Transforming The Leadership Culture: A Way to Church Growth in India

This project is intended to equip pastors and leaders to multiply biblical style leaders in India to increase the qualitative, quantitative, and organizational growth of the Indian Church and the associated mission organizations. I have been conducting leadership development programs in the churches of Chennai from 2010 to 2014. I have taught the biblical teachings on leadership through a seven-module curriculum. The trainings are held over a period of one year, with practical sessions to apply in their own contexts. In this project, I have collected a survey questionnaire from pastors and leaders to know their views of Indian Christian leadership, the growth of the church, the leadership style of the church and suggestions for how the training could be done in a better way. I have done case studies of churches that have attended the training to learn how the leadership training has transformed their leadership cultures and the impact the church is making in the city.

The survey and case study results have given me the following insights for improving the training for church leaders.
1. There is a definite growth in number of believers attending Sunday service in the churches of Chennai, but training in quality and organizational development is much needed.
2. The churches leaders are very eager to grow and multiply their churches, but they lack biblical teachings on leadership.
3. The majority of the churches do not have an effective and functioning servant leadership team, though they have appointed or elected leaders.
4. Appreciative Inquiry, a method of teaching and asking question in a positive manner, is an effective model of training leaders.