Is the GLS changing the way people view the Church?

The Global Leadership Summit is an unapologetically Christian event. And yet, each year more and more, leaders from secular organizations are finding value in the leadership development content, and taking advantage of the skills training for themselves and their teams. As a result, not only are church leaders benefiting from the GLS, secular organizations are growing and thriving as well.

Is the GLS changing the way people view the Church?

Lois Warren, Co-Executive Director of Willow Creek Canada

We’ve heard thousands of stories about the way businesses are improving as a result of training received through the GLS and year-round through online platforms like GLSnext. But is the GLS changing the way people view the Church? Lois Warren, co-executive director for Willow Creek Canada, believes that the GLS is not only building into leaders outside of the Church, but it’s simultaneously and indirectly allowing people to see the Church in a new light.

The GLS strengthens the church, and unites leaders around a vision. “When we see strong leadership in churches and people being intentional about the way they communicate, we see impact and change,” said Lois. “I love the Summit, the staff and volunteer teams. We are united around the same passion—to see the Church thrive. We want the Church to be effective for the sake of God’s kingdom. Most of all, I love the Summit because it is an opportunity for people who are far from God to come to Christ.”

What happens when leaders outside the Church attend the GLS?

The GLS is giving people opportunities to come and experience God’s love and truth presented in a way that makes sense. Attendees express that the GLS is not a threatening environment for people of various backgrounds with various beliefs. Lois started attending the GLS as a business leader, and was greatly impacted. “I love the impact the Summit has had in my own life in my walk with the Lord. I can tell you where I was sitting when God and I put the stake in the ground around very specific issues in my life where I chose to be courageous. It has also had an impact on my friends and my colleagues.

“When we started to attend the Summit we brought our management team from the company we owned and several of those managers are now walking with the Lord!

“My biggest joy is seeing people come to know God’s love for them. Nothing brings me more joy,” Lois shares. “To me the Summit is one of those tools God is using consistently to make a difference in this world. I love getting to be part of that.”

One of the leaders Lois brought to the GLS hadn’t any desire at all to attend church. He came to the GLS for the first time last year. He left saying, “I want to know this God they were talking about. Because of this invitation, this opportunity to be a part of the Summit, I am now pursuing a relationship with Jesus Christ. Thank you for changing my life.”

Life change is happening! “We sponsored four teenagers to come to the Summit last year,” says Lois. “One of them came to a complete understanding of who God is and fully surrendered his life to Christ. He is a wholehearted Christ follower making a difference at his high school. Now as he is heading to university, he is a different person in a beautiful way and it is a delight to see this change in his life.”

Leading in a shifting culture requires courageous leadership

“I would say our culture has become very secular,” Lois explains. “Sadly, so many people have had only poor experiences with the Church or Church leadership. I see such a need for the church to lead well, to love well and to be intentional about the message they share, because it is a message our culture needs so desperately.

“The leaders I love the most — the leaders I see making the biggest impact — are those who are sincerely humbled and are surrendered to Christ and are seeking Him, and seeking to give Him their best. They are constantly seeking to listen to how God wants to use them.”

In a culture that has grown more and more secular, the call for courageous leadership grows. And Lois is stepping up to that call to share the message of Christ with her peers through the Global Leadership Summit.