Surge School for Transformational Leadership

This project creates a multi-congregation model that local churches can implement in order to equip leaders within congregations to be transformational servant leaders to engage in God’s mission. The Surge School for Transformational Leadership (Surge School) was piloted, assessed, and implemented in churches across Arizona. One local church alone cannot shift the culture or worldview of Christians within a city, which is why it was imperative to start the Surge School from the beginning with multiple congregations and multiple pastors. The collaborative nature of this project has begun to contribute to a culture shift in the great Phoenix area. Through this process, there has grown greater unity and a deeper understanding of a common identity in how local churches relate to Phoenix.
This project is designed to be a tool that deeply roots participants theologically with a constant press toward practice and application. This project is not simply the development of curriculum or content but utilizes a specific pedagogy in order to drive theory to practice. It allows for a majority of the curriculum to be implemented through individual, local churches but also gathers everyone collectively for opportunities to learn together as a state-wide movement.
Multiple qualitative method surveys have been done of over ninety participants of the Surge School to assess the transformation it had on their worldviews and the impact they believed it had on their behavior. Direct feedback through personal interviews with various pastors was another method of research. The research data shows that participants of the Surge School had a fundamental paradigm shift in their worldviews. Participants reported a significant impact on their understandings of what it means to participate in God’s mission. Local churches also report a quick saturation and shift in their church cultures as multiple years of Surge School are implemented.