At IBL we are passionate about assisting leaders who desire to become the men, women, leaders, and ministry teams that God desires.  Focusing on motivation, character, call, roles, and relationships, we help our clients develop consistency in spiritual disciplines and ministry practices, and to experience Spirit-led transformation and God-glorifying ministry… because leaders who honor God don’t just come out of nowhere.

Vision

All ministry activities are consistent with—and in the furtherance of—IBL’s founding vision:

We are the Institute of Biblical Leadership.
Directed by and dependent on God and His Word
we are dedicated to encouraging and equipping spiritual leaders
to apply biblical principles of godly leadership
through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We minister to individuals and organizations around the world
to enhance their effectiveness in God’s service.

We are burdened to make a difference!

Ministry

We fulfill our vision and seek to bring God glory through a four-fold ministry of training, coaching, consulting and counseling. These forums allow us to provide practical side-by-side training, encouragement, mentoring and exhortation; and to develop long-term, intentional relationships with our clients.

Word-Centered

Our ministry is focused on applying the practical leadership principles from God’s Word to the real-world issues of ministry leadership.  The Bible is our primary sourcebook for all that we do.

On very rare occasions we utilize extra-biblical material (which does not explicitly reference the truths of scripture), but do so only if the concepts presented are clearly founded upon biblical precept or principle and, in such cases, present the biblical connection for our clients.

Leader-Focused

Our clients are men and women in positions of spiritual leadership: pastors, pastoral couples, pastoral leadership teams, volunteer leaders in churches, missionaries, missionary couples, missionary teams, and leaders in para-church ministries.

We serve leaders and leadership teams in a “coming alongside” manner, serving at their side as they fulfill their callings. We do not place ourselves in a position of executive leadership, but rather serve in the background, providing guidance and assistance to leaders as they work in the trenches of ministry. We refrain from telling leaders what to do in any given situation. Instead, we help them embrace practices which lead to godly planning and decision-making. Consequently, our focus and recommendations are primarily in the area of “process” rather than “content:” thus we encourage appropriate processes for planning and decision-making rather than recommend specific solutions.

Our ministry is first and foremost to a leader, leadership couple, or leadership team; and secondarily to the church or organization they lead. We invest in the lives and ministries of leaders so they in turn can better fulfill their calling, and so be a blessing to both their present and future churches and organizations. In every ministry case, we clearly identify the leader(s) in whom we are investing and maintain a dual focus of strengthening the leader for the long term even as we assist them with the present issues they face. We always seek to operate in the best interest of our clients.

EML-Framed

IBL’s leadership model, Essential Ministry Leadership (EML), is designed to encapsulate the biblical essentials that every spiritual leader needs to integrate into his/her life and ministry.  As such, the principles and resources comprising EML form a key element of all of IBL’s ministries.

All ministry activities draw on the biblical principles and resources of EML. Training in third world countries, as needed, includes essentials in systematic theology and pastoral ministry, but is done in concert with EML-based training.

Biblical-Leadership-Modeled

IBL reinforces its biblical consulting, training and counsel by modeling the kind of leadership God desires. In every engagement with a client we are mindful of the need to demonstrate what we teach. This includes modeling a demonstrated dependence upon the Holy Spirit and a prayerful attitude in all that we do. Whenever possible and whenever it is in the client’s best interest, we work in teams of two or more so that we can model godly teamwork and godly relationships. When the IBL team includes a husband and wife, we strive to model godly relationship within the marriage, to be a source of hope and encouragement to clients struggling in their marriages.

No-Fee Service

All IBL ministry is performed without fee to the client. However we do incur costs in serving our clients. At some appropriate time in the course of serving a client, IBL provides the client with a summary of the costs incurred in ministering with them. Along with the Cost Summary we request that the client prayerfully consider providing a gift to the ministry to help defray these costs. Our ministry to a client is not dependent on their ability or willingness to provide a gift to the ministry.

Structure

IBL is a faith ministry that God has ordained, not a business. All staff members are faith-based missionaries. IBL is governed by a board of directors to provide a strong system of accountability and to ensure excellence in upholding biblical standards.