Reflection on Ministry Leadership Experience

Ministry Leadership Experience

Becoming a leader in a church organization is a journey that can be quite complex, rewarding, or even frustrating. The process of ascending into a leadership position or role in a church organization is demanding because of the complex responsibilities associated with it. From the insights obtained in this course, this process requires developing necessary skills and experiences in order to be an effective leader. As noted by Sparkman, one needs to necessary experience to effectively manage his/her role as a leader in a church organization.[footnoteRef:1] Therefore opportunities for the development of leadership experiences is critical for an individual to become an effective leader in ministry. [1: Torrence Sparkman, “The Leadership Development Experiences of Church Denomination Executives”, The Journal of Applied Christian Leadership, March 1, 2017, https://jacl.andrews.edu/the-leadership-development-experiences-of-church-denomination-executives/]

This supervised ministry field experience is an opportunity for me to develop the necessary skills and experiences for effective service as a leader in a church organization. The experience has played an important role in my development as a ministry leader by giving me the opportunity to engage in different activities relating to my role. I have engaged in activities relating to administration and planning, shadowing leaders, discipleship, mentorship, small group leadership, recovery ministry, and volunteer recruitment and planning. This implies that the experience has exposed me to the diverse aspects of ministry leadership. I believe that the internship has sharpened my ministry leadership skills and prepared me for a future role as a leader in the church.

From this field experience, I have learned that leadership in a church organization entails dealing with different aspects of ministry. Church leaders are faced with different issues ranging from administrative issues to discipleship and coordinating worship service. While the leader may have a pre-defined role, he/she may end up playing other roles or duties. As a result, the individual needs to have diverse skills to handle nearly every situation he/she encounters. Gaining practical skills is essential to prepare the individual to handle different situations in order to lead and serve others effectively. Secondly, I have learned that effective church leadership involves collaborating with others. As I shadowed different leaders, I discovered that they were collaborating with others in different departments to conduct their activities. Since ministry is demanding, working with others is an essential component of effective church or ministry leadership. Working with others harmoniously through creating interpersonal linkages helps to accomplish mutually satisfactory objectives since ministry is essentially about influencing others instead of having power.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Willis M. Watt, “Relational Principles for Effective Church Leadership”, Journal of Leadership Education 13(2014): 131]