How is your Heart?
When is the last time someone asked you that question: “how is your heart?” For ministry leaders, this may have been a long, long time ago, even though this question is much more important than the question “how is your ministry?”
The Heart of The Leader is a conference-like journey for ministry leaders. Too many conferences and too many ministry relationships are geared only toward the handiwork and knowledge of ministry versus the heart and spirit driving it.
David speaks of the need for both of these areas in our lives to be engaged and fully functioning in Psalm 78:72:
So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hand.
Even the Gospel makes it clear: failing to address the condition of the heart while emphasizing the work of the hands does not please God. So it is no wonder this mindset is wildly detrimental to the ministry leaders.
It is this slippery slope that results in too many Christian leaders leaving the ministry due to burnout, stress, conflict, and deep, unhealed wounds. And it is this which Heart of The Leader is designed to address.
Rooted in the life of Christ, Heart of The Leader is based on and circles around the following truths:
- Jesus was a minister.
- Jesus has faced more stress than any of us will ever face.
- Jesus responded well to stress in ministry.
- Therefore, He can understand our griefs and struggles better than anyone else alive, and He is a perfect model for our response.
Testimonies from Participants
“I thank God for this time of refreshing by using Heart of The Leader as a way of facing my fears and doubts. People around me think I am strong but inside I am falling apart. I am honored that God brought me this to guide me towards healing.”
“I didn’t realize how lost and overwhelmed I had been for a long-time until I attended Heart of The Leader. What a blessing it was to open up about aches and disappointments that I could not possibly deal with anywhere else.”
“I am challenged. I am nourished. I am equipped to do life that I was running away from. I had taken a long break from serving at my local church but I am more convinced God wants me back home.“
“Praise God, I was reminded that truly, Jesus did not die for my ministry, but for me.“
Questions You May Have:
Why is Heart of The Leader important?
Many church structures say “bigger = better.” As a result, there is a distinct and deadly lack of denominations and ACCOUNTABILITY and MENTORING structures in the global church.
Who do the pastors/leaders talk to when they need advice, accountability, support, and prayer?
WHO pastors the pastors?
Surveys regularly show 30-40% of pastors have thought of LEAVING the ministry (Barna Group Pastor Poll, 2021). And when these pastors leave the ministry, whether due to discouragement, burnout, or moral failures, they take all their years of experience with them. This is too big of a problem to ignore.
Is Heart of The Leader for me?
If you are a pastor or ministry leader who wants to:
- Let the Holy Spirit to unroot old, sinful patterns in your life,
- Live the Great Commandment just as much as the Great Commission,
- Meditate on how Jesus so faithfully endured the peak of human suffering and understand what that means for you,
- Commit to vulnerability within safe community for the sake of spiritual development,
- Receive encouragement, forgiveness, healing, and fellowship from other believers,
- Hear of God’s work in and for you and be moved to respond to Him,
- Develop a framework of Christ-centered spiritual development…
Then YES, Heart of The Leader is for you.
Furthermore, if you answer yes to any of these questions, Heart of The Leader is designed for you:
- Do you ever feel alone? Even in a crowded ministry setting?
- Are you lacking contentment?
- Is it possible that life and ministry have “clogged your spiritual arteries”?
- Do you know you have a calling and purpose but lack the passion and energy to continue?
- Do you feel as if you often fake it in ministry?
What can I expect?
Heart of The Leader invites you to receive guidance from Scripture and trained mentors to process your life, meditate on and apply Jesus’ model for spiritual health, and prayerfully mark out the next steps the Lord is asking of you.
Your life, no matter how many years you’ve lived, is filled to the brim with joys (stars) and griefs (scars). Sometimes, we do not take the time to faithfully process both the joyful and difficult times. This can result in burnout, discouragement, loss of identity, confusion in your calling, lack of authenticity, misplaced priorities, and sinful behaviors.
Lecture times are followed by personal reflection activities designed to direct your attention to personal application while also driving you to the heart of Christ (The True Leader).
Then you will gather with your small, mentor-led peer group. This time will enable vulnerable sharing within a safe, intentional community of other ministry leaders as well assist in uncovering what next steps the Lord has set before you.
Core Values
Jesus is our main example.
Therefore, we will seek to keep Jesus’ example of spiritual development principles and ministry practices primary in all sessions.
Scripture is all-sufficient for life and godliness.
Therefore, Scripture will be foundational for all sessions, experientials, and group processing. All sessions, experientials, and practices should be filtered through Scripture. If we err, we desire to err on the side of Biblical approach versus psychological or humanistic approach.
Dependence on the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, we realize that God’s Spirit through His Word is the main counselor and provider of spiritual development principles. The teachers’ and mentors’ roles are to provide an atmosphere for participants before the Scriptures and the Spirit for their spiritual development.
Biblical Community is essential for spiritual development.
Therefore, we will seek to provide safe but challenging places for participants to respond to God, His Word, His Spirit, and one another as the mentors and participants speak the biblical truth in love.
In addition, we desire to model biblical community to encourage a life-long desire for participants to engage others in their own spiritual development.
The leadership team is important in the process.
Therefore, we will seek to develop teachers, mentors, assistant mentors, and all other operational staff and volunteers to multiply the quantity of opportunities for spiritual development for leaders globally.
Quality is important in the process.
Therefore, we will offer quality events through well-equipped leadership teams, Biblical curriculum, clear-cut administrative processes to multiply the quantity of opportunities for spiritual development for leaders globally.
You want in?
(Please know that there may be an application process involved to ensure you are qualified for this journey.)