“Most churches don’t have a leadership problem—They have a leadership development problem.” David Stokes. While instead of the word problem, I normally use the word issue, I do agree with his statement. A statement I have used in equipping settings for years is, “Every leader should be mentoring another leader.” If you are a teacher you should have at least one apprentice teacher who shares in the teaching responsibilities. If you are a class secretary, you should be training someone in those duties. It matters not how big or small your task, you should be mentoring/equipping another person in those duties.

While mentoring is a great component of leadership development, it is not a complete process. Even the way we recruit leaders in most churches is unhealthy. I have written and produced videos on this in years past. In most churches we recruit to fill an empty slot. The first person we can find to say yes is our answer. That person’s qualifications and giftings is seldom considered.

At one church I served the nominating committee went to Gail several years in a row asking her to teach in our children’s ministry. Each year she declined. Gail was a second-grade teacher in a local school. Therefore, to the nominating committee, she was perfectly fit for the task at church.

Gail on the other hand was desiring relationship with a different age group on Sunday. She was with 7-year-olds all week and longed for adult interaction for Bible study. In time Gail and two other women came to me desiring to start a Bible study for women. They already had the commitment for a teacher, Gail. They had the ministry plans laid out beautifully and the women’s Bible study became a very fruitful ministry to the women of that church.

A church’s leadership process begins even before the recruiting process. It begins with prayer. In chapter six of Reaching the Summit I laid out a better recruitment plan for churches, and people have noted, “You have prayer in every aspect of that process.” Indeed, shouldn’t that be true for every single leadership position in our churches. My friend, Allan Taylor says, “In the church, we recruit many of our own problems.” Without a prayer based system, our entire leadership development process is doomed.

What can you do this week to prayerfully enhance and enrich the leadership recruitment and development processes of your church?

George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life. Click here to receive this blog in your email inbox each Tuesday.