LEADing News

LEADing News - Summer 2024

On God's Mission Overseas - Europe

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The MML 512 Leadership and Spiritual Formation class held for the second cohort of students in early March saw us experiment with the teaching of this course. Our Grad Chaplain, Greg Anderson lead devotions every morning and concluded the day-long sessions. And as previous, we had seven other faculty involved in getting students to first find out about themselves: Strength Finders (Zuzi Nelson) and Enneagrams (Wendy Larson). Then learn about the theological foundation for leading others who are Imago Dei creations (Marc Cortez, from the US via Teams video), apply Family Systems for healthy leadership (David Van Dyke), grapple with the virtues and vices to which one is susceptible (Dave Sveen), examine how one’s work is one’s worship of God (Min-Dong Paul Lee), and reflect how God has prepared each person through their successes and failures for leadership now (Junias Venugopal).

As is custom for European cohort classes, our meals were taken together and the students bonded even more on Friday night, when most of the “older faculty folks” retired to bed and they had to go out one more time to celebrate the ending of these intensive sessions with the ever-youthful Min-Dong!

Regional EMS Research News

Min-Dong Paul Lee and Dave Pederson organized a research track on business as mission (BAM) at the North Central Evangelical Missiological Society meeting on March 16, 2024. This year’s theme was “New Frontiers in Missiology”, and the plenary address was delivered by Kevin Sandahl (Wheaton alum and an adjunct professor in our LEAD program) who founded and leads a software development company in India. Dave and Paul presented two co-authored papers titled “Paul as an Entrepreneurial Steward for Frontier Missions” and “Paul’s Entrepreneurial Business Mindset maintained the Independence of His Gospel Mission.” In addition, we hosted Jeff Sherlock (Professor of International Business at Taylor University) and Mats Tunehag (Chairman of BAM Global), who presented their research on BAM.

To learn more about our speakers at the EMS conference and even listen to some of them speak please click on the links below.

HoneyRock Trip - March 2024

The most snow that fell in Three Lakes/HoneyRock this Winter happened when we held our LEAD 662 Leading Multicultural Teams course for 3 intensive days in March. But it was cozy and fun for students from the SpringHill partnership and others who had driven up there.

Eating all our meals together was an enjoyable experience as we built community (needed for an educational endeavor) and also work on a final classroom presentation as teams as required in this class and each of the hour-long presentations by every one of the four teams was both hilarious and produced robust learning.

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Two New Concentrations

Global Entrepreneurship Concentration
We are excited to announce the launching of the M.A. in Leadership with Global Entrepreneurship concentration this fall! The new concentration builds on our core leadership curriculum by equipping students with the skills and knowledge necessary to start cross-cultural business ventures. Through a combination of classroom instruction by missional enterprise founders and hands-on business development exercises, students will gain the practical knowhow of missional entrepreneurship. Concentration courses include:

Practice of Missional Entrepreneurship
Theology of Work: Equipping God’s People to Flourish in Their Calling
Entrepreneurial Marketing
Managing for High Impact: Purpose, Planning, Operations and Execution

Sports Leadership Concentration
Many of you are aware that we have many athletes in our program, and some may also know that the reason we have had this influx is because COVID caused Division III athletics to be canceled for a year and all our athletes were red-shirted. The LEAD team has had many conversations of addressing the needs and challenges faced by athletics in general and athletes in particular about their ongoing development into professions where they can utilize their talents and abilities. In conversations with the Athletic department leaders, coaches, and athletes, we, led by Dave Pederson began gathering ideas for developing a Sports Leadership Concentration. Coaches particularly advised courses on integrating sports with Christian faith and ministry, psychology and motivation, metrics and data analytics, fundraising, and the possibility to do internship with one of the team coaches. Wheaton has approved a Sports Leadership Concentration which will have the following courses:

Psychology of Sports Performance and Coaching
Leading and Managing a sports Organization
Sports Ethics and Ministry
Fundraising in Nonprofit Organizations and Congregations
Internship (with a Sports team)
Data Analytics for Decision Making (not approved as it’s in development)

When you enroll in the Sports Leadership concentration, you will be able to take the above courses along with the robust required leadership courses in the 36-credit LEAD program.

LEAD Inaugurates Its Residential Track

Our LEAD program had only admitted international-visa students who could come and attend our short intensive modular courses in Europe or the U.S. (Wheaton). But we received permission to start having Laboratory requirements attached to our regular courses so that we could have international visa students become residential students on the Wheaton campus. This year, three of them, Patrick Saruni Lemargeroi (Kenya), Lawrence Owinya (Uganda), and Orgilbayar Zorigt (Mongolia) met with Dave Pederson both in the Fall and Spring semesters for their Lab course work. Dave reports that they spent most of their time digging into themes of leadership and discipleship. One of the students shared how this time became an ideal one to learn integrating faith with life and leadership roles at here at Wheaton. Another affirmed the value to have time and space to discuss issues and leadership praxis well, particularly how to study successfully in this American context.

Dave testifies to having learned much about culture and how Christianity is viewed and practiced the three countries represented by these men. We would please request you to pause for a few minutes and pray for Saruni, Lawrence, Orgil, and Dave.

Celebrating Our Spring 2024 M.A. in Leadership Graduates

Will Bowers
James Houck
Andrew Lee
Jeremy Mulder
Brendan Johnston
Skylar Pearcy
Nathaly Pinos Agila
Saruni Lemargeroi
Ellen Stremler

Award Winners

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The John A. Gratian Gospel and Culture award was given to Patrick Saruni Lemargeroi. Patrick Saruni is a graduate student in the M.A. in Global Leadership program who has expressed an intent to serve overseas and who, in the judgement of the faculty, has demonstrated excellent scholarship in the field of contextualization during the academic year in which the degree is awarded.

The C. William Pollard Leadership award was given to Jeremy David Mulder. He is a graduating student in the M.A. in Global Leadership program and who, in the judgement of the program faculty has consistently demonstrated strong Christian character born out of a love for Christ, displayed excellence as a student in the program, and embodied the qualities of a servant leader during the academic year in which the degree is granted.

M.A. in Leadership Shirts for Sale

Our custom made Dri-Fit long sleeve Shirts are only $30 each. We have the shirt available in 3 different colors: white, navy blue and orange. If you are interested in supporting our program and purchasing a shirt, you can do that via this website.

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Pictured from Left to Right, Aaron Doci, Dr. Paul Lee, Dr. David Sveen Denise Adent, Natalie Sawatsky, Nicola Sekulova, Wendy Larson, Hugh Choi, Terry English, Junias Venugopal in Europe sporting their Wheaton College gear.

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Our Senior Office Coordinator, Starsheena Anderson and our Engagement & Partnership manager, Suzanne MacDonald, rocking their MA in Leadership shirt in the office.