Insights on Church Leadership
 by Marcus H. Martins, Ph.D.

Copyright © 1993-2021.  All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents & Hyperlinks to PDF and HTML versions

Due to the large size of the files,
click on each hyperlink to download a specific chapter
Table of Contents iii
A Few Initial Words vi
             The Purpose of this Study vi

Section 1.  Introduction

Chapter 1. The Call to Leadership                     .html version
             Why Leadership? 3
             Callings by Revelation 4
             The Mission of Church Leaders 5
             Requirements for Leaders 9

Section 2.  Personal Qualities Fostering Effective Leadership

Chapter 2. The Prayer of Faith                            .html version
             Prayers Offered by a Member of the Godhead 14
             The Prayer of Faith and the Remission of Sins 15
             The Prayer of Faith in the Ministry 16
             The Prayer of Faith in the Performance of Assignments 18
             The Prayer of Faith and Our Skills 21
             The Prayer of Faith and the Will of the Lord 22
Chapter 3.  Hope of Better Days                        .html version
             A Time of Profound Changes 26
             The Temporary Nature of the Mortal Environment 27
             Greater Changes Yet to Come 28
             The Two Alternatives 29
             Waiting Patiently for the Lord's Salvation 30
Chapter 4.  Love Unfeigned                                   .html version
             Acquiring Love 34
             Compassion Leading to Miracles 34
             Forgiveness: An Exercise in Godliness 36
                          Forgiving Those Who Apostatize 36
                          Forgiving Those Who Repeat the Same Sins 37
                          Forgiving Those Who Oppose the Church 38
                          Forgiving Those Who Fail in their Callings 39
             Interceding In Favor of the People 40
             Patience and Courtesy 41
             Serving With No Concern For Rewards 42
Chapter 5. What If We Don't Have Some of These Qualities?     .html file 47
Chapter 6. The Nature of Perfection                         .html version
             Perfection Accomplished in Mortality 52
             Stages of Perfection 52
             The Problem with Hasty Judgements 53
             A Perfect Heart 54
             We Need All Those Who Desire to Serve 54

Section 3.  Weaknesses That Interfere With Effective Leadership
Chapter 7. Pride                                                        .html version
             How Pride Can Be Manifested 62
             Conquering Pride 63
             The True Nature of Our Accomplishments 65
             A Warning Against Pride in Our Prayers 65
Chapter 8. Unrighteous Dominion                          .html version
             Covering Sins 67
             Gratifying One's Pride and Vain Ambition 68
             A Misconception About Inspiration 70
             Repressing Free Agency 70
             Avoiding Unrighteous Dominion 71
             Coping with Someone Else's Unrighteous Dominion 72
Chapter 9. Prejudice                                                   .html version
             Greater Knowledge as Result of Diversity 76
             Dealing with Different Cultures 79
             Another Insight on Diversity: The Analogy of the Building 80
Chapter 10. Flattery                                                     .html version
             How Flattery Can Be Used 84
             The Search for Earthly Honors 85
             Escaping the Lure of Flattering Words 87

Section 4. The Knowledge of the Truth
Chapter 11. Eternal Truths: Spiritual Nutrition        .html version
             Feeding Spirits With Knowledge 91
             Finding a New Dimension in Earthly Life 93
             The Risks of Personal Opinions and Beliefs 94
             Serving or Disserving Others 96
Chapter 12. The True Doctrine                                    .html version
             The Knowledge of God 100
             The Doctrine of Christ 101
             The Things Pertaining to the Kingdom 103
             The Learning Process 104
Chapter 13. The Blessings of Good Counseling          .html version
             The Role of a Counselor 108
             How to Receive Counsel 109
             Valuing the People's Opinions 112
             Presidencies Must Exemplify Unity 113
             After All This, Are We Free From Error? 114

Section 5. Spiritual Administration
Chapter 14. Administration and Ministration              .html version
             Administrative Functions as Spiritual Activities 119
             Church Leaders Are Ministers 121
             Administrative Meetings as Spiritual Activities 123
Chapter 15. Effective Correlation                                   .html version
             The Purpose of Correlation 125
             A Correlation Agenda 126
             The Role of the Auxiliary Organizations 127
             A Sample Ward Council Meeting Agenda 129

Section 6. The Exercise of Leadership
Chapter 16. Serving the Lord in the Latter Days        .html version
             Representing the Lord 134
             Righteous Desires and Attentive Service 135
Chapter 17. Evaluation and Release                             .html version
             Evaluating Ourselves 139
             Evaluating our Service 141
             Preparing to be Released 142
             After the Release 143
A Few Final Words 145
             The Establishment of Zion 145
Bibliography
About the Author