Developing a Servant Leadership Curriculum to Excite, Equip, and Empower Pastors and Church Leaders: God's Servants, Doing God's Work, God's Way, By God's Power

By Bernard P Goode

"Developing A Servant Leadership Curriculum To Excite, Equip And Empower Pastors And Church Leaders," authored by Dr. Bernard P. Goode is a must-read. It is the perfect tool to equip the saints in the body of Christ to become unified and better the overall team. This book focuses on the absence of servant leadership within Churches, wh

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rejoice Essential Publishing
• Release date: Nov 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781946756848

Bernard P Goode

Dr. Bernard P. Goode, a professor at South University Doctor of Ministry Program, an ordained minister, and a pastor with forty years of ministerial experience, is passionate about the interpretation of Scripture. He is considered a leading authority on the subject of Hermeneutics and Homiletics as well as Pulpit Speech and Rhetoric. Dr. Goode has lectured in churches, seminaries, and Bible colleges throughout the east and west coast. He holds doctoral degrees and certification in leadership Management and servant leadership. He is also a member of the Robert Greenleaf Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Developing a Servant Leadership Curriculum to Excite, Equip, and Empower Pastors and Church Leaders

God’s Servants, Doing God’s Work, God’s Way, By God’s Power

Dr. Bernard P. Goode

Copyright © 2019 by Dr. Bernard P. Goode

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means, graphics, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Dr. Bernard P. Goode/Rejoice Essential Publishing

PO BOX 512

Effingham, SC 29541

www.republishing.org

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture is taken from the King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Developing a Servant Leadership Curriculum to Excite, Equip, and Empower Pastors and Church Leaders/ Dr. Bernard P. Goode

ISBN-13: 978-1-946756-84-8

LCCN: 2019918856

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve…

Matthew 20:28 (NIV)

Table of Contents

Contents

Dedication

INTRODUCTION

The Concept of Traditional Leadership

The Concept of Servant Leadership

The Nature of the Christian Church

The Word Church: Its Origin and Definition

The Christian Church: Strengths and Weaknesses

Servant Leadership: A Relevant Leadership

Vision of Servant Leadership: Excite, Equip, and Empower

Pastor and Church Leader as Servant Leaders to God, Family, Church and Community

The History of Servant Leadership

How to Become a Servant Leader

Seven Principles of Servant Leadership

The Work and Practice of a Servant Leader

The Four Domains of Servant Leadership

The Seven Characteristics of Servant Leadership

Servant Leaders serve in Team Ministry

The Four Pillars of Servant Leadership

Which Leadership Approach is Right for These Sheep?

Appendices (Curriculum Study Guide)

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Pastor Laurie T. Adams for being a great inspiration and encourager in my life and ministry. This book is dedicated to Mt. Salem Baptist Church and all the men and women of God who serves in the gospel ministry as Servants Leaders of Jesus Christ. It is dedicated to my beloved spiritual father Dr. A. Lincoln James, Jr. pastor of the Trinity Baptist Church, Richmond, VA.

This book is dedicated to the following mentors: the late Dr. T Wright Morris (past president of Baptist General Convention), the late G.E. Patterson, (the presiding bishop of the Church of God in Christ), the late D. J Ragland, (Director of Virginia University of Lynchburg), Dr. A Lincoln James, Jr (Past President of Virginia State Baptist Convention and Vice Pres. National Baptist Convention Congress of Christian Education), Dr. Virgil Woods (Civil Rights Activist/ Martin Luther King, Jr) Dr. Henry Mitchell (Academic Dean/ Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology) and Bishop Neil C. Ellis (Presiding Prelate of Global United Fellowship).

This book is also dedicated to the following ministers’ license or ordained under the leadership and anointing of my ministry: Apostle James O. Smith, Prophetess Dinah Smith, Apostle William Winston, Pastor Robin Winston, Pastor Kevin Childs, Pastor Devon Edwards, Pastor Dr. Barbara Nollie, Pastor Wesley Tolliver, Pastor Nathaniel Scott, Minister LaShay Childs, Minister Frances McDuffie, Minister Alicia Croston, Minister Shelia Ross, Minister William Fells, Minister Vivian Woolfolk, Minister Delois Ferguson, Minister Edward Woolfolk, Elder Subremia Johnson, Prophet Kevin Smith, and Minister Jeryl Childs.

This book is dedicated to the following mentorees: Pastor Arthur Washington, Pastor Dr. Greg Beasely, Pastor Claybon Collins, Prophet Kevin Smith, and Minister William H. Fortune.

