BGCT forms Center for Effective Leadership

The Baptist General Convention of Texas has formed the Center for Effective Leadership to provide resources for pastors and other congregational leaders to develop leadership skills and practices.

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DALLAS—The Baptist General Convention of Texas has formed the Center for Effective Leadership to provide resources for pastors and other congregational leaders to develop leadership skills and practices. 

The center will help Texas Baptists develop leadership skills that will help congregations thrive, making an impact on their communities and the world, BGCT Executive Director Randel Everett said.

“The key to church and institutional health is the right kind of leadership. The Cen-ter for Effective Leadership was created to allow us to deal with this essential principle in pragmatic ways that provide tools and evaluations for our Texas Baptist leaders,” he said.

The center aims to help Texas Baptists increase their leadership abilities by pointing them to resources that are strong theologically as well as practically useful. Sometimes that will entail pointing individuals to existing resources.  Other times, the center will create resources by bringing Texas Baptists together who are passionate about a particular leadership issue, Center Director Ron Herring said.

By bringing Texas Baptists together, the center can create contextually accurate resources that provide the theological foundation for leadership, as well as practical leadership skills that will work in Texas Baptist churches.

“We want to assist churches and church leaders right where they are,” Herring said. “The resources we point people to and the resources we will create will help people better develop their leadership skills.”

The center is beginning its work by seeking feedback from Texas Baptists about where they find their leadership resources and what they would like to see created.

Listening is often the first step in effective church leadership, said Emily Prevost, the center’s associate director. It seems to be a logical point for starting the center’s ministry as well.

“If you walk in saying you have all the answers, you’re going to fail,” she said.


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“In order to create significant solutions for leadership issues across the state, we need to make sure we’re addressing issues that actually exist. From that point, we can begin to bring people together to tackle the problems that Texas Baptists believe are most critical.”

In creating the center, Bivocational Specialist Cecil Deadman and Pastorless Church Consultant Karl Fickling were moved to the BGCT Christian Education/ Discipleship Center. Bill Claiborne, who primarily worked with Texas.E-quip.net, became a congregational strategist. The position held by Julie Sadler will be eliminated Oct. 31 as part of this strategic change.

The center’s budget will consist of limited BGCT cooperative funds and is intended to become self-supporting within a few years.

 

 

 

 


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