As any pastor who returns to his church after a conference with his team can tell you: Three weeks later those conference notes are gathering dust, the team’s passion has turned into pragmatism, and the church doesn’t change. The problem is that pastors never got time to invest in their folks; leadership programs do not typically take leadership development in the long term into account and instead focus on the short-term inspiration. The Bridge Builder program was created for churches that recognize that inspiration without formation usually doesn’t lead to lasting change.
Different Kind of Leadership Development
EQUIP, Maxwell Leadership Foundation’s leadership development program, was a response to a question founder John Maxwell has asked for decades: How does a leader actually reproduce leaders, not just information? A weekend seminar was not the answer; the answer was a covenant. Bridge Builder is a multi-year leadership development program for church leadership teams: pastors, ministry staff and the key volunteers who carry out the mission when no one else is looking. Bridge Builder doesn’t remove one leader for a retreat; it commits all of a team’s leaders for the long-haul, and in doing so, builds leaders in the context of their team, not isolating them from it.
The reason is this kind of leadership development is a team sport. Any pastor can have a weekend retreat and return with a few new leadership tricks, but those tricks won’t be sharpened into leadership until the pastor’s team takes the same journey, and that’s why Bridge Builder is not only for the leader, it’s for the people.
Built for Formation, not Only Delivery
Most leadership programs are about delivering content and then moving on; they’re curriculums, binders full of information and certifications. Bridge Builder is built around formation, a gradual and sustained cultivation of someone’s character and competencies through continued relational investment and accountability.
It is not a sprint; it is a leadership development long dance. Bridge Builder mentors help leaders meet each other where they are, over and over again, for years, and hold each other accountable for the issues that each ministry faces, not hypothetical case studies. Paul charged Timothy to pass on what he had learned to trusted others who would in turn pass it on (2 Timothy 2:2, NIV). It takes time to invest in someone else’s life to the extent that you are passing on something as valuable as your church’s future.
Who the Program Was Built For
Bridge Builder was built for the people who are most often present in most churches: senior pastors who lead vision and staff; ministry staff who lead departments, disciple congregants, and shape culture; volunteers who carry the church on even after staff have moved on. EQUIP brings these three leadership groups together in one leadership development experience so all three groups are able to share vocabulary and perspective about leadership, and staff and volunteers will have a sense of connection and cohesion.
Why Churches Are Choosing It
Churches are seeing the limits of the “leadership development” status quo. Pastors want to change and are looking at investing in a long-term leadership development program like Bridge Builder because they believe it will change the culture of their church. Decision-makers know that investing in long-term leadership development can create lasting change in their teams’ habits and their church’s culture as well.
John Maxwell has said that everything rises and falls on leadership, and church leaders see it every week in their own staff culture, their volunteers’ attitudes, and the ability to transition smoothly between pastors. The future of their church is with the leaders they’re now building. EQUIP has traveled this road with leaders in more than 170 countries and has learned what really transfers across cultures and contexts. It is a cross-cultural leadership development tool that understands that people are portable. People can invest in people across time and distance, and Bridge Builder brings that same kind of leadership development to a local church context one team, one season at a time.
A Long Term Covenant, Not a Quick Fix
Leadership development that lasts is long-term and covenanted, and Bridge Builder requires a church to be committed to a years-long leadership development journey instead of a number of single seminars. These churches are not looking for a quick fix; they want to build a leadership culture that will outlast their staff and carry on through transitions, creating a legacy of leaders who reproduce themselves long after the program ends. Pastors and church leaders are aware of the opportunity of building leaders who can lead beyond themselves and are turning to Bridge Builder to help them do so. For a church that wants to build a culture of leadership, you can learn more about the Bridge Builder program at iequip.org.
