Leadership Development

We specialize in developing and training children’s workers. Our gifted National Ministry Teams provide innovative training programs that are built around our transformational ministry principles. We don’t just run conferences and seminars; we come alongside children's workers in local churches with coaching, mentoring and hands-on training. Each national ministry and our EGM-US team has a cadre of highly gifted children’s ministry leaders that are developing and training thousands of other children’s workers in their culture.

Leadership Development Model

EGM’s leadership development model has been used in a wide variety of cross-cultural ministry situations and has proven to be an effective means of pursuing the development of Christian leaders. Two factors make the model particularly powerful. First, the model recognizes that leadership development is a process. This does not diminish the role of the Holy Spirit in this process, since He is the one responsible for directing it. Secondly, the model is dynamic. This dynamic nature is present in all aspects of the model and allows the process to change even as it is progressing.

Incoming Participants characterizes the people as they enter into the leadership development process. Incoming participant factors include level of ministry experience, age, denominational affiliation and other pertinent factors. The make-up of this group has a significant effect on the actual leadership development program.

Total Learning Process represents the “curriculum” in the broadest sense - that is the teachers, content of the program, resources and methodology. In short, this process includes every element that will affect the participants as they go through the program.

Outgoing Participants represents the participants after they complete the program and as they function with what they have learned. It includes skills, attitudes, and ministry effectiveness. The evaluation of outgoing participants has significant effect on the actual process.

Evaluation Network represents the resources available for obtaining information about the potential teachers, the teacher during the process, the functioning of all aspects of the system during the program and the measurement of the teachers after completing the program as they function in actual ministry. The process of leadership development includes these four areas of focus and recognizes the dynamic nature of the leadership development process. This dynamic is monitored through “evaluation networks” whereby the entire process is regularly evaluated and altered according to changing factors.

The actual leadership development program is encapsulated in the Total Learning Process which is the core of the leadership development process. The total learning process consists of four elements that can be compared to the parts that make up a railroad track.

Ministry Instruction:  This element of the process can be represented by one of the two rails of the track. It is the formal aspect of the process where the acquisition of knowledge, values and specific ministry skills is primary. This phase, like the rail, points in a specific direction, namely the development of effective ministry. Emphasis is placed on new ideas, concepts, values and skills.

Ministry Experience: Actual ministry activities are deliberately designed into the process. Represented by the second rail, the element of ministry experience is designed to lead the developing leader in a specific direction. These activities stimulate learning by doing with the emphasis placed on the application of ministry instruction in actual ministry situations.

Evaluation: Just as the railroad ties bind the individual rails together, the element of evaluation binds together the elements of ministry instruction and ministry experience, keeping them running parallel and in the desired direction. Evaluation is the interactive process that seeks to discover relationships between ministry instruction and actual ministry experience. It is through the evaluation process that ministry instruction is evaluated as either useful in actual ministry or not. It is then altered as needed. Just as the ties proceed along the length of the rails, so the process of evaluation is an ongoing process, providing continuous feedback on the effectiveness of ministry instruction.

Spiritual Formation: The tracks and ties of a railroad would be quite useless without a solid bed or foundation beneath them as a means of support. Spiritual formation is such a foundation for the participants in the Total Learning Process. They are encouraged to continually experience more of God, to reflect on His truth and to grow in personal godliness. This aspect of the overall Learning process seeks to provide participants with a solid spiritual foundation from which to minister.

With respect to the railroad model of the Total Learning Process, conferences, seminars and workshops for the development of leaders in children’s and youth ministry are EGM’s principal means of creating the input track for the teachers involved in our program. These conferences are generally organized by local churches themselves, and can last anywhere from a weekend to an entire week, depending on the needs of the church. EGM sends its leadership development teams to churches throughout their respective countries rather than requiring them come to us. 

Topics covered in a Leadership Development Conference range from the very basic to the more advanced subjects—again, depending on the needs of the local church. Conferences can be organized for those just beginning in children’s work or for those with many years of experience. Believers in the countries where EGM serves were, for many years, denied any type of ministry education at all.  Therefore, many children’s workers with years of experience have never had the opportunity for this type of education before.

National Ministry Team leadership development group returns repeatedly to the same church in order to provide ongoing leadership development for the children’s workers there. National Ministry Teams also publish a periodic children’s workers journal as a means of continuing support and education for the teachers. Finally, we are available, on a continual basis, to answer questions and offer advice and counsel to teachers from our National Ministry Team offices throughout the year.