If you read the post entitled New City Church and a Vision for Community you know that the primary context for the discovery and training of future leadership will be in our small community groups (Life Groups - based on followers of Christ "doing life" together). Our Life Group leaders will be equipped to spot future leaders and to begin the process of training those future leaders primarily within the Life Group.
We are still months away from the addition of our Life Groups, but that doesn't mean that leadership training is not already underway. In fact, I am excited to say that Chuck Ray will be taking a worship lead role in the coming weeks. Chuck has been with our band from the start, and has been a part of a worship team for quite a while. It has been our intention from the start to see Chuck move into a lead role. The hope was, and is, to see Shannon leading one band, and Chuck leading another. This will allow diversity in our worship music (which is reflective of the diversity of our city's music) and keep the pressure off of one single leader. Again - this has been intentional. It is our intention to raise up leaders from within the body rather than seek leaders outside of our particular body of believers.
We believe that raising up leaders from within is the New Testament model. Elders were appointed from within each church body (see particularly Timothy and Titus). There was no ad run and resumes taken to fill the leadership roles - God provided and continues to provide from within the body. This was also modeled by Jesus who trained His leaders from within, and then sent them out. Raising up leaders from within is much more likely to provide leadership on the same theolgical, missiological, and ecclesilogical page.
We also believe that this will allow us to more easily add campuses and plant churches in the future. Six or eight months ago when I first sat down with Shannon and Chuck to talk about the new church, I shared with them that we will be starting another campus within three years and we will be active in planting other churches as well. I explained that my expectation was that we develop three or four worship bands and leaders between now and then so that the worship teams can rotate between campuses and/or church plants. We will not have to search for a band and leader in three years, we will have raised up leaders between now and then.
I look forward to seeing God work in and through Chuck, as He has Shannon and will continue to do so with both. I also look forward to seeing God fill our church with potential leaders as He uses us to train and equip them to lead in the days to come.
