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Selecting, Training and Shepherding Leaders · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reform Thinking. Today we are putting our
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theological and practical hats on for a very specific mission.
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We are taking a deep dive into a text by Colin Marshall,
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specifically looking at his work on growth groups.
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And to narrow our focus down even further, today we are
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examining his highly detailed instructions for the selection,
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training, and shepherding of group leaders.
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Now, if you are listening to this, you are likely someone who
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cares a great deal about the health, the order, and the
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spiritual vitality of your local congregation.
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Right. You might be a pastor who feels
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the constant weight of the congregation on your shoulders
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every single week. You might be a ruling elder
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trying to figure out how to best shepherd the flock without
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completely burning out. Or perhaps you are a dedicated
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church member who looks around on a Sunday morning, sees the
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tired eyes of your leadership, and wonders how your
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congregation can grow in its fidelity to Scripture without
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crushing the minister under the workload.
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That is the precise problem Marshall is addressing, and
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before we get into the practical logistics, we really need to lay
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out the framework for our analysis.
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Today we are approaching this text from the perspective of
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Protestant Christians who hold to Reformed theology.
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We adhere to the Westminster Confession, and we will be
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examining Marshall's practical instructions through that
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specific theological lens. We want to see how the
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sovereignty of God and a biblical understanding of church
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polity aligned with what he is proposing for the local church.
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I think that is the right way to set the stage for this analysis.
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When we look at a text like Marshall's, which is highly
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practical and deals with the everyday, sometimes messy
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logistics of church life, we always need to run those
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practicalities through our theological framework.
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The Westminster Confession gives us a very structured, biblically
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derived understanding of the church, its officers, and how
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the Word of God is to be taught and maintained.
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We do not just invent church structures based on corporate
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business models or whatever happens to be trending in the
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broader evangelical world. This week we look to Scripture.
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Yeah, that is a crucial distinction.
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And Marshall is dealing with the concept of small groups, which
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he calls growth groups, but he is not treating them as casual
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social gatherings where people just drink coffee and share
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their feelings. He is treating them as localized
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centers of teaching and spiritual care.
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Therefore, the leadership of those groups becomes a matter of
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strict theological concern. The primary lens we are using
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today is to see how highly practical advice regarding lay
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leadership either aligns with or informs our reformed
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understanding of how a church should be governed and how its
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members should be cared for. So Marshall is arguing right out
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of the gate that the quality of the group is dictated entirely
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by the quality of its leaders. That makes intuitive sense to
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anyone who has ever attended A poorly LED Bible study.
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But he takes it a step further and makes the definitive claim
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that developing a growth groups program requires someone to
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prioritize raising up and encouraging these leaders.
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And he states that in most churches, this person needs to
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be the pastor. He does not see this as
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something to be outsourced to a committee or a volunteer
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coordinator. He argues that the careful
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selection, training and supervision of leaders takes
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considerable time and effort, but it pays massive dividends.
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Yeah, it really does. I do want to push back on this
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just a little bit, though. In a typical Reformed Church,
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the pastor is already tasked with rigorous sermon
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preparation, which takes hours of study in the original
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languages, plus counseling, plus session meetings.
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How can Marshall argue that this is not just a side project, but
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central to the minister's work? Well, it is a very fair question
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because the demands on a solo pastor are staggering.
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But Marshall uses a very distinct phrase here that
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answers your question directly. He says the pastor must not see
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this work as a distraction from his main duties, but rather as
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the heart and soul of his work. By taking on the selection and
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training himself, the pastor ensures high quality control.
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Now, Marshall explicitly acknowledges he is borrowing a
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commercial term there. And I know sometimes we whistle
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at corporate language in the church.
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Right. We want to avoid treating the
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church like a Fortune 500 company.
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Precisely. But in a spiritual context,
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quality control means ensuring that the doctrine being taught
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in these living rooms on a Wednesday night is entirely
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sound. It means making sure the
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pastoral care being provided aligns with the broader vision
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of the session and the teachings of the Westminster Confession.
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The text points out that by doing this personally, the
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pastor knows the specific strengths and weaknesses of each
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leader. He draws into a personal
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relationship with them during the training process, allowing
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them to catch his vision for Christ in the church.
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Marshall does offer a slight caveat, mentioning that in some
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cases a pastor might delegate this, for example, a female
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staff member training women in teaching and leadership.
