A Pauline Theology Of Church Leadership

Scholarly studies consider Paul's views on leadership tend to fall into one of three camps: 1) the historical development view, which in large measure identifies developments in church practice with developments in Pauline and deutero-Pauline ecclesiology; 2) the synchronic, historical reconstruction, typically making use of Graeco-Roman, social context sources, or social-scientific modelling, focusing on a single congregation, and sometimes distinguishing between the situation to which Paul was responding and the pattern he sought to impose; and 3) the theological/hermeneutical analysis, identifying Paul's particular approach to power and authority, often independently of any detailed reconstruction of the situations to which Paul was responding. Andrew Clarke has explored in an earlier work, Serve the Community of the Church (Eerdmans, 2000), the distinctive, local and historical situations in the various Pauline communities and concluded that there is no evidence that they organised themselves according to a common set of governmental structures which clearly developed with the passage of time. Rather each community was influenced by its own localized, social and cultural context. The present project builds on this, and necessarily focuses on leadership style rather than church order. It seeks to recover from Paul's critical responses, his generic ethos of church leadership, including the ideal qualities, characteristics and task of leaders and the nature of appropriate interaction and engagement with church members. In the light of current, theoretical discussions about power and gender, the study focuses particularly on Paul's attitude towards hierarchy, egalitarianism, authority, responsibility and privilege.

**Winner of the 2012 Fredric M. Jablin Doctoral Dissertation Award** Where did Paul find leaders for his new churches? How did he instruct and develop them? What processes took place to stabilize the churches and institute their new leadership? This book carves a fresh trail in leadership studies by looking at leadership development from a group-dynamic, social identity perspective. Paul engages the cultural leadership patterns of his key local leaders, publicly affirming, correcting, and improving those patterns to conform to a Christlike pattern of sacrificial service. Paul's own life and ministry offer a motivational and authoritative model for his followers, because he embodies the leadership style he teaches. As a practical theologian avant la lettre, Paul contextualizes key theological themes to strengthen community and leadership formation, and equips his church leaders as entrepreneurs of Christian identity. A careful comparison of the Corinthian and Ephesian churches demonstrates a similar overall pattern of development. This study engages Pauline scholarship on church office in depth and offers alternative readings of five Pauline epistles, generating new insights to enrich dogmatic and practical theological reflection. In a society where many churches reflect on their missional calling, such input from the NT for contemporary Christian leadership formation is direly needed.

Evangelical essayists explore the history of scholarship on 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus and thoroughly examine Paul's theology in the Pastoral Epistles.

Not since Roland Allen's book in 1912 has there appeared such a thorough study of the Apostle Paul's mission theology and methodology. "The value of this comprehensive survey," writes Harry R. Boer in the foreword, lies in part in its grounding in "careful expository studies of Paul's ministry as revealed in Acts and in the corpus of the Pauline epistles." Again and again the author illustrates the abiding relevance of Paul's first-century insights for missionary thought and practice in the twentieth century. He draws not only on Scripture, but also on personal insights and illustrations arising from two decades of missionary service. And he enters into significant dialogue with representative missionary literature of the modern period. The book's five parts cover theology (the sources and nature of Paul's theology and his theological assumptions for mission), conversion (Paul's conversion in Acts; conversion as reality, experience, and process; and conversion and the real world), the convert's new life (what its spiritual basis is and how to live it) the church (its oneness, diversity, and contextuality; its leadership, worship, discipline, and finance), and the missionary (his or her credentials and ministry). "Paul's theology was irresistible because it was energized by a fresh, life-changing experience and supported by a new love for all people," writes the author in the introduction. He then elaborates on four characteristics of that theology: it is dynamic, evangelical, pastoral, and holistic. "The absolute commitment of mind and body, soul and spirit, that was Paul's, his love for the Lord Jesus and lost people everywhere," concludes the author in the epilogue, "must be the very heart of the church."

Much has changed since the first edition of Lovett Weems’s seminal work Church Leadership appeared in 1993. In that time a substantial literature about leading the congregation has appeared, written from a broad variety of perspectives. But in some ways, little has changed in that time. The need for leadership in the church—defined as discovering the faithful future into which God is calling the congregation, and walking with the congregation into that future—is just as pressing as it ever was. And for that reason, the need for clear, insightful thinking about leadership is just as great as it ever was. In this revised edition, Weems draws on the best new ideas and research in organizational leadership, yet always with his trademark theological grounding foremost in mind. Anyone who guides the life of a congregation, be they clergy or laity, will find Church Leadership the indispensable tool with which to follow their calling to be a church leader.

Understanding Christian Leadership offers an examination of a distinctly Christian understanding of leadership offering a critical appraisal of insights from secular theories of leadership, exploring biblical and other theological insights into the nature and practice of leadership. Whilst arguing for a form of leadership which is widely dispersed and collaborative, the book seeks to explain the distinctive role of leaders within such a leadership economy. It also seeks to establish a proper relationship between sacred and secular leadership thinking, tackling some of the common philosophical and theological reservations to do with leadership discourse, whilst offering a critical framework for discerning the suitability for the Church of different sources of leadership thinking. Designed as core reading for leadership modules currently taught by the author across a large number of training contexts in the UK, this book is an indispensable text for those taking undergraduate or postgraduate-level qualifications in Christian leadership as well as those in other less formal leadership training contexts. Foreword by Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

Because it can be abused, leadership is a risky business for those in it and those under it. But God has good plans for leadership within the church. This study explores God's plans for authority by focusing on God's revelation of himself as shepherd, and how God calls leaders to image him. The rest of the study looks at the special responsibilities and roles within the church, fulfilled by elders, deacons, and church members themselves. A series of ten 6–7 week studies covering the nine distinctives of a healthy church as originally laid out in Nine Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever. This series explores the biblical foundations of key aspects of the church, helping Christians to live out those realities as members of a local body. Conveniently packaged and accessibly written, the format of this series is guided, inductive discussion of Scripture passages and is ideal for use in Sunday school, church-wide studies, or small group contexts.