The Reverend Dr. Jørgensen’s Equipping for Service is a substantially revised version of two of his earlier teaching modules: his manual, Equipping for Service (1995) and his Norwegian book translated as Vision and Every Day Life: Leadership in Mission and Congregation (1991). Unlike the earlier two projects, this version marries scholarly research on leadership and management, as well as biblical and practical ministry studies, with an applied focus on developing leaders in church and society. Though written as a scholarly contribution and the ideas are expressed in a manner familiar to an academic readership, the book is clearly not written for scholars. His intended audience includes practicing and aspiring missional leaders, pastors, elders, deacons, and community leaders in civil society. Readers will find reflective experiences scattered throughout his rigorous treatment of theories and models on leadership, strategic planning, management, organizational structure, behavioral consideration and leadership training.

Jørgensen is no mere theorist. The project is backed by his varied experience as i) chair of the Edinburgh 2010 study process monitoring group, ii) directorship of Scandinavian mission foundation Areopagos and Radio Voice of the Gospel in Ethopia, iii) executive secretariat for communications with the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, iv) deanship at Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Abaha, Tao Fong Shan in Hong Kong, and v) adjunct professorships in MF Norwegian School of Theology and Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong.

Upon analyzing the crisis of leadership in church and society, Jørgensen proposes that churches urgently need leadership, and sustainable leadership development for professionals and laypeople. While he agrees that administrators and managers hold important roles, Jørgensen also claims that “people with values, credibility, visions and perspectives, who walk in front and show the way, who are able to inspire our hearts” are the ones truly able to “hold back the forces of evil in cities and nations” (pp. 1-2). Jørgensen bemoans the churches are “training helpers… to relieve the pastors and leaders of some of ‘their’ tasks, like house visiting, evangelism, Sunday school” when they ought to be nurturing leaders in their own right” (pp. 2-3).

Studying the definitions of leadership and influence, he shows how these definitions reflect various leadership theories and models – such as trait theory, great events theory, abilities and qualifications theory, situation and transactional model, transformational leadership, and various theories of leadership and management behavior plotted on a grid – country-club management, team management, middle-of-the-road management, impoverished management, and authority-compliance management, and theories on leadership style and situations – of whether task and/or relational focus, of decision styles – delegating, participating, selling or telling (ch. 2). Key elements include, leadership role (e.g., proven through ability, education and experience?), leadership behavior (e.g., being task-oriented), and leadership style (e.g., showing vulnerability).

Every church has an awesome privilege of supporting, encouraging, training, and equipping each person to fulfill their God-given purpose.

Party Time?

Everyone loves a good party. We all love to celebrate our accomplishments and enjoy our successes—not to mention relishing the flattery of our peers. Relish …That reminds me, we’re going to need almost a dozen grills and we’ll probably have dessert catered by that ice cream shop down the street. Let’s see, we’ll need the hospitality team and the kitchen crew. I need to form a leadership team to delegate the responsibilities to the team captains of lay leadership …

Image: Yoori Koo

I’ve often been there. Have you? The times where even celebrations—times of worship, relaxation, and enjoying one another—seem like too much work to be worth it. Here’s the tension: It’s too much work without volunteers, and equipping volunteers is too much work. The process of equipping others to serve and lead in the local church is challenging, but it should also be rewarding for everyone involved.

I serve in volunteer leadership as the Director of Equipping at my local church, Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri. Over the past several years, God has moved within our people to create a culture of service that we would not have dreamed possible.

We celebrate the fact that each person has a special God-given purpose in life, and we as a church body have the awesome privilege of supporting, encouraging, training, and equipping each person to fulfill that purpose. This celebration results from much more than just a nominal belief that each person is special.

We passionately believe that:

• Equipping and developing people is biblical.
• Each person is made in a special way.
• Each person deserves special attention.
• We must commit to each volunteer that they will have training, be affirmed, receive feedback, know expectations, have an opportunity to help evaluate ministries, and experience the joy of recognition and reflection.
• Hundreds of volunteers would love to be asked to serve.

With each belief comes a challenge that causes us to ask the question, “Are we just mentally on board with the principles of biblical equipping, or does our belief cross the line of conviction that results in action?” My passion is so strong that I left my position in the secular marketplace to give my life to equipping the people in the local church. I have never been so fulfilled, rewarded, or challenged—all coupled with the sense that I am doing exactly what I was made to do. I believe you can help your volunteers tap into that same belief and passion.

The intrinsic motivation for inviting people into ministry must be pure. It would help to be clairvoyant! But fortunately, God blesses leaders in the local church with the spiritual gift of discernment, guiding us when inviting someone to a specific ministry. You can be certain that you will be successful in matching each individual with his/her specific design if you truly have the other person’s best interest at heart and desire that the Kingdom of God is glorified. I find myself experiencing great remorse when my attitude falls to what I can get from an individual rather than what I want for the individual. One of our favorite statements is, “We are not about inviting people to fill roles, but roles to fulfill people!”

John Lathrop interviews Finny Philip about the new South Asia Bible Commentary.

John Lathrop: Please give us a brief history of the development of this commentary.

Finny Philip: The South Asia Bible Commentary (SABC) is a project of Langham Partnership International and partners. Langham is the organization founded by the late evangelical scholar, author and leader John Stott.

John R. W. Stott (1921–2011), “started Langham in 1969 with the vision that every pastor in every church is equipped to preach the Bible.”
Image: Langham Partnership International / Wikimedia Commons.

The project started in 2008 when a few Langham scholars in India came together for fellowship in Kolkata. The project is led by Brian Wintle (New Testament scholar), three Old Testament theological editors (Drs. Paul Swarup, J.B. Jeyraj, Havilah Dharmraj) and two New Testament theological editors, Dr. Jacob Cherian and myself.

Who are the contributors to this volume and what countries are they from?

Finny Philip: The writers are all South Asian—scholars from India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka contributed to the volume. The commentaries have been written by over ninety scholars. This resource represents the first effort of its kind written by South Asians.

What denominations do the commentators come from?

Finny Philip: Pentecostals, Baptist, Methodist, Brethren, Church of North India, Church of South India, and the rest are evangelicals and charismatics. Of the 92 scholars who contributed to SABC, 18 are Pentecostals including the two New Testament editors.

What are some of the main theological concerns facing the church in South Asia at this time?

Finny Philip: There a lot of issues that the commentary deals with.

To speak to South Asians powerfully and with relevance, the commentary uses local metaphors and imagery and helps its users apply the Bible to the challenges in their culture. In addition to the commentary, more than 100 topics are explored from a biblical perspective, including:

Bribery & Corruption

Caste

Children At Risk

Christian Bhakti (devotion) in South Asia

Death and Life after Death

Human Trafficking

Jesus in South Asia/ South Asian responses to Christ

Karma and Fatalism

Living as the People of God in South Asia

Mission of God in South Asia

The Finality of Christ

The Holy Spirit in South Asian Spirituality

Violence against Women

Witchcraft and Demons

Yoga, Gurus and God men