Most leadership in today’s churches comes from “solo practitioners”--individuals who bear the burden of providing all the direction the ministry they direct requires. Inevitably, this results not only in burned-out leaders, but underutilized lay people who merely attend and observe rather than becoming actively engaged in ministry, growing in discipleship, and freeing professional staff to focus on pastoral priorities.
In The Power of Team Leadership, noted researcher George Barna demonstrates the incredible difference lay-team leadership can make in a church’s ministry. Based on Barna’s latest national studies, the book sets forth clearly what churches need to know in order to recruit, train, and deploy lay leadership teams for maximum effectiveness in the Kingdom of God. “We have developed an unreasonable notion of what a leader should do. Who could possibly meet such a range of disparate expectations? Leadership works best when it is provided by teams of gifted leaders working together in pursuit of a clear and compelling vision.” –George Barna