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But the primary thrust is that the pastoral office must oversee
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the equipping of these leaders to maintain that doctrinal and
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spiritual quality. I want to draw attention to a
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specific metric Marshall uses in the text because it makes this
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theological concept incredibly practical.
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He writes that a pastor working completely on his own might be
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able to build up a congregation of 100 or even 150 people.
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But beyond that number, Marshall points out that it becomes
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exceedingly difficult to have enough contact with the members
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for effective personal ministry. That number is quite revealing.
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It is a very hard ceiling. If you think about the sheer
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math of trying to personally counsel, visit the hospital,
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handle premarital counseling, and spiritually guide more than
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150 individuals, the limitations of a single human being become
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totally obvious. A solo pastor simply cannot
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scale his own physical presence. Going beyond that threshold of
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150 people requires A-Team to maintain effective ministry.
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Where else people start slipping through the cracks and the
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pastor ends up having a nervous breakdown.
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That mathematical limitation is precisely why Marshall points us
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toward the New Testament pattern of plural leadership.
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We see this all through the New Testament, a pattern of having
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many leaders functioning within one congregation.
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He points to situations where there is one minister with
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overall responsibility, like Paul, taking leadership of young
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congregations born through his preaching.
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But Paul did not stay there forever and try to micromanage
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200 people. He appointed delegates like
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Timothy and Titus to lead those churches.
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He multiplied the leadership. The text refers to these
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individuals as missionary leaders because they came from
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outside the congregation to preach and plant the new church.
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These specific leaders were financially supported by the
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churches so they could give themselves without distraction
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to the work. However, Marshall makes sure to
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point out that once those New Testament churches were firmly
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established, local elders were appointed from within the church
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itself. The missionary leader moved on
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and the plural local leadership took the reins.
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OK, let's unpack this, because Marshall makes a very bold claim
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here that might raise some eyebrows in our circles.
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He says it would be quite appropriate in New Testament
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terms to call these growth group leaders elders or pastors.
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Now, for someone coming from a strict Reformed background,
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applying the title of elder or pastor to a small group leader
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might sound provocative at first.
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We usually reserve those titles for men who have been formally
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ordained by the presbytery or the local session after rigorous
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theological exams. Is Marshall playing fast and
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loose with biblical titles here? It might sound drawing at first
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hearing, but when we look at the biblical terminology he
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references, such as overseer, elder or leader, and note his
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observation that in other places these individuals are given No
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title but are expected to teach and shepherd, his argument
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becomes very clear. He is not saying we abandoned
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our ordination standards. He is arguing for the function
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of the role. A church should have many
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pastors or elders, not just one. The chief pastor, who is usually
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full time and financially compensated, needs a dedicated
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team of lay pastors to do the work properly.
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That makes a lot of sense when you look at the actual
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day-to-day needs of congregation.
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And if we connect this to our Reformed understanding, we
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already believe in the plurality of elders.
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We do not believe in a monarchical episcopacy.
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Let me break that down for a moment.
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A monarchical episcopacy is a system where one single Bishop
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or pastor sits at the top of a hierarchy and dictates
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everything. That is essentially a single
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pastor dictatorship. In reformed polity, the local
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church is governed by a session, which is a shared, plural body
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of elders. Marshall is taking that
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governmental reality and applying it to the localized
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practical teaching ministry of the church.
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If these growth group leaders are opening the Word of God,
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correcting error, guarding the flock against false teaching,
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and providing spiritual care, they are functioning in a
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pastoral capacity for that small group of 10 or 12 people.
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And to facilitate this without bankrupting the church budget,
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Marshall brings in the concept of tent making, referencing the
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Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 18. Paul supported himself by
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working as a literal tent maker so he would not be a financial
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burden to the churches he was planting.
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Marshall argues that these modern lay pastors, these growth
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group leaders, will be people who work in other paid jobs.
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They are accountants, lumbers, teachers and software engineers
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by day, which is their tent making.
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Their secular vocation, yes. Right.
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And this allows them to do the heavy lifting of ministry
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without draining the financial resources of the congregation.
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It is a brilliant way to multiply a church's pastoral
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care exponentially without needing to multiply the church's
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payroll at the exact same rate. It is highly practical, but it
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also reflects A robust theology of vocation.
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The person working in the secular marketplace is not a
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second class citizen in the Kingdom of God.
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Their secular work pays their bills, but their calling also
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includes this shepherding role within the body of Christ.
