Entrepreneurial approach at the centre of new selection criteria for Church Army

Church Army has adopted new selection criteria grounded in the entrepreneurial characteristics identified by trainer and management guru Bill Bolton, author of “The entrepreneur in focus - achieve your potential”, www.efacets.co.uk.

For the past two years, Church Army has been exploring the essential characteristics required if evangelists are to successfully meet the challenge of today’s world, and in the recently published Mission-shaped church report. Chief Secretary Philip Johanson has already called for the society’s work to be focussed on pioneering; fresh expressions of Christian community and the engagement with Bill Bolton to help devise appropriate new selection criteria for evangelists takes things further.

Hugh Boorman who is the Candidates Secretary responsible for developing and guiding candidates through the new process, comments: “This has involved a total rewrite of both the selection criteria and procedure to ensure that we identify those who God has called and gifted to be creative pioneers - those who can spot opportunities and use them effectively. Using some of the techniques and guidelines identified by Bill Bolton I am confident that we will improve our ability to encourage and support candidates who are best suited to meet the challenges and situations in which entrepreneurs and pioneers thrive and give their best.”

Bill Bolton, who has worked closely with Hugh to develop the criteria added: “It is great to see Church Army using the tools and techniques available to help identify the right characteristics for modern evangelism. In a recent training seminar I led, church leaders scored higher in terms of entrepreneurial characteristics than business advisers. The question for the church is - to what extend do our current structures engender the entrepreneurial spirit or suppress it? It is clear that Church Army has embraced what the whole issue is about and is seeking to respond positively to the challenge of appropriate selection for evangelism and mission in the 21st century.”

Hugh is looking forward to the first Church Army selection conference using the new criteria and adds, “Clearly some people may be put off by the terms pioneer and entrepreneur, but I think they will be surprised by what they can do. It’s our job to identify and help unlock the potential for mission and evangelism that those called to witness for the Gospel have. After all, it is just following in Jesus’ footsteps. He told his listeners that he was just doing what he saw his Father doing. Our pioneers will be going into communities. Seeing what God is up to and working with him. What could be simpler and more exciting than that?”