2022 Leaders of Christian Organisations (Experienced Leaders) Network
- Image
The Leaders of Christian Organizations Network: Experienced Leaders Track seeks to equip leaders to direct the continent’s Christian churches and organizations in a way that ensures the greatest impact for God’s Kingdom. 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 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
Sarah Breuel is the founder and director of Revive Europe. Included in Christianity Today’s “33 under 33” list of leaders to watch, Sarah served as chair of the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering 2016. Originally from Brazil and currently living in Rome, Sarah has worked for IFES for 17 years in… Read more
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
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
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
David Sveen is the Vice Chair of Cedarstone Holdings, Inc., a global business services firm serving nonprofit organizations. He earned his BS in business at Northern Illinois University and his MBA in finance from DePaul University. He earned his MA in Education from Wheaton College Graduate… Read more
Network Programme
Sunday, 22 May
All too frequently Christian leaders who have started well fail to endure in ministry because they have, wittingly or unwittingly, adopted a false model of leadership that reflects more the pattern of the world than that of the Lord Jesus. Such leadership can end in serious public scandal that discredits the gospel. This temptation can be immensely subtle. We therefore need to understand the true biblical pattern for leadership. This session will lay the foundations for faithful and enduring leadership by contrasting the self-centred behaviour of the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law with the servant leadership of the Lord Jesus. Only when we follow Jesus’ example will we have a lasting ministry that can truly bless the church and glorify him.
What is anointing? How does God anoint people and in which ways does anointing manifest? Looking into the life of King David, we will discuss how God anoints people for leadership, how can we steward an anointing from God, and what are the costs, sacrifices, and joy that come with it. We will reflect on how we can as leaders follow Jesus, the anointed One.
Monday, 23 May
Life is made up of transitions. Each life transition is composed of an ending, a neutral zone and a new beginning and requires that we grow personally through a period of disorientation and reorientation. If any ministry is to last and grow over time its leaders must learn how to manage multiple personal and work life transitions, each of which involves letting go of an old situation, negotiating the confusion of ‘inbetweenness’ and launching out into the new. What strategies can we use to cope with the difficult, painful and bewildering times in our lives as leaders? What can we learn from biblical models of transition? How can we best manage our own personal transitions and coach members of our teams through theirs?
When we begin in leadership it is common to set off at a sprint, only to find later on that we are in a marathon. Lots of people start the race, but the Apostle Paul talks about finishing. Tragically many people who start off well in Christian leadership don't get to the finish line. In this seminar, we will consider some of the main factors that cause leaders to cease persevering. Thinking about healthy spiritual formation, we will consider what spiritual habits, patterns, structures and support will help us to enjoy God over the long haul and to avoid spiritual unhealthiness and, later on, burning out. If you want to establish firm foundations and habits for spiritually healthy ministry, flowing out of your joy in God, this might be the seminar for you.
Tuesday, 24 May
Both the enduring culture of our organisations and the day to day climate in our teams have a powerful impact on the health and effectiveness of people and ministries. Whether we like it or not, a leader's character, presence, emotions, choices and behaviour have an enormous impact on both culture and climate. The Bible's patterns and perspectives challenge us to be intentional in shaping every aspect of team and organisational culture, from the mundane to the strategic. This session will provide a framework for reflecting on how you are shaping the dynamics of your team and organisation, and provide you with tools that will help you bring biblical vision and godly intentionality to the culture you lead.
Since there are only a limited number of hours in a day, a leader’s impact is most extended by their ability to recruit and develop an outstanding team. How does one choose and motivate the right people, and build a balance of personalities and gifts? How are those people financed, and what needs to be done to keep them motivated and healthy? In this session we will discuss three common paradigms of team building, and explore how only one of them will deliver the long-term results that you, as a leader, need.
Wednesday, 25 May
This session focuses on developing leaders for long-term, sustainable impact. There is no shortage of stories of leaders who fail to live into their call or to finish their ministries well. Why is this so, and how can leaders prepare themselves for the stresses, pressures, and demands of leading organizations? This workshop will examine the Biblical perspective on leadership development, and on four pillars of effective leadership found in the Social Sciences. We will examine the difference between management and leadership, the characteristics of effective leadership, and how leadership impacted the development of the early church in pagan societies.
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.