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However, as brilliant as the sounds in theory, moving from
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this ideal biblical model to the harsh realities of church life
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is where things usually break down.
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Which brings us, naturally to the next major issue Marshall
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addresses looking at Section 14.2 of the text, the obstacles
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and the excuses. If this plural leadership model
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is so biblical and so practical, why do so many churches fail at
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it? Marshall points out that a paid
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minister of a church is pulled in a multitude of directions.
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He knows that everyone in the congregation thinks they own a
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piece of the minister. This creates a constant tension
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between his long term goals of training leaders and the
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unrelenting demands placed upon him every single day.
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Because of this, setting aside hours every week to train a
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handful of lay leaders often feels like just one more good
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thing to do on an already impossible list.
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The text describes this tension as the immediate versus the long
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term. There is always enough Regent
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work just to keep the existing machinery of the church running.
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Marshall vividly describes this as keeping the program running
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with preaching, visitation committees, weekly crises and
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the routine of hatch, match and dispatch.
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Hatch, match and dispatch. That is quite the phrase.
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It is a rather blunt, almost cynical way to describe the
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endless cycle of baptisms, weddings and funerals, but it
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accurately captures how a minister can feel when he is
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just surviving from one event to the next.
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When a minister is drowning in the immediate demands of
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pastoral care and administrative upkeep, finding the quiet,
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dedicated time to slowly train lay leaders seems completely
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impossible. The tyrant of the urgent always
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defeats the quiet necessity of the long term planning.
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However, the text clearly states that choosing not to train
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leaders is short term thinking. If training becomes a priority,
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the long term result is more and better workers.
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It shifts the burden. Instead of the minister doing
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all the people work himself, there will be others on the team
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and much of the spiritual growth will begin to take place within
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the small groups rather than relying solely on the Sunday
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pulpit. Here's where it gets really
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interesting because Marshall diagnosis a very specific toxic
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mindset that causes the short term thinking.
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He contrasts using people with developing people.
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He observes that ministers tend to be need driven rather than
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resource driven. Think about how a typical church
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operates. The personnel needs of the
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church programs become incredibly urgent and dominate
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the horizon. People are frantically recruited
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just to plug the gaps of the leadership of the Sunday school,
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the youth group, the property committee, or the existing Bible
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study groups. The driving feeling among the
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leadership is that the status quo must be maintained at all
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costs and all current programs must keep running no matter
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what. We have all seen this happen.
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We have probably all been victims of this.
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Marshall describes it as the annual scramble for workers.
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It leads to a series of awkward conversations in the church
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foyer with people who do not actually wish to lead, who have
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no gifting for the role, but who simply cannot say no to the
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pastor when he looks at them with desperate eyes.
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That scramble for workers is a glaring symptom of a church that
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is focused on maintaining institutions rather than
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equipping Saints. You end up with resentful
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volunteers instead of joyful servants.
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To break this cycle, Marshall proposes A radical thought
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experiment. This is where the text
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challenges us to completely shift our paradigm.
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He asks us to imagine if a minister were to hypothetically
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scrap all the church's current programs entirely.
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Just wipe the slate clean. No youth group, no men's
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breakfast, no women's auxiliary, no Wednesday night program.
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Nothing. Just a completely blank
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calendar. Yes.
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Then the minister sits down with the church membership role and
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asks for specific questions about each member.
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First, what do they really want to do?
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Second, what are their gifts? Third, what would be their best
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contribution to the ministry? And 4th what nurture, training
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and encouragement do they need to get there?
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That thought experiment is staggering.
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Imagine the panic in a typical session meeting if the pastor
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walked in and suggested canceling every program.
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Most churches operate based purely on precedent.
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We do the fall festival because we've always done the fall
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festival. Marshall admits this approach
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might result in many of the old programs simply ceasing to
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exist, but he asks us to imagine how the members would feel under
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this new paradigm. They would feel loved,
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motivated, relieved, and free. By taking this approach, a
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church moves away from using people to maintain rigid
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programs and moves toward developing people to do ministry
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based on how God has actually wired them.
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Instead of determining the schedule by precedent and then
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hunting for warm bodies to fill the empty slots, this method
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allows new ministries to evolve organically around members who
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are actually equipped, confident, and gifted in that
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particular area. This provides 2 highly specific
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examples to illustrate the shift from need driven to resource
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driven ministry, Marshall says. You might have absolutely no one
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equipped to run the traditional youth work in your church.
