Christian Leadership Is A New Murdock Trust Initiative

The Christian Leadership ADVANCE Resources website is being provided as part of a commitment by the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust (www.murdock-trust.org) to promote the development of Christian ministry leaders in the Pacific Northwest.

The “Christian Leadership Initiative” is a result of research and discussions that leaders of the Murdock Trust have had with dozens of ministry leaders over the past three years. The resulting vision is to convene leaders, educators and advisors in order to address the critical and persistent leadership and mission related challenges facing Christian organizations. Flowing from the vision is the mission of furthering the Kingdom of God by increasing the number and enhancing the development of leaders in the Pacific Northwest to better prepare them to serve mission-based organizations and communities. The initiative’s values include the centrality of Jesus Christ, his servant style of leadership, collaboration, stewardship, adaptability, life-long learning, and ethnic and demographic diversity.

In implementing their commitment, the Board of Trustees of the Murdock Trust has named Dave Coleman as Program Director for Christian Leadership. His background includes nearly forty years of ministry in the Northwest with Youth for Christ, and involvement in a variety of non-profit organizations and leadership development programs. A graduate of Whitworth College, he holds masters degrees from George Fox Evangelical Seminary (theology) and Chapman University (human resources management).

Promoting Christian leadership development will have two thrusts – encouraging leaders to take charge of their own development, and encouraging organizations to increase their investment in the future of their own leaders.

Current leadership development enrichment programs sponsored by the Murdock Trust include the Leadership Roundtable, Women in Leadership, and a Christian Leadership ADVANCE Conference involving key leaders from a variety of organizations and institutions of higher education. Additional new initiatives, besides this website, will begin to emerge during 2006.