How Soon Do You… If you’re a pastor or church builder, you’ve probably wrestled with this question more than once. You look around on Sunday morning, see all the needs, and wonder, Who’s next? Who can I trust? But let me challenge you with a fresh mindset: leadership development should never be reactionary. It should be intentional—and it should start sooner than you think.

Too many churches stall their growth because they wait until people are fully polished before they position them. But ministry isn’t about perfect resumes—it’s about developing servants. Jesus didn’t recruit finished products; He called fishermen, tax collectors, and everyday people and said, “Follow Me.” The truth is, if you wait until someone is “ready,” you’ll often wait forever. Leadership isn’t downloaded—it’s developed.

In this article, we’re going to walk through the key question, “How soon do you…?” How soon do you start training, trusting, transitioning, and mentoring leaders? How soon do you start praying for God to show you the next pillar in your church—even if they’re still on spiritual milk? The answer might surprise you. But if you’re serious about growing your church and multiplying ministry, this could be the most important leadership decision you make this year.

How soon do you begin training people in leadership positions? 

• Well, let me ask you – how long do you wait to help a baby walk?  Until they learn to do it on their own?  No, early in their development, you take them by the hands, lift them up, steady them and one step at a time you help them learn balance, endurance and strength.  If you wait until a person is already involved in leadership to use them, they may have gotten their leadership skills from a source such as the corporate world where the same values are not shared in the church.  Start working with people early.  Trust them.  Some will fail and embarrass you.  Others will succeed and astound you.

How soon do you use them in leadership positions?  

• Generally before you feel they are 100% ready.  There is always a need for leadership help in the church.  You will find that as soon as you begin raising up a person in the church for a position, God will begin raising up a position in the church for a person.  The reason many churches do not have certain ministries in their churches is not because the needs are not there for those ministries, it is because there are not people ready to lead those ministries.

How soon do you move someone out of a ministry?  

• As soon as you have another ministry to advance that person to and someone to take their place.  Never leave someone in a position for years if that person has the ability to excel into another office or ministry in the church.  The ministry that some pastors would leave a person in for a lifetime may only be a stepping stone or a learning place for the individual person.  Let them grow.

How soon do you begin mentoring those God has shown you to have potential?  

• Immediately.  If you do not have time to personally mentor them, find those in the church you trust and who can help you in the mentoring process.  Place the individual in the care of these people for a time.  There may come a day when you personally begin to mentor the individual and when you do, they will not have so far to go as they have already been mentored to a degree.

How soon do you begin looking for leaders in a new/small church?  

• Today!  If you are willing to invest the few talents God has given you, He will reward you with many more.  However, He will not give you increase until you work with what He has already given you.  (No matter how small it is.)

About Pastor James Smith

Pastor James Smith, Valparaiso, Indiana – Founder of PreachIt.org, OpportunityHope.org, and PastoralHelps.com.

He equips pastors worldwide with sermons, leadership tools, and encouragement, while also caring for orphaned and at-risk children in West Bengal, India through OpportunityHope. Beyond the orphanage and school, OpportunityHope provides clean water wells, livestock, and other humanitarian helps to families and villages in need. Additional books, leadership training, and mentoring resources are available through PastoralHelps.com.