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You have been begging people for years and it is a constant
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source of stress. But if you stop looking at the
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empty slot and start looking at your actual resources, you might
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find a Vietnamese couple in your congregation who would love to
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reach their compatriots in the community.
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They simply need to be equipped and supported for that specific
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task. Or you might struggle endlessly
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to find an organizer for the Men's fellowship, but you
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discover a married couple who would love to start a growth
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group in their local neighborhood and just need some
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training. It is a complete reversal of how
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we normally operate. It is Marshall's conclusion is
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striking here. He says the work amongst men may
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flounder until a suitable leader is trained, but the work amongst
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couples will surge ahead. It is better that new ministries
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be done effectively by gifted people than that old ones
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continue to exist poorly without appropriate leadership.
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As he says, God works through people, not our programs.
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That point directly challenges how we view church resources.
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Marshall draws a sharp contrast between physical resources and
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human resources. He points out that churches can
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become so preoccupied with physical resources that the
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development of people is entirely forfeited.
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He lists the massive energy drains that consume a session's
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time, setting the budget, raising the funds, worrying
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about financial shortfalls, dealing with the air
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conditioning, braking, and renovating or expanding
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buildings. Marshall argues that if the
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pastor could delegate at least some of these physical and
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administrative concerns to capable deacons, he will have
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the necessary energy to dedicated to the training of
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leadership. This means valuing the human
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capital of the congregation over the structural maintenance of
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the building. The church is the people, not
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the brick and mortar. Which leads us directly into the
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next logical question. If the pastor has cleared his
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schedule of the tyranny of the urgent and he is ready to focus
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on human resources, how does he choose the right people?
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This is the art of selection, which Marshall covers in section
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14.3 of the text. Marshall states that choosing
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leaders is something of an art. It involves developing a nose
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for it. You cannot just look at a
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spreadsheet of church attendance and pick the people who show up
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most often. It means learning to make useful
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observations while working side by side with group members.
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He provides 4 distinct criteria for selection and the first is
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informal influence. He states that one thing leaders
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require is followers. A pastor should look for those
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who already have a healthy influence over others, leading
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them informally in the natural rhythms of church life.
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That concept of informal influence is a great diagnostic
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tool. What does that actually look
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like? It looks like the person in the
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church foyer after the service who always has a small crowd
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around them, not because they are loud or obnoxious, but
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because people naturally seek out their advice in their
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company. They are already leading, they
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just do not have a title yet. The second criterion Marshall
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points to is unprompted encouragement.
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He advises looking for individuals who take up ministry
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opportunities without having to be asked.
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The self starters. Exactly.
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Well, spot on. These are the people who stay
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late to stack the chairs, who notice the visitors sitting
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alone and invite them to lunch, or who organize a meal train for
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a sick family without waiting for the church office to do it.
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They demonstrate a true servant heart and a genuine love for
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others. They're not seeking the prestige
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of an appointed title. They are already doing the work
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quietly in the background. If someone only ministers when
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they're handed a microphone or an official title on the church
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website, they lack the intrinsic motivation required for genuine
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spiritual leadership. The third criterion is
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theological rigor, which connects directly to our
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Reformed convictions. The text asks who is wrestling
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with the Bible. In theology.
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Marshall instructs pastors to look for people who are
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consistently asking good questions and who are reading
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the books the pastor recommends in addition to reading their
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Bible. He asks if these individuals are
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helping others in their current small group to understand the
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text. In the context of the
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Westminster Confession, we hold an exceptionally high view of
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scriptural literacy and doctrinal clarity.
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A lay leader who is indifferent to theology is an absolute
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danger to the flock. The Confession teaches that the
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whole counsel of God is either expressly set down in Scripture,
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or can be deduced from it by good and necessary consequences.
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Which requires actual mental effort.
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Yes, it requires study. A leader must be someone willing
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to do the hard work of deducing and understanding those truths.
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They need to understand concepts like justification by faith
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alone, the federal headship of Christ, and the sovereignty of
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God, because those doctrines are what provide actual comfort to a
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grieving group member on a Tuesday night.
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If they do not care about theology, they cannot care for
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the sheep properly. The 4th and final criterion
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Marshall lists is the pursuit of godliness.
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He asks who is sorting out issues of godliness.
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The text is uncompromising here. It explicitly warns that those
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who are hard hearted and unrepentant should not be
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allowed to lead under any circumstances.
