Annual forum focuses on strengthening church leadership

Nicole Wegscheider
Special to Spur Ottawa

Strong leadership is key to any success. Good leaders engage their team’s strengths and ensure everyone works in alignment. But every leader needs a tune-up from time to time. That is what World Vision hopes to do through their annual Church Leaders Forum.

“The Forum is designed to strengthen and nurture churches, strengthen relationships, and to give back,” explains World Vision team member Rob Weber.

Every year, World Vision hosts these forums in cities across Canada. This year’s forum focused on leadership-team building, with guest speaker Steven Brown, President of Arrow Leadership and author of “Leading Me: Eight Practices for a Christian Leader’s Most Important Assignment.”

“Teams are so important to ministry,” says Brown. “There are five keys to team leadership: the vision caster, the recruiter, the delegator, the encourager, and the developer.”

Brown explains that vision casters establish the vision and direction of the team, while recruiters invite the right people onto the team. Delegator assigns the right tasks to the right people and encouragers motivate the team and build morale. Developers promote the growth of individuals and the team capacity.

“Encouragement is like the wind that fills the sail.”

Drawing from his own previous leadership mistakes, Brown shared transparently about the lessons he learned that provided personal growth. One key he shared is the importance of encouraging your team.

Encouragement is like the wind that fills the sail, says Brown. A good leader encourages people on a regular basis, but also in distinct ways for special occasions or events. It is a worthwhile time investment to strengthen morale and foster productivity.

“I was inspired by Steve Brown as a person and his message,” says Richard Long, Director of Love Ottawa. “I was encouraged to learn that I am not the only one experiencing stumbling blocks.”

One area Long saw as an area for growth is doing a better job at recruiting. He says his other take-aways are the importance of delegation, appreciating the emphasis of committing everything to God’s vision, and the need to make encouraging others a higher priority.

Another participant, Pastor Jim Pot, of Knox Presbyterian Church, says the forum challenged him to try to spread the workload out among a larger group of people. He also says he feels more able to delegate, especially with clear assignments and more follow through to encourage people in their roles.

“I was inspired by Steve’s presentation and his approach,” he says, adding, “I was encouraged by the way Steve was very affirming.”

The Ottawa event was held April 27, 2017, at Bethel Pentecostal Church.