The Barna Update:
A bi-weekly e-mail from George Barna
Unleashing the Church Through Lay
Leadership
A church - or any organization - can only go as far as its
leaders can take it. Our latest research
on church leadership is described in my newest book, Building Effective Lay
Leadership Teams. The book officially
releases today and describes why team leadership is superior to solo
leadership; common barriers to using lay leadership teams; and a process for
transitioning from solo-based to team-based leadership. Our research found that:
· more
than three-quarters of Senior Pastors do not believe they are called, gifted or
skilled as leaders. Pastors who are
leaders are actually less likely to rely on teams of lay leaders to help lead
the ministry forward than is the case in churches where the Senior Pastor is not
a leader;
· only
one out of every ten churches uses any viable form of teams in leadership. Most churches rely solely upon individual
leaders working in isolation to make things happen;
· churches using lay
leadership teams experience dramatically better results in terms of life
transformation than do churches without leadership or those using solo-based
leadership.
The apologetic and process for lay leadership teams in ministry - along with other recent research concerning the unchurched, discipleship and ministry evaluation - is a key segment in our new seminar, which I will be leading in 45 more markets across the country (through November 2001). To order a copy of Building Effective Lay Leadership Teams, or to find out the dates, locations and content of the seminar, hit this link or visit our home page (http://www.barna.org).