In the last post, I suggested that the two most important characteristics of successful movement builders are their ability to gather people and their ability to develop and lead leaders. With these abilities, the local team leader has the best potential to build movements. Steve Nicholson and Jeff Bailey of the Vineyard Church unpack these two practical criteria in this way:
The Ability to Gather People
People go about the gathering process differently. Some people are good at one-on-one conversations; their gifts and attractiveness naturally come out in personal interactions. Others more naturally gather people with their upfront skills: interacting with large groups, communicating, teaching, and casting vision. However it is expressed, though, the ability to gather people is one of the first and most fundamental of abilities that must be present in the local team leader.
Gathering people also means, argues Nicholson and Bailey, being able to attract and empower others who are themselves people gatherers: people who are extroverts, or who are natural evangelists or “bringers and includers.” The team leader who is skilled at gathering people will empower those in his core who are natural gatherers themselves because once the movement begins to grow, the ability to connect with large numbers will be increasingly difficult.
The Ability to Develop and Lead Leaders
The number one characteristic in successful church plants (or in successful movement building)–according to Todd Hunter and others–is the team leader’s ability to “identify, recruit, train, and deploy other leaders.” Team leaders must have the ability to attract and lead other leaders. If the movement builder can lead people to Christ and nurture them, but cannot develop and lead leaders, he or she will not be able to build much more than a large home-size group. In other words, the ministry will never grow beyond what the team leader can directly oversee and lead…and thus, it will never become a movement.
Other Important Characteristics
The Vineyard studies offer several other important criteria needed in local team leaders. I’ll simply list them here. Besides the two criteria above, the successful local team leader possesses:
- A Clear Sense of Being Sent by God
- A Faith-Driven, Inspiring Vision
- Healthy Communication Skills (i.e. able to teach)
- Creative Evangelistic Skills
- Intentional, Strategic Planning Skills
- Financial Management Skills
- Authenticity
- Solid Marriage and Family
- Emotional Maturity and Resilience
- Vital Spiritual Life