PJ has become a well known and popular speaker at many Newfrontiers conferences over the past few years. He leads GodFirst Church in Johannesburg and oversees a number of churches in Southern Africa. PJ is the most gifted person I know in identifying, training, and releasing other leaders.
Who is your leadership hero? Why?
Matt Hosier! Also David! I love it that David had an inherent leadership gifting given by God that he developed by himself with sheep, lions and bears. And then that day came that changed everything. When he heard Goliath’s defiant challenge although he was one of 10,000 troops, it was as if the challenge was to him alone. 10,000 Israelites were saying “uh, uh, uh” and David was saying, “I know exactly what to do”. The rest is history. And then once he began to gather followers, he proved himself not just as an individual solo leader, but as one who could build a great army, like the army of God (1 Chronicles 20vs 28)
How long have you been in leadership?
I planted my first church 12 years ago aged 25, but I can remember leading since the age of 12 when I was made head boy at my junior school.
What was your first leadership role?
I was made head boy age 12 at my junior school, then I was sports captains and head boy at my senior school… In fact I can’t remember a time when I was not leading something.
How long have you been in your current role?
My current role is leader of GodFirst Church in Johannesburg which I have been doing since January 2005 when we planted the church.
How long has your church been established? Did you start it?
See above answer
What has been the growth curve of your church?
We have grown at approximately 200 people per year in our first 4 years (Adults and children). This growth comes from our average weekly attendance over our 3 Sunday meetings divided amongst 2 campuses
What has been your biggest leadership challenge?
Me. DL Mood once said “I have had more trouble with DL Moody than any other man alive” Proverbs 25 vs 28 “A man without self control is like a city without walls”. When Frederic the Great of Prussia was asked over what Kingdom he rules he replied, "why, over myself, yes over myself”.
What has been your greatest leadership success?
Leading myself, my wife and my children.
How are you developing new leaders?
I have found that the key component to developing other leaders is to keep developing myself as a leader. It is very difficult to develop other people further than you are developed yourself, and because most leaders develop by imitating another leader (such as myself), then my own development in terms of character and gifting as a leader is vital. The second way I’m developing leaders is to make sure our church is itself a leader producing machine. That is to say, I do very little in the way of formal leadership training but very much in the way of doing church and leaders get developed along the way.
How are you continuing to develop your own leadership gifts?
The primary way that I am developing as a leader is to constantly give myself new leadership challenges that I have to meet. Reading books on leadership, listening to sermons on leadership, and watching other leaders, are all valid things to do, but I grow ten times as fast by actually doing it… sometimes with success or sometimes through making mistakes.
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