Growing Church Leaders: A Study in Practical Holiness

It is time for a revolution in how the church nurtures new leaders.

As Jim Downing of the Navigators points out, Jesus trained his disciples by imparting:

* Knowledge, through teaching
* Character, by modeling and example
* Skills, through guided experience

While knowledge can be learned anywhere, character and skills are best developed as part of a community that lives, worships, and serves together (e.g., a church).

We have developed Growing Church Leaders as a way for those who are mature to train the next generation of leaders in their churches to Think Biblically, Live Wisely, and Serve Faithfully. This course is designed to help senior leaders guide a small group of faithful men and women in:

* Memorizing Bible verses
* Reading classic Christian books
* Leading devotions, typically from Psalms or Proverbs
* Studying entire chapters of the Bible, verse by verse
* Exploring how Scripture applies to their lives
* Responding with repentance, action, and worship

Our prayer is that every growing church will invest in establishing future leaders on a solid foundation of biblical truth, Christian character, and spiritual discipline — i.e., practical holiness. For that reason, this material is available in book form and as a free download at under a Creative Commons "share alike" license. You are free to adapt the material to the needs of your church or denomination, as long as you allow others to do the same.

May God use His Word to build His Body for His Kingdom