The Church Can Be a Leadership Factory

Just as the music industry is full of musicians with Christian backgrounds, the church can also equip people to become strong leaders in society. That is no small thing at a time when there are growing calls for precisely that: better leaders.

The events of recent weeks have reinforced this impression. Both in politics and diplomacy, there is a need for a moral awakening. Society is crying out for good leaders, whether in the most exposed positions at the very top or at the local level, in schools or in healthcare. To put it mildly, we are not living in the easiest period in history, even though most of us are doing well in what remains one of the best countries in the world to live in. 

Recently, when I was in Berlin for a gathering of entrepreneurs, technologists and political organisers, held for the second year running and attracting more than 900 participants from across Europe — the “Political Tech Summit” — one of the themes was: “Technology for Trust – Creating Political Leadership That Works When the Rules Change.” Rebekah Ison from the non-profit Better Politics Foundation led the session and posed a rhetorical question: What kind of political leaders do voters actually want? The answer? Leaders who are authentic, competent — and compassionate and benevolent. 

Building Society Through the Churches

Are these not precisely some of the values we seek to communicate in our churches, prayer houses and congregations? I believe they are. We can be confident about this: we have a great deal to contribute to society, including potential leaders. 

Not in order to reclaim Norway for a Christian culture, but to do what the Lord himself said was the very essence of it all: to love and serve our neighbour as ourselves. Society’s future leaders are, of course, not found only within our own circles. But like other forms of voluntary work with children and young people, we have unique opportunities to give young people responsibility and guidance, while also placing great confidence in the values we seek to pass on — courage, responsibility and, not least, a willingness to serve. 

Research shows that young people are less inclined  to want leadership roles in companies and organisations than before. It demands too much. There is too much pressure, and the balance between work and private life can be difficult. Yet this is precisely what society now needs more than ever: people who are capable and willing to serve — also as leaders. 

Together with some excellent fellow authors in Germany, I currently have the pleasure of writing a new book about entrepreneurs and the conditions that promote — or hinder — innovation in the Hanseatic belt of Northern Europe. In several of our conversations, the need for long-term institution- and community-building has come up. 

One of Sweden’s leading research directors pointed out that some entrepreneurs work solely to increase the value of a company as quickly as possible, so that they can sell it and make a quick profit. He lamented the lack of people willing to build companies and jobs over time, although fortunately there are also young entrepreneurs of this kind. The head of one of Norway’s innovation communities in the capital made the same observation. We need more entrepreneurs like them. 

If you travel through Norway’s Bible Belt, this is precisely where you find many businesses of this kind. They are often family-owned companies that have been built over generations and have become pillars of their local communities or towns by creating and sustaining jobs over several decades. 

It is about the willingness to build stone upon stone so that something will last — about frugality and reinvestment in the local community rather than conspicuous new wealth and extravagant consumption. 

Our societies need more and better leaders: people who are able to set a direction and be visionary, but who also live out their leadership over time, with a long-term commitment to their employees and local communities. 

Faith Alone Is Not Enough — But We Can Create a Good Culture

Believing in God does not automatically make us better leaders. Nor does growing up in Sunday school or in church. Nevertheless, there is strength and potential in building communities together that are characterised by values such as honesty, love and commitment to one another — and love for our neighbour. 

That very much includes love for the society around us. This is something we have good reason to be proud of bringing into the public square from Christian communities. 

The purpose of church life and Christian ministry is not to take over society in order to dominate it. That, too, is worth reflecting on in a time of increasing polarisation and culture wars. 

But we certainly have the opportunity to become a kind of leadership factory, precisely because we are called to serve and love the people around us and the society in which we live. 

Do not underestimate it the next time you lead your family in a devotional, teach a child not to lie, serve in Sunday school and wipe a runny nose or a few tears, or clean a dirty floor. You do not know what the result of your efforts today may become tomorrow. 

Norway — and the world — needs better leaders. 

Perhaps they are attending your leadership factory? 

This article was published in the Swedish daily Dagen Sept. 1st 2026 and may be read here: