How Can We Develop More Deaf Christian Leaders?

Abstract

Many churches today talk about trying to increase diversity in leadership; in some cases this includes seeking to develop more Deaf and disabled leaders. This article is a practical look, from the perspective of a Deaf scholar and practitioner in the field, at what the obstacles might be and how these obstacles might be addressed. It uses models based on Simon Western’s “eco-leadership,” and James Lawrence’s organic model of “growing leaders” to argue that to truly develop more Deaf and disabled leaders, the church needs to reevaluate its own understand of what leadership is, how it is exercised, and how leaders are developed, and concludes that if the church is able to undertake this reevaluation, the mission and ministry of the church will be enabled to flourish in a new and more positive way.