leadership. (Joint session with the Leaders Network Group B)
Monday, 17 May
Very few people set out in Christian leadership with any intention of abusing power or position. Sadly, however, some do. In this session we will explore the downwards journey, considering how we can be tempted into illegitimate leadership and pastoral practice by using our influence and relationships to avoid accountability and exceed our authority.
Boards and governance structures come in different shapes and sizes, and their style and role may adjust over time as an organisation changes. But healthy accountability structures, enacted with godly wisdom and humility, have been part of the way God leads his people throughout history. This session will examine biblical principles underpinning good governance and help you think about how to develop a healthy board and governance practices in your context. It will draw on the speakers’ experience of working with the boards of ministry and secular organisations around the world.
Tuesday, 18 May
Crises can be creeping, slow-burn or sudden and unexpected. The key to leading through them (whether personal, community, national, or global) is to understand that the challenges we face are within the sovereign plan of God and pose both threats to be mitigated but also opportunities to grasp. In this session, Dr. Peter Saunders will explore the phases of crisis management and the key elements of leading through crises, rooting all this in biblical foundations and illustrating it through personal experience and case studies.
Just as a family's needs and dynamics change through different seasons of life, so organizations mature through different stages in their life-cycle, and the style and role of leaders needs to adapt accordingly. Often the most effective type of leadership at the beginning becomes the very thing that hinders further growth later on. A wise leader must change their leadership style to match the current needs of the church or organization. If not, the leader begins to burn out and growth comes to a halt. Fortunately, this organizational life-cycle is predictable. What are these typical stages of development? How can a leader learn to shift “leadership gears” in order to enable continued growth?
Wednesday, 19 May
This session will encourage leaders to become more intentional about investing in coming generations of leaders. We will first clearly establish the principle of leaders helping leaders. We will then examine some of the practical means of doing this well. (Joint session with the Leaders Network Group B)
In this final session of the track, several of the speakers will return for a discussion session, responding to questions and exploring themes from across the past few days. The panel will also lead you through a structured reflection, helping you to draw together the insights gathered and questions raised for you across the past few days, and to make some choices about what you’ll follow up on and how you’ll do that in practice, with an opportunity to pray together with fellow leaders. (Joint session with the Leaders Network Group B)