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Leaders must possess A blameless reputation within their group,
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within the wider congregation, and out in the secular world.
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Now let's be clear about what this means.
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This is not about seeking sinless perfection.
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If we demanded sinless perfection, the pastor would
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have to resign and we would have 0 leaders.
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It is about the trajectory of their life.
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Are they actively repenting when they fail or they're pursuing
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holiness? This brings in the Reformed
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doctrine of progressive sanctification.
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We understand that while believers are justified
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completely and finally by faith in Christ, the process of
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sanctification being made actually holy in our conduct is
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ongoing and lifelong. A leader must be someone who is
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actively engaged in that process, putting sin to death
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and growing in grace. If a person is marked by
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unrepentance, if they harbor secret sins that they refuse to
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confess, or if they have a scandalous reputation in their
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workplace, putting them in a position of leadership will
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inevitably damage the church. It does not matter how gifted
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they are at teaching, or how much informal influence they
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possess, or how well they understand Calvin's Institutes.
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If they lack godliness, they disqualify themselves.
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Marshall's criteria perfectly balance the need for natural
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capability with the absolute requirement for theological
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soundness and personal holiness. So let's say a pastor has used
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this criteria. He has developed his nose,
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observed the congregation, and identified 3 or 4 potential
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leaders who fit the bill. How does he actually prepare
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them for the heavy task of shepherding a group?
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That brings us to the apprenticeship training model
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found in section 14.4 of the text.
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I think this is where Marshall's advice cuts against the grain of
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modern efficiency. Marshall completely rejects the
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idea of the pure classroom model for this type of training.
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He states clearly that ministry is not learned in the classroom
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by simply hearing lectures on how to lead a group.
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He explicitly contrasts his preferred by that with the idea
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of running a 10 week course for 100 people.
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We play devil's advocate here. A10 week classroom course is
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highly efficient, the pastor wrote a curriculum delivers it
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once to a large room and boom, you have trained leaders.
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Why is Marshall so against that? What is fascinating here is
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Marshall's phrase. Ministry is caught, not taught.
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He argues that ministry is much more than a set of mechanical
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skills. If you run a mass produced 10
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week classroom course, the text says, you might produce
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technicians. A technician knows how to run a
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meeting on time, how to ask an icebreaker question, and how to
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follow a study guide. But a technician does not know
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how to shepherd a soul. Marshall argues that ministry
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arises directly out of who we are before God.
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It stems from what we understand of Him, how we have responded to
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His gospel, how we view and treat other people, and what our
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fundamental priorities and passions are.
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The text notes that we bring to ministry all that we are, our
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beliefs, values, emotions, experiences, and behavior.
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You cannot transfer that comprehensive reality through a
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lecture alone. It requires proximity.
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You have to see how a leader reacts when someone in the group
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asks A hostile question. You have to see how a leader
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prays with someone who is weeping.
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You cannot put that in a multiple choice test.
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That is precisely why Marshall insists that the best leadership
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training is the apprenticeship model.
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The mechanics of this are very straightforward, but highly
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demanding of the pastor's time. The trainer runs a growth group
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with the trainees sitting right there under his wing as active
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participants and observers. The process is a continuous
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cycle. The trainee receives
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instruction, observes the trainer providing a good model,
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has a go with the tasks themselves, maybe by leading the
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discussion for just one evening, receives feedback from the
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trainer afterwards, has another go and repeats the process.
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It is highly relational and deeply practical.
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It allows the trainer to observe the trainee in real time
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situations dealing with actual human beings and actual biblical
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texts. Think about how awkward but
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necessary that feedback session is.
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After a trainee leads for the first time, the pastor gets to
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sit down with him and say you handled that theological
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question well, but did you notice how you completely
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ignored the person who is clearly distressed?
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You only get that level of training through apprenticeship.
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The stated goal of this intense, labor intensive process is what
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Marshall calls reproducing yourself.
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Now he acknowledges that this phrase might seem off putting at
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first glance. We do not want a church filled
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with mini pastors who mimic his exact hand gestures and clear
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their throats the exact same way.
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He clarifies what he means. It does not mean creating
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mindless clones who merely copy your personality quirks.
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Instead, the goal is to grow leaders who possess the
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necessary knowledge, the required skills, and the correct
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pastoral heart for the job. Because the pastor has seen them
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in action during the apprenticeship, he knows their
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exact strengths and weaknesses before they ever launch a group
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of their own. He multiplies his own pastoral
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reach by reproducing his theological convictions and his
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pastoral care in the lives of his apprentices.
