Anglican Perspectives

Clergy Leadership Development Opportunities

The American Anglican Council’s mission is to build up and defend Great Commission Anglican churches. We do that through:

  1. Advocacy and counsel
  2. Leadership development
  3. Equipping the local church

In this article, I want to focus on Leadership Development. In building up Great Commission Anglicanism through leadership development, we primarily serve ordained leaders of all three orders. (bishops, priests, deacons) If you are a lay person reading this, please prayerfully think of clergy you know whom you could encourage to attend these important development opportunities. Also know that we have in the past held lay leadership events and in time will continue and strengthen those initiatives. If you are ordained, please prayerfully consider if one of these opportunities will be beneficial for you to participate in soon.
For clergy both priest and deacon, we have the Clergy Leadership Training Institute (CLTI).

CLTI consists of a series of three conferences, each one distinct in its focus:

  1. Foundations in Leadership
    This CLTI conference is for any clergy in their first five years of ministry. CLTI Foundations helps newly ordained leaders learn foundational leadership principles and practices that they didn’t learn in seminary but will set them up for a lifetime of successful ministry. Topics include spiritual disciplines, integrity, communication, conflict management and leading change well. Ministry Skills cohorts and coaching are offered following CLTI Foundations. The next Foundations in Leadership CLTI will be held October 22-24, 2019 in Thomasville, GA. Find out more about this CLTI and register here.
  2. Fortifying Your Leadership
    This CLTI conference is for those in ordained ministry for five or more years. CLTI Fortifying offers a proven, character-focused, leadership development curriculum developed by The Rev. Geoff Chapman. Geoff+ presents four sessions on “The Pastor’s Heart” at each Fortifying CLTI. What you receive at these conferences will immensely benefit your spiritual life and your ministry. Each participant is encouraged to join a Clergy Covenant Care. After the conference, these covenant groups last 5 months with an option for them to continue another two years or more. The next Fortifying Your Leadership CLTI will be held November 11-14, 2019 in Asheville, NC. Find out more about this CLTI and register here.
  3. Finishing Well in Leadership
    This CLTI conference is for leaders that plan on transitioning in their career. They are either at or near the end of their full-time ministry (retirement) or at or near the end of a major season of ministry. This training helps clergy “end well” where they are and transition to the next stage of their life while setting the congregation or ministry they are leaving up for success through succession planning. As in CLTI Fortifying, each participant is encouraged to join a Clergy Covenant Care group as well as receive coaching following the conference.
    The next Finishing Well in Leadership is being planned for January 2019 in the Houston, Texas area. Please notify us of your interest and we’ll happily get you more information as it develops.

Apart from the Clergy Leadership Training Institute and for rectors specifically, we partner with LeaderWorks to offer the Rector’s Summit for Vision & Planning (RSVP).

RSVP is a professional development program for rectors (head pastors of congregations). Any Anglican Church in North America rector, no matter their career-point, can attend these 4-day summits that address key domains of every pastor’s vocation. For example, an RSVP may focus on any one of these topics:
• Preaching in the Anglican tradition
• Soul care in the midst of ministry
• Creating a culture of generosity
• How to lead a vestry

RSVP is more than a conference. In addition to invaluable content from experts in ministry, we provide structured time for small group interaction, prayer, common meals, and worship. The next series of RSVP events will focus on developing the preaching life of the rector. For more on this, check out our upcoming retreat which will be in Sandestin, FL on December 2-5, 2019.

For bishops we have the Bishop’s Leadership Summit (BLS). One of the distinctive features of the AAC Bishop’s Leadership Summit is that it is a learning community. The participating bishops select the topics they wish to address which cut across differences in context. So far, these topics have included:
• The bishop as a pastor to the pastors
• The bishop as chief missionary and disciple-maker
• Apostolic power in apostolic ministry
• Spiritual authority in episcopal ministry
• Balancing God, family and ministry

The bishops themselves give short presentations, followed by discussion and further questions by the whole group. In addition, Archbishops Robert Duncan and Onesphore Rwaje have offer reflections after which the bishops gather in small groups for further discussion and prayer.

Through discussions and deep sharing of needs and hopes, the shape of the mission partnerships coming out of the Bishop’s Leadership Summit includes mutual sending and receiving of mission teams (including clergy and laity) from diocese to diocese. It also includes the bishops participating in each other’s synods, ordinations and other collegial meetings. Watch a video recap of our first Bishop’s Leadership Summit.

In keeping with the global vision of the American Anglican Council, we pray these bishops, priests and deacons will multiply the number of Biblically faithful leaders across the Anglican Communion and launch a growing network of leaders undeterred by false teaching and released to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations! (Matthew 28:16-20).

The Rev. Canon Mark Eldredge is Director of Church Revitalization and Coaching at the American Anglican Council.

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