Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project Concordia Seminary Scholarship 7-1-2017 Spiritual Leadership Training Model: Using Learning Communities to Disciple Leaders in a Congregational Setting Kent Pierce Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin Part of the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Pierce, Kent, "Spiritual Leadership Training Model: Using Learning Communities to Disciple Leaders in a Congregational Setting" (2017). Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project. 111. https://scholar.csl.edu/dmin/111 This Major Applied Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING MODEL: USING LEARNING COMMUNITIES TO DISCIPLE LEADERS IN A CONGREGATIONAL SETTING A Major Applied Project Presented to the Faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Department of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Ministry By Kent D. Pierce July 2017 Approved by David Peter Advisor Victor Raj Reader Gerhard Bode Director of Doctor of Ministry Dedicated to the loving memory of my grandmother, Viola E. Lueck (July 9, 1920 – November 21, 2016), who was a spiritual role model and constant witness of Christ’s love throughout my childhood and well into my adult life. CONTENTS ACKNOLWEDGMENTS ......................................................................................................... vii COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................ viii CHRONOLOGY ......................................................................................................................... ix ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. x CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................ 1 THE PROJECT INTRODUCED .......................................................................................... 1 PROBLEM............................................................................................................................ 1 PURPOSE ............................................................................................................................. 3 The Purpose of the Effort of this Project ..................................................................... 3 The Purpose of the Research of this Project ................................................................ 4 PROCESS ............................................................................................................................. 4 PRESUPPOSITIONS ........................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................... 8 THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ....................................................................................... 8 FOUNDATIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE “SENT” CHURCH ............................. 8 THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH ................................................................................... 11 A LUTHERAN UNDERSTANDING OF CHURCH AND MINISTRY AND THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD ..................................................................................................... 14 Luther and the Reformation ....................................................................................... 15 Orthodoxy, Pietism, Rationalism, and Confessionalism ........................................... 17 Orthodoxy ......................................................................................................... 18 Pietism .............................................................................................................. 19 Rationalism ....................................................................................................... 20 iii Confessionalism ............................................................................................... 20 C.F.W. Walther and The Luthereran Church—Missouri Synod ............................... 21 Key Teachings form Church and Ministry ................................................................ 23 Lay Ministry and the Twentieth Century LCMS ....................................................... 23 Participating in God’s Mission, Vision, and Purposes in the 21st Century................ 27 PRACTICAL TRAINING FOR FOLLOWERS OF JESUS .............................................. 30 BAPTISMAL IDENTITY: THE KEY TO SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP .......................... 31 THEOLOGICAL SUMMARY........................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................................... 35 THE PROJECT IN THE CONTEXT OF RECENT RESEARCH .................................... 35 ORIGINALITY .................................................................................................................. 35 Some Guiding Principles for Leadership Development ............................................ 37 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 38 Missional: Spiritual Leadership and the Missio Dei .................................................. 38 Discipleship: The Pattern for Spiritual Leadership ................................................... 42 Stewardship: Leaderhsip that Flows from God’s Abundance ................................... 44 Prayer: Seeking, Receiving, and Relying on God’s Guidance .................................. 45 Personal Leadership ................................................................................................... 46 Spiritual Leadership in Our Post-Modern Context .................................................... 47 Learning Communities .............................................................................................. 48 SUMMATION .................................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................ 51 THE PROJECT DEVELOPED .......................................................................................... 51 iv PROCESS DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................ 51 Eight-Session Learning Community.......................................................................... 51 Session One: “The Why and What of Spiritual, Missional Leadership” ......... 52 Session Two: “Leadership: How God Made Me” ............................................ 54 Session Three: “Three Pillars of Effective Leadership” ................................... 56 Session Four: “The Leader as the Embodiment of the Mission ....................... 58 Session Five: “Disciples Who Make Disciples” .............................................. 61 Session Six: “Up. In. Out.” ............................................................................... 63 Session Seven: “Leading Through Conflict and Change”................................ 65 Session Eight: “Leading as Stewards of God’s Gifts” ..................................... 67 Community-Building Event ............................................................................. 68 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 69 IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE ..................................................................................... 70 CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................................... 72 THE PROJECT EVALUATED.......................................................................................... 72 EVALUATION PROCESS ................................................................................................ 72 Expectations ............................................................................................................... 73 Expected Findings from the Bibliographic Research ....................................... 73 Expected Findings from the Feild Research ..................................................... 75 Findings ..................................................................................................................... 77 Evaluating the Likert Surveys .......................................................................... 77 Insights from the Likert Surveys ...................................................................... 79 Interpretation of the Open-ended Questions ..................................................... 80 v Insight from Informal Discussion and Observation ......................................... 82 CHAPTER SIX ............................................................................................................................ 85