Patterns of Relationships in the
Development of Church Leaders
Down through human history relationships have
always played a crucial role in the formation of leadership.
These relationships tend to fall into patterns: the
relationship between a father and his son, between a
teacher and a student, between two good friends who
share their experiences with each other. Defining these
patterns becomes difficult as there are no fixed number
of possible patterns, the patterns tends to overlap,
and the terminologies used to describe these relationships
vary widely. In an attempt to simplify the analysis
of these patterns of relationships, the following five
terms and patterns have been chosen.
Familial Pattern
A close family member, usually the parents,
grandparents, or aunts and uncles, exerts a strong influence
on the development of the young leader, passing
on his or her knowledge, skills, and values. The
future leader follows “in his father’s footsteps.” This
form of leadership training would, for example, fit the
situation where a priest receives training in his priestly
duties from his father. The focus of the relationship is
on the child being trained and the form of training
would in almost every case be informal.
Mentor Pattern
An individual, not a close family member, exerts
a strong influence on the development of the future
leader. In New Testament times the wealthy often put
their children in the care of a tutor who assumed responsibility
for the child’s upbringing and, in some
cases, his basic education. Today a person who needs
individualized instruction in a subject may hire a private
tutor. Mentors tend to be older, experienced individuals
who perform the service of advising a younger
person, often out of a sincere desire to be helpful. Because
these two terms may overlap and are hard to
differentiate, they are combined. The modern interest
in personal coaches would also fall in this category. In
this pattern, the senior partner may use informal or
nonformal educational methods and the junior partner
provides the focus of the relationship. The junior partner
does not necessarily seek to become just like the
mentor, though the mentor may serve as a role model.
Master-Disciple Pattern
This relationship seeks for a transfer of knowledge,
experience, and lifestyle from the master (or
senior partner) to the disciple (or junior partner). Apprenticeships
serve as a good example of this category
of relationship. It differs from the Teacher-Student
Pattern in that it is nonformal or informal and does not
usually occur in a classroom setting. The disciple
seeks not merely to show mastery of a body of knowledge,
but to perfectly practice what the Master
teaches. It differs from the Mentor Pattern in that the
disciple seeks to become just like the Master. The senior
partner or Master therefore serves as the focus of
the relationship, not on the junior partner. Because of
its intensely personal nature, a master can have only
small number of disciples at any one time.
Teacher-Student Pattern
In the Teacher-Student Pattern of relationship, the
goal of the relationship usually revolves around the
impartation of knowledge from the teacher (or senior
partner) to the student (or junior partner). This takes
place most often in a formal educational setting. In the
case of certain subjects, such as music, skills may be
taught. Though the teacher may deliberately communicate
values and certain behaviors, mastery of the
subject’s content remains the real goal. Discussion and
interaction during class between teacher and student
may take place, but this usually serves to improve the
transfer of knowledge. In many situations, opportunities
for teacher-student interaction outside the classroom
rarely take place, and the student normally has
little opportunity to observe the teacher in everyday
life. The large number of students in the classroom
prohibits a close relationship between teacher and students
to develop, thus precluding a relationship such
as a disciple has with his or her Master.
Peer/Team Pattern
All relationships between two or more people
who see themselves as equals fit in this category.
Unlike all the other patterns, Peer/Team Pattern relationships
may have no senior partner. At any given
point in time any person in this relationship may serve
as the senior partner by encouraging or assisting another.
The relationship between Jonathan and David
serve as a good biblical example of this pattern. Using
informal educational methods, the focus of the relationship
often rests on commonly-held goals rather
than certain individuals. For this form of relationship
to exist, there must be a sincere friendship or companionship
between those involved. The assistance rendered
in developing the leadership potential of others
in the group may be a by-product of the relationship
and not a primary reason for its existence.
