The purpose of this doctoral project is to help five selected Highland Baptist Church leaders identify, develop, and lead from their God-given calling, gifts, and strengths, which will help to solidify and grow the church’s ministries in light of changing community dynamics. To achieve this purpose, a pilot project will be conducted with those leaders to discover and develop their gifts and strengths. Those leaders will then be encouraged to lead from their calling, gifts, and strengths in a church ministry setting. This process will occur over a period of fifteen months.
The first section of this project will focus on the ministry context. The history and demography of the community will be described. The church’s history and cultural setting will be explored, and its mission, vision, beliefs, and practices will be examined. Implications drawn from both the community demography and the church setting will be analyzed.
The second section will focus on the biblical and theological concepts germane to the character and practices of a church leader. Several relevant resources designed to encourage leaders to be influential in their settings will be reviewed. Barnabas will be presented as a biblical model of leadership.
The third section will focus on the ministry strategy. Goals and implementation processes will be included. A proposed evaluation plan of the project processes to assess whether the project goals were met will also be included.
Finally, a summary of the expected outcomes and insights from the project will be included. Implications for the ministry of Highland Baptist Church along with next steps for developing additional Highland Baptist leaders using this model will be presented. Applications for other evangelical churches will also be included.
Content Reader: Robert E. Logan, Ph
