by Tirza Hortensius, Church Relations
At Leadership Pathway we help churches create space for young leaders to join their team for the long haul. This begins with a leadership residency that is two years in length. Housing is a big deal since they are not compensated fully.

Sometimes it doesn’t take three hundred words to make an excellent point. Recently at a Masterclass in Cincinnati we were discussing how to understand young leaders/GenZ/twenty somethings and high school pastor Mike Shelley had the perfect answer.

We must keep the conversation alive about staffing and what to do next.

Begin by dividing the columns into six-month increments: the first 6 months, months 7-12, and the 2nd year (months13-24). Brainstorm the individual skills a resident should acquire. This is especially beneficial to do together with other staff members on your team. Have them each write tasks on post-it notes.

A Christian College senior sat down in my office in February of his last year of undergrad studies in ministry and was perplexed. Like most of the good ones, he’d spent the better part of the last two years on a developmental path of part-time ministry under the guidance of a great youth pastor.

“I don’t know which of these opportunities I should pursue,” he said. 

Not all residents are young twenty somethings. Chris Vermeulen is a great example of a second-career resident. He serves at one of our favorite places with Rick Riddering who serves in leadership development and as residency director. Here’s a take on Chris’ development in his own words

Purchasing all the best Dewalt tools at Home Depot doesn’t make you a finish carpenter. Asking a veteran carpenter for advice, listening, and putting into practice what they say repeatedly will put you on the path to being one. Can we do this for the next generation?

My journey toward ministry began in high school when my youth pastor decided to tap and encourage me to take on more leadership roles in the youth group. During my senior year of college, I was looking for what I was going to do, and I found out about the Leadership Pathway Residency opportunity at StoneBridge Christian Church in Omaha, NE through someone I know who works there.

You envisioned your church, you got the funding, you launched, you recruited, you interviewed (several times!), you onboarded, you invested, you coached, you prayed, consulted, …and that resident STILL didn’t work out.

The number one thing it takes to launch a residency is a name. A name of who might be considered to someday be a resident put into a system to be found, supported, and developed

It’s that time of year again! In ministry, the holidays can result in weariness with busy schedules and juggling expectations at home, yet, it’s the prime time in which people in the community often explore the Church and who Jesus is. How can we best serve others and help them meet Jesus if we, ourselves, are running on empty? The reality is, we can’t!

A look at Lp’s Masterclass in Denver - October 2023.

Brittany Crimmel is a 20-something Production Manager at Saddleback Church’s Lake Forest Campus in southern CA. As an impressive as that might be, it’s really her passion to grow, helping others meet Jesus all along the way that is inspiring, especially as you take a closer look into the path that got her where she is today and what the future might hold 5 or 10 years from now.

What leaders say about Leadership Pathway.

How to find support & develop the next generation of potential leaders.

Seth Godin calls these the REAL SKILLS for today’s workers.

We agree and it’s the basis of our coaching conversations.

You can’t recruit alone. Build a team to go with you. Share the work.

You already have your most powerful recruiting tool and it is free.

We do this because the success that your organization will have in leadership development will only be as strong as the leaders you have who are doing the coaching and the one-on-one meetings.