Most church resources assume that leadership development trickles down from the top: the pastor trains the ministry leaders, who in turn equip their armies of volunteers. But in a church plant or house church, where a community of equals replaces a more traditional hierarchy, leadership is much more difficult to define and, as a result, to teach. What does it mean to lead when there are no ministries to run, no facilities to manage, no volunteers to recruit?

Felicity Dale has over 20 years of experience at the forefront of the church planting and house church movement, and has written multiple books about equipping men and women to lead within these specific contexts. She currently lives in Austin, Texas, where she and her husband Tony run House2House, which began as a print magazine and is now a website that provides resources for the house/simple/organic church movement. She spoke with BuildingChurchLeaders.com managing editor Laura Leonard about what leadership looks like when ...