Cambridge Leaders Network

One of the most significant needs of the worldwide evangelical church is the development of its next generation of leaders.  As emerging leaders step into influential roles, both within the church and without, they are often faced with a number of challenges such as:

• How to maintain an intimate relationship with the Lord when responsibilities are growing
• How to biblically love and lead others to spiritual maturity
• How to develop leadership skills i.e. plan strategically, communicate a vision, manage time, determine objectives, recruit and develop staff, and manage finances and resources
• How to critically evaluate popular leadership thinking from a biblical worldview

Across much of the world, there is a glaring lack of resources and information available to these gifted leaders.  As a result, they struggle to develop their capabilities and serve God’s people effectively.  If emerging leaders to grow to spiritual maturity in Christ and fully use their gifts, they must have access to the mentoring and leadership development resources that will help them completely realise their potential. The Cambridge Leaders Network attempts just this.

Imagine… 

• Emerging leaders building relationships with experienced and mature leaders and being mentored in spiritual maturity, character and skills
• Isolated emerging leaders gaining access to the educational and leadership development resources they need to develop their gifts to their fullest potential
• Emerging leaders taking on more senior responsibilities within their organisations and/or denominations and leading these institutions to fruitfulness and excellence

The Cambridge Leaders Network (CLN) is a weeklong programme held each July in Cambridge, England. It is designed to help key, emerging leaders think about leadership from a biblical perspective. The CLN curriculum is based on an explicitly biblical worldview and takes advantage of the best in leadership thinking while focusing on developing individual skills.

The programme consists of the following elements:

• Text-Based Discussions centered on pre-assigned reading selections
• Targeted Lectures and Discussions with experienced Christian leaders
• Case Studies written and submitted by participants will provide the
  opportunity to apply biblical thinking and leadership wisdom to real
  life problems and will be discussed in small groups
• One-on-One Mentoring between each participant and a senior leader
  who will suggest possible approaches to tough issues and offer encouragement for specific struggles
• Strategy or Project Assessment  for a written description of a strategy
  or project with which each CLN participant is currently engaged. This
  strategy or project will be discussed with a senior leader who will provide
  instructive evaluation.

John Lenton will lead the 2011 Cambridge Leaders Network.

John Lenton is the leader of the European Leaders of Christian Organisations Network.  He is a former Honorary Pro-Rector of Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania, an evangelical Christian university accredited by the Romanian Ministry of Education. He was instrumental in helping to launch, in 1998, the Griffiths School of Business at Emanuel University. Prior to moving to Romania in 1998, he was a Senior Vice President at American Express Europe, where he occupied a number of senior positions over a period of 15 years with the company, taking early retirement at the end of 1996 in order to devote himself full-time to Christian service. He has an MA from Oxford and an MBA from Harvard, and is also an ordained minister in the Church of England, having studied full time at Oak Hill Theological College shortly before moving to Romania.

Dirk Jongkind is a Dutch biblical scholar who finished his PhD at Cambridge University. His main scholarly interest is in the Greek text of the Bible, and the Graeco-Roman backdrop of Acts and the letters. Currently, he is the Research Fellow in New Testament at Tyndale House and the John W. Laing Fellow at St Edmund's College, Cambridge. He is working on legal language in and outside the New Testament. The focus of his work includes textual criticism of the Greek Bible, with emphases on grammar and lexicography, epigraphy, papyrology, and archaeology of the Graeco-Roman world, and the relation of New Testament background and exegesis.

Peter Loose was trained by BBC as an engineer. He worked in Marconi Research for ten years before setting up his own technology research company in 1973. He has many patents in the application of technology to industrial process control and in specialised information handling in radar systems. He set up a special purpose computer company, and has established businesses in the United States, Japan, and Holland to interface with his primary UK research company. He sold his company in the late 1980s to “retire.” He continue to work in scientific apologetics and in planning a range of UK ministries. 

Jeremy Peckham is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts and 1st class honours graduate in Applied Science. He began his career as a government scientist at the UK Royal Aircraft Establishment and later moved to Logica, an international software and systems integration company. He founded a speech recognition company in 1993 and launched a successful public offering on the London Stock exchange in 1996. He is now a technology entrepreneur and has helped establish several high tech companies over the last ten years where he has served as interim CEO, Chairman or non-executive director. He served as an elder for many years at Eden Baptist Church, Cambridge, UK and is currently a member of Wood Green Evangelical Church, Worcester.

Mark Stirling is the leader of the European Disciple-Making Leaders Network.  He is a former medical doctor who has worked in student ministry with the Navigators in Edinburgh. In 2007 he completed an MA in Exegetical Theology at Covenant Seminary in St Louis. He, his wife Jenny, and their four children now live in St Andrews, Scotland, where they seek to help students grow to maturity in Christ. He is also engaged in PhD studies in Theology and Biblical Studies (Learning Christ in Ephesians) at the University of St Andrews and is involved in helping to lead the work of the Navigators amongst students in the UK. 

Peter (P.J.) Williams is the Warden (CEO) of Tyndale House. He received his MA, MPhil, and PhD in the study of ancient languages related to the Bible from Cambridge University. After his PhD, he was on staff in the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University (1997-1998), and thereafter taught Hebrew and Old Testament there as Affiliated Lecturer in Hebrew and Aramaic, and as Research Fellow in Old Testament at Tyndale House, Cambridge (1998–2003). From 2003 to 2007 he was on the faculty of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, where he became a Senior Lecturer in New Testament and Deputy Head of the School of Divinity, History, and Philosophy. In July 2007 he became the youngest Warden in the history of Tyndale House. He also retains his position as an honorary Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies at the University of Aberdeen and is a member of the Faculty of Divinity in the University of Cambridge.

Schedule and Location: The 2011 Cambridge Leaders Network will take place from Friday, 8 July 2011 to Thursday, 14 July 2011 at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University. Participants will arrive at 12.30 on Friday, 8 July. Light refreshments will be available and guided historical tours of Cambridge will occur thereafter. Later in the afternoon, participants will depart for a weekend retreat.

Participants will then return to Sidney Sussex on Sunday afternoon for the remainder of the Network, which will end at 11.30 on Thursday, 14 July. Those participants who do not live in the Cambridge area will be lodging at the college. All participants will have opportunities to explore Cambridge with their colleagues.

The cost of attending the Cambridge Leaders Network is:

Early Registration - Apply by 31 December, 2010

Non-Residents of Cambridge - €390

Residents of Cambridge* - €190

Regular Registration - Apply by 30 February, 2011

Non-Residents of Cambridge - €490

Residents of Cambridge* - €290

Late Registration - Apply by 30 April, 2011

Non-Residents of Cambridge - €590

Residents of Cambridge* - €390

*Residents of Cambridge are charged a lesser rate as they’ll not require lodging for the portion of the program that is hosted at Sidney Sussex.

A limited number of partial scholarships/bursaries are available.

If you are interested in learning more about the CLN, please contact Laura at cln@euroleadership.org. Click here for a brochure describing the CLN.