Dr. Lesley Francisco McClendon explores five questions congregations can ask to strengthen leadership culture, build trust and better reflect the way of Jesus.
Dr. Lesley Francisco McClendon serves as senior pastor of C3 Hampton in Hampton, Virginia, and is an executive board member of Mennonite Church USA. She is also a theological educator, speaker and founder of Herstoric, Inc., with a deep commitment to leadership formation, congregational vitality and helping the church build what will outlive us.
This article first appeared in the winter 2026-2027 issue of Leader magazine and is republished with permission. (c) 2026 MennoMedia.
Leader magazine offers practical, hands-on ideas for effective ministry in your church with feature articles, new resources, and worship series for Advent/Christmas/Epiphany, Lent/Easter, Pentecost, and summer. Learn more here: www.mennomedia.org/leader
Every congregation has a leadership culture.
Some cultures are written down in vision statements, bylaws, staff manuals and ministry descriptions. But the true leadership culture of a congregation is rarely found on paper. It is revealed in quieter, unwritten spaces. It is found in who gets invited into the room, whose voice is trusted, how power is shared, how conflict is handled, and what happens when someone tells the truth.
In Acts 6, the early church faced a critical leadership culture moment. Rapid growth exposed a serious gap: Hellenistic widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The apostles could have ignored the complaint, defended their system, or treated the criticism as a distraction. Instead, they practiced communal discernment. They listened, gathered the community, shared leadership authority, and made room for Spirit-filled leaders from the affected community to help carry the work.
The result was not merely better organization. It was a healthier witness. Acts 6:7 says, “God’s word continued to grow. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased significantly.”
How we lead shapes the integrity of our witness. The internal culture of the church is the first sermon the world sees.
To evaluate whether your leadership culture reflects the way of Jesus, consider the five questions below.
1. Who is being formed, not just used?
Healthy leadership culture does not simply fill slots; it forms people. Many congregations ask, “Who can we get to serve?” But a better question is, “Who are we helping to become more faithful, wise, and courageous as they serve?”
If the same people always lead, decide, and carry the visible work, the congregation may be functioning, but it is not forming. A healthy culture creates pathways for emerging, younger, diverse, and lay leaders to grow through both opportunity and support.
Ask: Are we developing people’s skills, or are we depending on the same few to keep everything going?
2. What happens when someone raises a concern?
A congregation’s culture is revealed by how it responds to truth. In Acts 6, the concern about neglected widows was not treated as rebellion. It was treated as information the Spirit could use to make the community more faithful.
When concerns are dismissed or spiritualized away, people learn to stay silent. But when leaders listen carefully, ask clarifying questions, and respond with humility, trust grows. This does not mean every complaint dictates policy, but healthy leaders do not fear feedback. They understand that listening is part of discernment.
Ask: Do people feel safe telling the truth here?
3. Are decisions clear or confusing?
Confusion weakens trust. Often, people are not upset because they disagree with a decision, but because they do not understand how it was made. They do not know who has authority, where input is welcomed, or how choices are communicated.
Healthy leadership culture requires clarity: Who discerns? Who decides? Who implements? Anabaptist communities value communal discernment, but that does not mean every person makes every decision. It means leaders seek the wisdom of the body in appropriate ways, remain accountable, and communicate with honesty.
Ask: Are our decision-making processes clear enough for people to trust them?
4. What do we reward?
Every congregation rewards something. Sometimes we say we value collaboration but reward speed. We say we value Sabbath but praise overwork. We say we value diversitybut expect everyone to adapt to the dominant culture. To evaluate your culture, listen to what gets celebrated. Who is thanked publicly? What behaviors get repeated because they are praised? Jesus taught that a tree is known by its fruit. If the fruit is burnout, silence, orcontrol, the system needs attention. If the fruit is humility, shared ownership, and love, the culture is thriving.
Ask: Are we rewarding the culture we say we want?
5. Is leadership helping the church join God’s mission?
Leadership culture is not about protecting an institution; it is about equipping the church to join God’s healing and hope in the world. A congregation can have full calendars and long meetings without being faithful.
Activity is not the same as discipleship. Healthy leadership culture keeps mission at the center. It helps people use their gifts, tells the truth with
grace, and forms disciples who bear witness to peace, justice, reconciliation, and the good news of Jesus Christ.
Ask: Is our leadership culture helping people become more faithful witnesses to Jesus?
Be courageous
Evaluating leadership culture does not require blame; it requires courage. It invites leaders to pause and ask, “What are we producing, and does it reflect the way of Jesus?”
Every congregation has a leadership culture. The invitation is to become intentional about shaping one that reflects the way of Jesus.