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It is the model Jesus used with the disciples.
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He walked with them, taught them, sent them out, and then
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debriefed with them when they returned.
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That intensive training period is vital, but Marshall issues a
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severe warning about what happens after the training is
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officially over. This takes us into the final
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area of our analysis, Section 14.5, which deals with post
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training neglect and the ongoing shepherding of leaders.
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I think this is where many well meaning, otherwise healthy
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churches completely fail. They do the hard work of
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training, but then they hit what I call the graduation illusion.
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Marshall says it is very tempting to neglect leaders.
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Once they've been trained and their new group is finally
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underway. The pastor thinks, great, they
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are launched, I can cross them off my list to move on to the
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next crisis. His instruction is blunt.
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Don't do this. He argues that in some ways,
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these lay leaders need more input, not less, at this exact
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point, especially when they're brand new to the job and feeling
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the immense weight of the spiritual responsibility for the
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first time. The text highlights the ongoing
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requirement for in service training and constant
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encouragement. The apprenticeship does not end
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just because the leader has been handed their own group in a
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roster of names. The practical steps Marshall
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prescribes to prevent this post training neglect are very clear.
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This ongoing support is provided through regular meetings with a
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pastor. Notice the focus of these
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meetings though. They are not just
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administrative. Check insurance to make sure the
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attendance numbers look good. The text says they involve
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talking and praying about the leaders own life first.
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How is their marriage? How is their personal prayer
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life? Are they struggling with sin?
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The pastor must shepherd the lay leader so the lay leader is
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spiritually healthy enough to shepherd the group members.
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If the lay leader is spiritually starving, the group will starve.
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The text details that during these regular meetings, once the
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leader's personal soul care has been addressed, the progress of
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the group and any problems that have arisen can be raised.
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Most importantly, particular personal concerns for individual
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group members can be considered and strategized over.
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The pastor is still providing oversight, still providing
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pastoral care to the whole congregation, but he's doing it
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through the lay leader. He's teaching the lay leader how
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to handle a group member who's going through a divorce or a
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member who is espousing bad theology.
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I want you, the listener, to stop and consider your own local
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congregation right now. How well does your church
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support its lay leaders after they take on heavy
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responsibilities? Are they handed a curriculum,
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patted on the back, and left to fend for themselves?
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Or is there a structured, ongoing system of pastoral care
26:14
for the caregivers? If the latter is missing,
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burnout is inevitable. If we connect this to the bigger
26:20
picture of Reformed theology, Marshall's text provides a
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highly practical outworking of our understanding of church
26:26
government. We believe in a dedicated
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plurality of well trained, theologically sound elders and
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leaders. We do not believe the church is
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a business to be run by a single CEO who barks orders from the
26:37
top. Nor do we believe it is an
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unorganized collective where everyone just does what is right
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in their own eyes. We believe in ordered biblical
26:45
polity. Marshall is showing us that
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achieving that beautiful biblical order requires a
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massive investment of time by the pastoral staff.
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It requires identifying, training, and continuously
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shepherding the lay leaders who will carry the burden of the
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ministry alongside them. It is a slow, laborious process
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of life on life discipleship. It is not flashy.
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It does not draw massive crowds on its own.
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But it builds a church that can withstand the storms of cultural
27:10
compromise and internal division.
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That is the central truth we must take away from all these
27:14
sources. Today God uses equipped people,
27:17
not institutional programs, to accomplish His will.
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In the local church, programs are just empty scaffolding.
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The actual building is made of living stones.
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It is made of people who have been taught the Word of God, who
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have been shown how to apply it, and who are supported as they
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teach it to others. If a church gets the selection
27:36
and the training right, the programs will naturally take
27:38
care of themselves. The scaffolding will support the
27:41
building rather than becoming the object of our worship.
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As we wrap up this analysis, I want to leave you with a final
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provocative thought to consider on your own.
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It builds directly on Marshall's radical thought experiment.
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If your church were to completely erase its schedule in
27:56
its entire program roster tomorrow morning, if every
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committee, every event, and every traditional gathering was
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wiped off the calendar, what hidden God-given skills within
28:05
your congregation would suddenly become visible?
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And how would recognizing those specific human resources
28:11
completely alter the way your local body functions and cares
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for one another? Thank you for joining us for
28:16
this deep dive on Reformed thinking.