Why now?

Why is Leadership Development critical to the NAB at this time?
The North American Baptist Conference is considered a medium to large denomination by most church researchers, but the fact is that the NAB is relatively small. At the present time we have less than 450 churches in Canada and the United States. We have twice that many affiliated with us overseas, but we are not a large, bureaucratic organization in which it takes years to implement change. There are 10 times as many Southern Baptist churches in Tennessee as there are NAB churches in the world.

Attempting to change large bureaucratic organizations is sometimes analogized to attempting to turn an aircraft carrier (it takes a long time and cover's many miles). In the NAB, with our new organizational structure and empowered leadership, we are more like a speedboat. We have a flexible organization that is not weighed down by bureaucratic structures. We are ready to listen to God and to follow Him. We are small and we have limited resources—but we are committed to making a big impact for the Kingdom of God.

Leadership Development is essential to fulfilling God’s mission for us. We will invest our limited resources in areas where we can train others who will in turn train others. We will always strive for multiplication rather than addition! That is why developing Kingdom leaders, rather than teaching skills, is of utmost importance to us. We want to invest in people who will be lifelong learners and will make a difference in the Kingdom.

This very important point bears repeating and it is a key to understanding our global ministry priorities: we do not want to simply develop leaders, we want to develop leaders who will develop leaders! The manner in which we have constructed our leadership development resources allow them to be used personally and used to help others (who will help others). The same is true of our work with church planters, outreach leaders, and missionaries: we will always strive to multiply our efforts. So before you begin any training, find people who will commit to working with others.

Multiplication is key: it is a necessary part of our plan as we fulfill God’s purposes for us at this critical time.