How to Identify Future Leaders in Your Church

David Helm, Mike Bullmore, and Bryan Chapell are pastors with a passion for raising up other pastors. Listen to them discuss how they recognize those in their congregation who may be fit for pastoral ministry.

This conversation was recorded in 2011. Since that time, Bryan Chapell has left Covenant Seminary to pastor Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois.

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The Simeon Trust, mentioned in the conversation, is an organization that helps train pastors and future pastors in expository teaching. Look to see if they have a workshop planned near you.

You can watch this discussion on video or view a follow-up conversation, “Training Future Leaders and Preachers.”

Free eBook by Charles Spurgeon. ‘Fit to Lead: On the Call to Pastoral Ministry’

With the rate of pastors retiring, burning out, or concluding their ministries, the need has never been more urgent for aspiring ministry leaders to prepare well for their pastoral calling.

In the eBook Fit to Lead: On the Call to Pastoral Ministry, compiled by The Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Seminary, current and aspiring pastors will gain wisdom from Charles Spurgeon on how to discern and thrive in their call to pastoral ministry. In the short book, Spurgeon—the “Prince of Preachers”—discusses how to identify and encourage those called to ministry, as well as what steps to take in pursuing a call to ministry.

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Dr. Bryan Chapell (MDiv, Covenant Theological Seminary; PhD, Southern Illinois University Carbondale) is a founding Council member of The Gospel Coalition and President of Unlimited Grace Media, daily broadcasting messages of grace across the U.S. as well as offering pastoral training in many nations through conferences and internet resources available at unlimitedgrace.com. Nationally, Dr. Chapell is Director of the Christ-centered Preaching Institute of Metro Atlanta Seminary, a ministry of Perimeter Presbyterian Church, where he also serves on the preaching staff. Dr. Chapell is President Emeritus of Covenant Theological Seminary, Pastor Emeritus of the historic Grace Presbyterian Church, and the retired administrative coordinator of the Presbyterian Church in America. He is the author of many books, including Unlimited Grace, Each for the Other, Holiness by Grace, The Multigenerational Church Crises, and Christ-centered Preaching, a preaching textbook now in multiple editions and many languages. He and his wife, Kathy, have four adult children, and a growing number of grandchildren.

David Helm (MDiv, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) is the senior pastor of Christ Church Chicago, chairman of the board of the Charles Simeon Trust, and a Council member for The Gospel Coalition. He has authored a number of books, including The Big Picture Story Bible, Expositional Preaching, and A Conversation With Jesus. He and his wife, Lisa, have five children.

Mike Bullmore (MDiv, ThM, PhD Northwestern University) served for 25 years as Senior Pastor of Crossway Community Church in Bristol, WI and is now teaching and training pastors in multiple venues. He is a founding member of The Gospel Coalition. He and his wife, Beverly, have three adult children and a growing number of grand-children.