The focus on leadership development is really capturing the church, especially the church plant. They can't stand around and wait for some leaders to come. They need leaders now. So I see this focus of leadership development that has come to youth ministry in the last ten years infiltrating the whole church. I see churches starting to ask where they are going to develop new leaders, and how do they create a leadership culture in their church. I also think it's coming from that entrepreneurial senior pastor, who's realizing that leadership development is the key to long-term growth.
The first step in any leadership development program is always this idea of knowing yourself: understanding your gifts and your abilities. Students today, because of what youth workers are doing, know themselves better than adults coming up in the church knew themselves. They know their spiritual gifts, they know their style of leadership, they know a lot more about who they are, and I think that that has real potential to help them in their leadership development down the road. I see them bringing a new spirit, a new heart, a new way of thinking.
When you talk to people that are 45 and older, a lot of times church is about duty to them. A student today, or someone in their 20s or 30s, is looking at impact. They come into a church and they say, 'If this church has impact, I'll throw myself in 100 percent.' Churches are actually going to have to change because of students coming up saying, "We must have impact, otherwise people will leave." And it will be a whole new way of thinking about church.
