The only way to become the city’s most joyful church is to partner with Jesus by filling it with the city’s most joyful leaders.

Leadership Lab was designed to be a 12-week course that helps us accomplish exactly that. If you join a Leadership Lab class, you will spend 60 minutes a week walking through the three components of Christian Leadership: Calling, Culture & Community.

Sign-up for the next round below:

What are we trying to accomplish?

IN 7 YEARS AS A CHURCH…

We have filled the city of Des Moines with these leaders:

• 8 pastors (and currently 3 more candidates)

• 2 church planters

• 12 preachers

• 11 community group leaders

• 15 leadership lab graduates

Leadership Lab is designed to be the starting point for leadership development at Frontier Church. Whether you feel potentially called to community group leadership, pastoral leadership, deacon leadership or just desire to grow in your leadership skills in general, this was designed for you. Over the course of 12 weeks, you’ll hang out in a small group setting with Cole walk through these three categories together:

CALLING

THESIS: all leadership depends on the leader’s ability to partner with Jesus to change her own heart, thoughts and behaviors before trying to manipulate the church’s heart, thoughts and behaviors. The wager of this leadership model is the bet that all change happens inside-out, not outside-in. We will focus less on tips and tricks, and more on YOU and less on leadership techniques.

• Learn to understand the story that God is writing in your life

• Learn how your leadership strengths are designed to imitate Jesus’ leadership

• Learn what your unique gift to give to the world is

• CAPSTONE: learn to articulate your calling through self-authoring your story

CULTURE

THESIS: since Christians are communal creatures who live within God’s Kingdom, the best measurement of leadership is the health of the culture his is part of, not how impressive his isolated skills appear.

• High-Rep Community Building Activities

• High-Rep Church Building Activities

• CAPSTONE: brief essay on culture-building

COMMUNITY

THESIS: Jesus raises up leaders for his community, not for their own vanity. So Christian leadership is less about visible leadership roles and impressing people, and it’s more about helping your church become the best version of itself.

• Explore modules of drawing the best out of others

• Explore modules of being a lifelong learner

• Explore modules of being a non-anxious leader

• CAPSTONE: Record a podcast with Cole about leadership

YOU SHOULD DO IT

“Think through specifics areas in your life where you want to practice applying the skills you learn in this lab. It can be super applicable to so many spaces—church, work, family. I found myself using strategies and mindsets we discussed in my classroom, in my friendships, in my places of service at church, and in my personal walk with the Lord. Also, be sure you’re ready for the commitment—both the actual space to meet, but also the mental/emotional space to process and apply what you’re learning—that’s where the real growth happens!”

—Alex Pasker (Class of ‘22)

“For me, Leadership Lab was really eye-opening, because I didn’t expect to dive so deeply into calling and look at the past with new perspective. I really wouldn’t consider myself a leader, but I’ve gained so much from learning how I can be a leader, no matter what my title is or what my season of life is… because as a Jesus follower, we are leading people always. Anyone and everyone can benefit from this class!”

—Faith Posthuma (Class of ‘22)

“If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to be a good teammate. Or, to learn how to lead a team this is for you. In fact, you may even start to see your confidence boost when you discover that you’ve been a leader to someone already without realizing it! Uniquely, through your own past experiences will you unearth your calling for your life as a teammate, a leader, and a follower of Jesus.”

—Nathan Kniefl (Class of ‘22)