Leadership Shaped
by the Potter’s Hand

Book Summary

Dr. Richard DardenLeadership Shaped by the Potter’s Hand is a timely eye-opener that helps the reader to understand poverty and its traumatizing influence upon unsuspecting victims. Portrayed as an age-old enemy, the tentacles of poverty have expanded their paralyzing reach into every country, society, community, and nearly every local church. This book highlights and characterizes the problem by exploring the process of engaging and developing people influenced negatively by poverty to become ministry leaders within a multiethnic or multiracial church environment. The reader will discover that persons negatively influenced by poverty have deep-rooted feelings of inadequacy, uneasiness, and inferiority. These feelings foster unresponsive behaviors that cause these persons to lack motivation, shun responsibility and accountability, and avoid uncomfortable situations.

Leadership Shaped by the Potter’s Hand is structured in the following manner. Firstly, in chapters one through six, the reader will be exposed to a composite treatise of poverty’s negative influence upon humanity and its environment. Secondly, in chapters seven through eleven, the reader will have a front-row seat to peer into the process of leadership development as seen through a transformative process aimed at restoration, reconciliation, and education. Thirdly, in chapters twelve and thirteen, the reader will clearly see the positive outcome of practical research and the verifiable consequence of the designed development process.

Leadership Shaped by the Potter’s Hand is captivating, as gloves relate to hands, these chapters will allow the reader to relate to the issues discussed and formulate a practical grasp of the developmental process for identifying, cultivating, and developing potential leaders in the local congregation. This book’s value is in giving church leadership another tool for helping the redemptive grace of Christ to lift people in struggling congregations and provide the all-important catalyst to propel the once unnoticed congregant toward opportunity.