Every Christian Leader Thriving

Insights from Christian Leadership Alliance’s journey

It is a joy to share a story of God’s timing and our journey to thriving.

Today, we know technology allows Christian leaders to convene, collaborate, and grow in community, no matter where their assignments take them. The possibilities continue to evolve at a rapid pace. Yet, for Christian Leadership Alliance it was in 2020, amid a global pandemic, that we witnessed a foretaste of technology’s power and potential.

A Swell of Momentum 

During the fall of 2019, Christian Leadership Alliance experienced a swell of momentum across the ministry. By the fall Alliance board retreat, we were ready to make significant decisions about the future. We planned to develop a new tech stack to enable us to reach and equip leaders worldwide by 2025.

Another board agenda item was revisiting our vision statement. Dr. John Reynolds, president of Los Angeles Pacific University and former Alliance board chair, guided this vision session. His masterful facilitation led to a new Alliance vision statement.

It took only a few hours. The entire board found the speed of our alignment noteworthy. Our board chair at the time, Mark Tjernagel, wisely asked us to pray over the new vision statement and wait to ratify it at our upcoming January meeting.

Thriving in all Seasons

In January 2020, the board unanimously approved the new Christian Leadership Alliance vision statement: “Every Christian leader thriving.”

We saw a strong connection between this new vision and the promise in the first psalm.

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law, day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-whatever they do prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3)

Yet, we did not at that point fully understand the depth of the coming transformation. We could not comprehend its impact on the Christian journey to thriving.

Worldwide Disruption

In mid-March 2020, COVID-19 transformed the annual Outcomes Conference. Weeks before our Dallas event, the governor of Texas ordered a statewide discontinuation of such gatherings. In that stunning moment, we could only trust God with what would come next.

Within hours of that news, we were overwhelmed and amazed by the unexpected gift of a digital event platform. There was much work to prepare but we were all in to take the next steps. This unique opportunity inspired 200 Alliance leaders to adapt their traditional conference presentations for this new digital platform.

Those planning to attend the live event, sponsors, and exhibitors also embraced the change. They committed to being part of something completely new in a time when everything seemed unknown.

Appropriately, the conference theme was “Transform.” The conference Scripture was Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

All we knew was to seek God and trust him to order every step.

All we knew was to seek God and trust him to order every step. We were the first digital conference to release in 2020. In an unprecedented time, the Alliance community held hands virtually, We stuck together and invested our best in each other, in Jesus’ name.

This digital gift of technology leveraged, expanded, and extended professional leadership development nationwide.

Time to Go Global

Remember, we envisioned equipping leaders globally by 2025. However, God made it extremely clear that he planned for us to move five years ahead of our schedule. He guided our steps. After 30 days of miracle-upon-miracle, the first Global Digital Experience was planned and ready to go.

Leaders from over 40 countries, representing all seven continents, were engaged. Twenty percent of the international leaders lived in countries such as Yemen, Turkey, Pakistan, and Israel, where Christians represent less than five percent of the total population. Their reports and stories affirmed that this was God’s moment to bring this experience to life.

Between the U.S. digital event and the Global Digital Experience, we had a front-row seat witnessing the state of thriving for Christian leaders during a time of grave uncertainty. The contrast between thriving and not thriving was vivid. We knew the opportunity to fill the gap was urgent. It was a vision God had already entrusted to us.

Seeking to Understand

On the other side of 2020, God opened another door. We gained profound knowledge of what a leader must do to thrive.

“What must a Christian leader do to thrive?”

I spoke on this topic with Dr. Wendi Dykes McGehee, who at the time was the chair of Organizational Psychology and Leadership at Azusa Pacific University (APU). Within a few days, I met APU’s Dr. David R. Dunaetz and a team of graduate students.

They were ready to help us answer the question, “What must a Christian leader do to thrive?”

We were eager to focus on the foundational self-leadership practices that caused a Christian leader to thrive. This definition of thriving guided the research: “Thriving is successfully facing difficulties in one’s life and feeling that the essential things are going well.”

This APU research aligned with God’s Word and its fundamental direction for a believer’s life. We received a powerful affirmation of what we know to be biblical truth. But, these are truths we can often deny the space and time to practice faithfully.

It was also a call to subdue technology for a higher purpose instead of allowing it to consume us and take God’s place in our lives.

Key Practices for Thriving

The following are key practices the research revealed as required for a Christian leader to thrive. These findings were consistent across gender, generation, and ethnicity.

1. Seek God’s Will: Seeking God with our whole hearts comes with the promise that we will find him. The diligent practice of focusing on what God wants and aligning our desires fully with his is foundational. All the other practices flow from this priority.
2. Read the Scriptures: The Bible is the most significant source for understanding God and his character and discerning his perfect and holy will for those who follow him.
3. Listen to the Wise Counsel: Listening to wise counsel is valuable when it comes from a Christian with similar values and a heartfelt desire to see God’s will accomplished.
4. Pray Diligently: Prayer is the most direct way to seek God’s will and to find God’s peace, which transcends all understanding regardless of situation or circumstances.

All four require time and commitment to seek God, his presence, and guidance.

Responding to the Call

Understanding God’s will is as essential to thriving as the competencies to proficiently and faithfully steward what God entrusts us.

The Alliance board recognized the call to action. The process we experienced crafting the Alliance vision statement, what we witnessed worldwide in 2020, and biblical validation through this APU research demanded the next deliberate step.

In the Spring of 2023, we commissioned key leaders and experts on the Christian Leadership Alliance Advisory Council. We asked them to develop and curate five online courses, 50 weeks of training, on personal leadership and spiritual formation.

This new “Thriving Leader Series” (TLS) is now complete.

This new “Thriving Leader Series” (TLS) is now complete. It helps participants to seek, know, and serve God as they confidently lead from the center of his will.

We celebrate the completion of all five Thriving Leader Series courses. Every quarter, a different course opens for enrollment through the Alliance’s Outcomes Academy Online. Each online course is a shared cohort experience for leaders on the journey to thriving.

Our prayer and hope are that every Christian leader will thrive. We trust that God will use Christian Leadership Alliance’s learning experiences, resources, and its community to accelerate the journey for you.

###

Tami Heim is the President and CEO of Christian Leadership Alliance. She is deeply grateful to the collaboration of Alliance Advisory Council members Margaret Fitzwater, Tracy Mathews, Vonna Laue, and Holly Culhane whose dedication made the Thriving Leader Series a reality.

Learn more about Outcomes magazine.