LE3 .A278 2015

2015

Brown, Steven

Acadia University

Doctor of Ministry

D.Min.

Ministry

Acadia Divinity College

Every local church will undergo a succession of leadership. Some successions will be tragic bi-products of moral failures, performance shortcomings and/or the whims of congregations. Still other succession will be the natural progression of a leader from one context to another. Whatever the case may be, churches should be prepared for the inevitable change of pastoral leadership. But how? Does the Bible provide any guidance for churches in times of succession? This thesis posits the presence of a protological leadership succession rooted in the functional ontology of Genesis 1. Building on this foundation, it then seeks to understand the dynamics of biblical leadership succession through an examination of the Moses-Joshua, Jesus-disciples, and Paul-Timothy leadership successions. A qualitative study was also conducted to investigate the cost of present day leadership succession processes in churches within the North American context. Finally, a model is presented which invites churches to embrace leadership succession as an opportunity to advance God’s Kingdom through key concepts such as Kingdom and covenant-like leadership relationships.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:400