Recruiting, Equipping, and Empowering Church Leaders

Shifting from clergy-led to lay-led ministry takes guts—and these practical tools.

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Raising up lay leaders is a nice idea—but is it essential for sustainable ministry?

For many pastors and church staff, the answer is yes. As congregations face budget cuts and leaders experience burnout, the need to move toward a balanced model of shared ministry has become more and more urgent.

But how do we intentionally cultivate and equip volunteers for lay leadership instead of just waiting for them to emerge?

Recruiting, Equipping, and Empowering Church Leaders was designed to help you make the leap. Together, we’ll explore practical ways to recruit, empower, and train church leaders, moving your community towards a model where everyone thrives.

Church leadership development isn’t just about slotting volunteers into roles: it’s about helping people discover their callings so they can step into leadership with confidence.

In this course, you’ll explore practical strategies for training lay leaders, discover helpful resources for managing volunteers, and learn how to step back with confidence—trusting in God and the gifts and talents your members bring to your church community.

What You'll Learn

  • What it means to share leadership in the church—and why it’s biblical.
  • How to empower others with confidence and trust.
  • Opportunities to discern how God is prompting your next steps.
  • The role of spiritual gifts in the church, including your own.
  • How the role of the pastor has evolved—and what that means for your context today.
  • Strategies for recruiting with an eye on where the Holy Spirit is at work.
  • How Jesus’ example can shape the way you equip lay leaders and volunteers.
  • Skills for offering authority, oversight, and accountability with wisdom and grace.
  • Habits for gratitude-centered leadership that steers clear of micromanagement.
  • The value of letting go and exiting well, trusting in God’s care for those who will lead next.

About this Course

  • Modules

8

  • Learning Elements

60

  • Videos

10

  • Practices & Activities

17

  • Time

6 hours 30 minutes

  • Price

$55

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Here's What's Inside...

In this module you will:

  • Understand the role of spiritual gifts in the church.
  • Reflect on your own gifts.
  • Be reminded that the church belongs to God.

In this module you will:

  • Examine various roles of the pastor over time.
  • Explore these roles in your own context.
  • Discern God’s prompting over your own ministry role.

In this module you will:

  • Learn strategies and skills for recruitment.
  • Explore possibilities for recruiting leaders in your setting.
  • Discern the Holy Spirit at work.

In this module you will:

  • Learn skills and strategies for equipping leaders using Jesus as a model.
  • Practice the I do, we do, you do strategy.
  • Develop patience and trust in God’s work in yourself and others.

In this module you will:

  • Learn skills and strategies for authority, oversight, and accountability.
  • Develop habits for management and not micromanagement.
  • Thank God for the leaders you work with.

In this module you will:

  • Learn why letting go is essential to this process.
  • Develop skills for exiting well.
  • Commit your leaders to God's care and love.
You'll Learn How to Shift Ministry Models
A group of volunteers in blue shirts embraces in a supportive group hug, symbolizing unity and teamwork.

Want to raise up more lay leaders in your context but struggle to manage the shift? This course provides leadership and people management skills to empower others to step up. In today’s changing world, we need confident, competent lay leaders more than ever; let’s get them there, together.

What to Expect

  • Lifetime access to the course materials, including a comprehensive course handbook.
  • A FREE account inside the Faith+Lead Learning Lab, a private online learning community where you can connect with other learners and leaders walking through this course.
  • If you're already a Faith+Lead member, click here to access this course—it's included in your membership at no additional cost: https://lab.faithlead.org/courses/recruiting-equipping-and-empowering-ministry-leaders/

Ready to Enroll?

Enroll in this one on-demand course today or unlock free access to this and all on-demand courses plus more with Faith+Lead Membership →

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Access to all workshops and their recordings

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Access to member-only live Q&A monthly interviews

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Access to monthly group coaching

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Access this course

*by joining Faith+Lead Membership for just $19.95/month

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Access to this on-demand course

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Access to an online supportive community

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Access to 20+ on-demand courses

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Access to all workshops and their recordings

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Access to member-only live Q&A monthly interviews

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Access to monthly group coaching

Join Membership

Need a scholarship? Apply here.

Looking for just in-time training resources?

Use this on-demand course as a complementary ready-made resource for small groups, Bible studies, discipleship growth, and equipping lay leaders in your specific ministry setting.

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Meet Your Instructor

  • Dr. Dwight Zscheile

    Dwight Zscheile is vice president of innovation and professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

    He is the author of Embracing the Mixed Ecology (with Blair Pogue, Seabury Books, 2025), Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff, Fortress 2023), Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the U.S. (with Craig Van Gelder, Eerdmans 2018), The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age (Morehouse Publishing, 2014), People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity (Morehouse Publishing, 2012) and The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation (with Craig Van Gelder, Baker Academic 2011) and editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012).

    A graduate of Stanford University (BA), Yale University (MDiv) and Luther Seminary (PhD, Congregational Mission and Leadership), Dwight previously served congregations in Minnesota, Virginia and Connecticut. Dwight’s experience growing up in a secular home in California has shaped his commitment to helping the church cultivate Christian community with neighbors in today’s changing world.

Connect as you learn

Connect inside the Faith+Lead Learning Lab

Learning happens best when you do it together with folks who are on the same journey as you are.

That's why our private social network, the Faith+Lead Learning Lab, hosts conversations about course content with other learners, instructors, TAs, and community leaders.

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Study together with a small group or congregation

Want to bring Recruiting, Equipping, and Empowering Church Leaders to your Bible study, small group, or even your entire congregation?

Choose "Enroll a Group" at checkout and select how many people you'd like to provide access to the course. You can go through the course together in-person, watch lessons together via Zoom, or even create a private group in the Learning Lab where participants can connect asynchronously.

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