Developing an Organizational Plan for the Ethiopian Living Word Evangelical Church to Produce Vibrant Church Growth Over the Next Ten Years in Ethiopia

This dissertation provides a comprehensive approach to launching a prosperous church and membership-based expansion program. It is an exploration of best practices in East Africa as well as the United States, and a complete developmental plan for denominational expansion, resulting in significant community transformation. The research examined is appropriate to many different organizations that wish to start a church growth program, with the strongest relevance on Ethiopian Living Word Evangelical Church development within extensive community services.
The paper summarizes a prescriptive explanation for appointing leaders based on a ten-year model, recruiting for competence, recruitment for organizational fit, and training for technical skills in its various dimensions. The project is focused on the equipping and developing key pastors and leaders in order to lead their communities in transformation. It aims to provide the proper structure for training and accountability in order to facilitate healthy growth. Limitations include the realities of poor economic conditions and lack of education. Many of the key leaders come from under-developed regions, which may cause a lack of participation in research and unreliable sample sizes.
Every church has a culture that reflects its particular values, its thoughts, attitudes, and actions. Those values, thoughts, attitudes, and actions must be investigated within the local church and the leadership style of the broader community in order to understand the local culture and to develop inroads into the nation. I am looking for areas of need that are not being met and finding those groups, systems, and clusters of people where things are deteriorating. As a result, there is loss and pain, which may be potential entry points for the Church to minister in a redemptive manner.