Leadership in Christian Education

By Gary Noble PhD

Leadership in Christian Education explores three critical issues that Christian Education administration should focus upon: strategic thinking skills, leadership skills, and people skills.

This book will provide help for church leaders in general, and specifically Christian education leaders, on how to differentiate between a growing church and a healthy church, the difference between sacred leadership (church leaders) and secular leadership (business leaders), and how to create a sense of urgency before an emergency.

This book will prove to be a contemporary guide and ready resource on Christian education administration.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984535986

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Copyright © 2018 by Gary Noble, PhD.

ISBN:                    Softcover                            978-1-9845-3599-3

                             eBook                                   978-1-9845-3598-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 04/27/2019

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

SECTION 1

The Preparation for Strategic Thinking

The Difference Between Sacred And Secular Leadership

The Advantage: A Healthy Church Vs. A Growing Church

When Congregational Change Is Needed

What Leaders Really Do: Leadership Vs. Management

SECTION 2

The Process of Utilizing Leadership Skills

Becoming A Great Leader

The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make

The Essential Elements

The Task Of Leadership

SECTION 3

The Practice of People Skills

All Hands On Deck: Building Your Dream Team

People Principles: How To Win With People

Urgency Before Emergency: Creating A Sense Of Urgency

The Volume Of Volunteers

Endnotes

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to the following people… for your confidence, encouragement and support, and for giving me the opportunity to serve:

To my Pastor, Dr. Dwight D. Townsend Sr., our most efficient Elders Council (Richard Brown, Moses Harris, Ray Mahomes, Johnnie Parks Sr., Henry L. Robinson Jr., and Dr. Rodney Williams), and to our Deacons led by chairman Donny Green, and to my dearly beloved Longley Baptist Church family.

To my friend Pastor Craig B. Collier, Sr. and the adorable Mount Pisgah Baptist Church family.

To my daughter, Bridgette Jones, who read and re-read every word of this project with sharp eyes and always provided insight and manuscript expertise.

And to my son, Bradley Noble, whom I so admire his character and maturity.

INTRODUCTION

Leadership and Christian education has been a personal passion of mine since 1977. In August of 1976, I enrolled in college and began pursuing a degree in economics. I possess natural gifts for leadership and have an anointing for teaching and the Christian education process.

I have a natural learner’s strength. I’m instinctively drawn to the process of learning and am invigorated by a consistent and intentional journey from ignorance to competence.

In the business world, I have had the privilege of working for Fortune 500 companies in both leadership and lay positions. I have also owned and operated my own small business consisting of residential, commercial, and governmental mowing contracts.

I have utilized my leadership skills in the religious world. I have learned a lot after having served over seventeen years in the full-time Christian education ministry. My experience has taught me that in spite of a great curriculum, expensive educational technologies and buildings, and motivated teachers, a Christian education ministry can still struggle. One reason is because some Christian education leaders may not have been exposed to or trained in effective leadership skills.

Hans Finzel writes, "Many people who come into