SENIOR LEADER
A Two-Year Formation Journey for Leaders of Medium and Large Ministries
PLI Senior Leader equips pastors and executive leaders to lead with confidence, courage, and competence—connecting many more people to Jesus.
Leading a Growing Ministry Requires a Different Kind of Leadership
As ministries grow, leadership becomes more complex. Pastors and executive leaders increasingly lead through staff, boards, volunteers, systems, and other ministry leaders rather than carrying ministry primarily through their own efforts.
Senior Leader helps experienced leaders realign their lives and leadership with the mission of God while navigating the increasing complexity of a growing ministry. Leaders clarify vision, deepen their energy to lead, develop other leaders, and create healthier systems so more people can participate in the mission of God.
While ministry may become more complex, participation in the mission of God can become simpler, clearer, and more accessible.
“Senior Leader became one of the most formative experiences of my ministry, largely because of the practical leadership formation and trusted relationships it fostered. Those connections still shape me years later. My hope is that the redesigned Senior Leader will offer pastors and executive leaders that same growth in confidence, courage, and competence for the sake of the Gospel.” —Rev. Ron Burcham, Senior Leader Redesign Team Lead
PLI Signature Distinctives
Mission Shapes Leadership
Senior Leader continually returns to the ‘why’ behind leadership development. Leadership matters because healthy, aligned, mission-focused leaders and ministries are better positioned to connect more people to Jesus.
Mission Shapes Leadership
• Clarifying vision for the sake of mission
• Developing leaders to expand mission capacity
• Creating healthy systems that free people for ministry
• Sustaining leadership for long-term Gospel impact
Energy to Lead
Every intensive includes a dedicated “Energy to Lead” component focused on helping pastors develop sustainable leadership rhythms and increase long-term ministry capacity.
Energy to Lead
• Managing energy instead of merely managing time
• Physical health and leadership effectiveness
• Emotional resilience
• Margin, rest, and Sabbath
• Sustainable leadership rhythms
Four questions that shape senior leaders
For more than 25 years, PLI has equipped ministry leaders around the world to lead the mission of God. Senior Leader applies PLI’s four foundational leadership questions to the opportunities and challenges of leading medium and large ministries.
• Is my life and leadership aligned with God’s vision and mission—and am I the kind of leader people want to follow?
• How do I lead change for the sake of the mission of God?
• How do I unite and engage people around God’s mission?
• How do I raise up and multiply leaders to expand God’s mission?
Four Intensives. Twelve Modules. One Integrated Leadership Journey.
Over two years, leaders move through four week-long Intensives designed to apply these questions to the realities of senior leadership.
Intensive One: Leading a Growing Ministry
- From Pastor to Organizational Leader
- Clarifying Vision That Actually Drives Ministry
- Building a Leadership Pipeline
Intensive Two: Leading Through Resistance and Change
- Leading Through Governance Without Getting Stuck
- Leading Change Without Losing Your People
- Navigating Conflict Without Losing Trust
Intensive Three: Leading Through Others
- Becoming a Transformational Leader
- Managing Staff for Health, Clarity, and Multiplication
- Hiring and Building High-Impact Teams
Intensive Four: Sustaining and Scaling the Mission
- Leading Yourself for the Long Haul
- Leading the Ministry in a Changing World
- Resourcing the Mission
Senior Leader helps pastors lead ministries that are not only more effective organizationally, but more faithful and fruitful missionally.
You don’t have to navigate senior leadership alone.
Senior Leader brings pastors, executive leaders, and spouses from medium and large ministries into a cohort where they learn alongside others who understand the opportunities, pressures, and complexities of senior leadership.
Over two years, participants learn together, stay connected between Intensives, and apply what they’re learning directly in their own ministry settings. The consistent cohort creates space for relationships to deepen and learning to continue throughout the journey.
FOUR WEEK-LONG INTENSIVES
In-person learning, reflection, and practical application.
MONTHLY COLLEGIAL GROUPS
Regular check-ins with other leaders throughout the two-year journey.
PRACTICAL MINISTRY APPLICATION
Assignments applied directly within each participant’s ministry context.
SPOUSES AS FULL PARTICIPANTS
Full participation in the learning, cohort relationships, and Collegial Groups.
BRING ANOTHER LEADER
Congregations may send an executive director or emerging associate pastor to strengthen shared leadership and ministry-wide application.
Join us for the redesigned Senior Leader cohort
April 5 – 8, 2027 | Chandler, AZ
Enrollment limited to 25 participants
*The brochure includes complete program, participation, and investment details.
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