And above all, this book is dedicated to my Lord, Jesus Christ and His abounding grace.

INTRODUCTION

This curriculum will focus on the absence of servant leadership within Western Christian Churches, which has caused an impediment in the church’s growth both spiritually and numerically. Arguably, if pastors and church leaders received leadership training in servant leadership, then they will be aware of their biblical role and responsibility as servant leaders. In order to move forward as a church, both pastors and church leaders must work together as servants of Jesus Christ. Thus, this curriculum will be used to train pastors and church leaders in becoming servant leaders.

The theological foundation for this curriculum rests on two passages of Scriptures, Mark 9:35 (ESV), where Jesus said, Whosoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. Jesus explains that leadership capacity is clearly determined by the capacity to serve.

Therefore, the biblically-based premise is that pastors and church leaders are called to be servant leaders of Jesus Christ. Also, in 1 Corinthians 3:9, in which Paul wrote, We are God’s co-workers. Paul paints a very vivid picture of pastors and church leaders serving together. Surely the pastors and church leaders, as servant leaders of the church, ought to be laborers together as they share God’s work. When the pastor and church leaders develop this kind of shared ministry, they will be setting an example of Christian unity for all Christians.

Churches in the Western Denominations (Protestant) have faced many notable challenges while standing as a lighthouse of hope for families within the church and community. It appears that an organizational and spiritual shift is currently taking place throughout Western Christianity. A significant decline in both church attendance and respect for church leaders has impeded the church’s growth both spiritually and numerically. More people in churches are seeking deeper meaning in leadership beyond what traditional leadership offers. The desire for a leader that can make a difference, support a worthwhile vision, and bring a change in the world, indicates the desire for a new kind of leadership idea.

Chapter 1

The Concept of Traditional Leadership

In Emergence of Traditional Leadership Styles¹, Kermit Burley explains that traditional leadership is defined as a style where power is given to the leader based on the traditions of the past. In most Christian churches, all most all leaders were considered traditional leaders. Many of these leaders inherited their influence from their predecessors.

Traditional leadership, when used within the church, is not only unsafe but also harmful to the overall ministry of the church. The danger is rooted in the perception of leaders as having ultimate control and power within the ministry. Since power within the church is inherited from previous ministers, deacons, and trustees from the previous trustees, a unilateral power hierarchy results. The power remains with those who obtain leadership positions. This is problematic in Protestant Churches because leaders are also put into leadership positions based on favoritism or church politics instead of competence, compassion, and conversion. Leadership development becomes pointless because only titles and roles provide any real control or power. Moreover, traditional leadership is all about the leader’s status and not about the people’s needs. Tom Marshall argues that in the world, traditional leadership and status go hand in hand.²

Jesus told the following parable about status when he was invited to dinner and saw the guests scrambling to grab the places at the table:

When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, Give this man your seat. Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, Friend move up to a better place. Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:8-11).³

In a status hungry world, Jesus warns his disciples about falling into the status trap. Freedom from the status syndrome must begin with leaders, and it must begin with a change of attitudes toward positions, titles, and power.

Maxwell concludes that it is not the position that makes the leader. It is the leader that makes the position.⁴ People have many misconceptions about leadership. When people hear that someone has an impressive title or an assigned leadership position, they assume that he or she a leader. Maxwell argues that sometimes can be true. However, titles do not have much value when it comes to leading.⁵ For example, status seekers are driven by the idea of having an impressive title or high ranking position rather than leading others. To them, a title is a symbol of power and control.

Marshall explains that status is about our ranking or position in society; it is one of the primary nonmonetary rewards of leadership, sometimes the main reward.⁶ Status is not only sought after, but also assiduously protected by the position holders. Marshall asserts that status is also used to reinforce the power of leadership by deliberately creating vertical distance between leaders and followers.⁷ Several of the problems occurring within most churches are a direct result of the traditional /secular model of leadership being inadvertently applied within the context of the church instead of servant leadership (where the leaders are concerned with leading first instead of serving first). It has become obvious that pastors and church leaders are not functioning as servant leaders. The absence of servant leadership is the foundation of the problem and need to be addressed by this servant leadership curriculum.

This curriculum does not seek to dispel the significance of the traditional/secular business model of leadership, but instead argues that a biblical model of leadership will be a more relevant and effective model of leadership in the Protestant churches.

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1. Kermit Burley, Emergence of Traditional Leadership Styles, last accessed September 26, 2017, last modified August 2, 2018, https://bizfluent.com/info-8469011-emergence-traditional-leadership-styles.html

2. Tom Marshall, Understanding Leadership (Grand Rapids,