As a senior pastor and former deacon, Dr. James H. Taylor, III, has many years of experience with the "grain of tradition" paradigm of rural ministry. His passion to make a contribution to the betterment of rural ministry through the equipping of laity for servant leadership and excellence in ministry, lies within this vital resource. This book, which is part research project and part servant leadership resource equipping guide, provides the theological foundation, state of the art in servant leadership and step by step training modules for equipping the laity for the role of servant leader. This book explores basic leadership principles and contrasts leadership and servant leadership and its intricate and important role in excellence in ministry. The ten module training guide systematically unfolds laity's spiritual undergirding in preparation for embracing the ranks of servant leadership, specifically the diaconate. This resource will benefit any church who desire to better equip its laity for servant leadership and strive for excellence in ministry. Dr. James H. Taylor, III is the senior pastor of the Race Street Baptist church in historic Farmville, VA. He is a graduate of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology in Richmond, Virginia. and the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

EQUIPPING LAITY FOR SERVANT LEADERSHIP

MODELING A SERVANT'S HEART, IN THE SMALL RURAL BLACK CHURCHBy James Henry Taylor, III

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Dr. James H. Taylor, III
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-4727-6

Contents

ABSTRACT...............................................................................VIIACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................................VIIIDEDICATION.............................................................................IXINTRODUCTION...........................................................................XChapter 1. MINISTRY FOCUS..............................................................1A Faith Walk to the Century Mark.......................................................1The Birth of a Passion to Change a Traditional Leadership Paradigm.....................5Meet the Rural Stakeholders............................................................6Chapter 2. THE STATE OF THE ART IN THIS MINISTRY MODEL.................................11The Make-up of Servant Leaders and Leadership..........................................12A Perspective on Equipping Laity in Kingdom Work.......................................17The Diaconate: Leading the Way for Servant Leaders.....................................19The Necessity of a Servant Leadership Infrastructure...................................24Chapter 3. THEORETICAL FOUNDATION......................................................33Theological Foundations................................................................35Biblical Foundations...................................................................41Historical Foundations.................................................................64Chapter 4. METHODOLOGY.................................................................73The Planning Process...................................................................74Research Design, Measurement and Instrumentation.......................................76Ministry Model Implementation..........................................................77Chapter 5. FIELD EXPERIENCE............................................................79Collection of Data.....................................................................81Analysis of Data.......................................................................81Training Model Outcomes................................................................84Chapter 6. REFLECTION, SUMMARY, AND CONCLUSION.........................................85Appendix A. DEACONS' LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM AGENDAS...............................89Appendix B. RESEARCH PROTOCOL AND CONSENT FORM.........................................99Appendix C. DEACONS' LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM.......................................101Appendix D. DEACONS' LEADERSHIP SELF EVALUATION........................................151Appendix E. PRE/POSTTEST QUESTIONNAIRE.................................................153BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................155

Chapter One

MINISTRY FOCUS

In 1998 at the age of forty-nine, God changed the writer's insights and paradigms with respect to ministry praxis in the rural context. These insights began to emerge with a strong force after exposure to theological seminary training at Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. A passion emerged within to create a method to better equip servant leaders in rural context ministries starting at the Race Street Baptist Church where the writer is pastor.

This writer has a long rich history in the rural context with twenty-two years in the pastorate. The writer has labored amongst the challenges in many instances created by a lack of training and understanding of the role of the diaconate in the small rural black church. Thus, the writer realizes a tremendous need for a readily available training resource that could serve as an infrastructure to equip laity for servanthood, particularly within the ranks of the diaconate.

The writer will seek to set forth a training model to train deacons for servant leadership in the small rural black church. This model could ultimately serve as a basic catalyst for training of diaconate in any small rural black Baptist Church.

A Faith Walk to the Century Mark

The writer was born and reared in God's rural creation. This rural environment was entrenched in a rich conservative tradition, which was as important as the local laws of the commonwealth. In this country environment, churches were birthed out of other churches in consideration of distance and the lack of transportation. In most instances, circuit rider preachers were the order of the day and worship services were held at most churches on a monthly or bi-monthly basis with few exceptions. Sunday church service consisted of Sunday school at least once a month followed by worship services, which consisted of fire and brimstone preaching. Seeking soul salvation included sitting on the mourner's bench and a public confession of one's sins and confirmation to seek Jesus as Lord and Savior. In most cases, baptisms took place in an outdoor cement pool or the local creek.

Such an environment would hardly seem like the garden spot that one would dream of as the perfect place to live, but the writer's spiritual optical lenses were developed in such a tradition and environment.

The writer's upbringing was in a Christian home in rural Powhatan County located in the rolling woodlands of Central Virginia some twenty miles west of Richmond, the capital city. At a very early age, the writer became familiar with worship at the Second Antioch Baptist Church, which was located directly across the road from where the writer was reared. God-talk and Zion language was the norm. That is, such phrases as, "God don't like ugly and he ain't stuck on pretty" and "God is a merciful, kind and just God" was quite common talk amongst rural congregants.

At the tender age of eight, the writer's spiritual journey began by being drawn to the mourner's bench and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and personal Savior. It happened at Second Antioch Baptist Church, that old wood frame church across the road from his home. The old circuit rider preacher Reverend George W. Manning became the writer's father in the ministry and life-long mentor. It was at this early stage in life that rural ministry tradition was truly born and woven into the passions and persona of this young country lad. Even at this early age, the writer noticed the plight of the deacons. They were very stern. During that time, none of them had any formal education but they were devout men of strong faith. The writer recalled that there was no training available for leaders or laity aspiring to the ranks of servant leadership. Thus, most responses from deacons or within the ranks of leadership usually emerged as authoritarian or the grain of tradition rather than from one in tune with knowledge of leadership principles.

The teen years found the writer embracing the leadership ranks of youth ministry and becoming more ingrained in ministry in the rural context. At age seventeen, the writer joined the United States Army. The writer served two overseas tours in Korea and Southeast Asia. It was during these years that spiritual "backsliding" raised its ugly head but God allowed the writer to return home safely and once again kneel down and pray a prayer of thanksgiving in that old country church. The writer's father in...