SODAL LEADERSHIP
In the article two major categories of leaders in the New Testament church, I introduced the terms sodality and modality briefly. And the concept of modality is explained in the article on modal leadership.
You may or may not be familiar with the terms sodal and modal leaders. While they are not in the Bible literally, you will see that these two types are found throughout the book of Acts and the Epistles, and were functional in the early Church.
In this article we shall see who sodal leaders are and what they do.
Understanding Sodality
The word “sodality” comes from the Latin root word for “fellowship, brotherhood, or fraternity.” Leaders who focus on the global expansion of the church are called sodal leaders. However, though their focus is on global expansion, they participate in a local church.
We know sodal leaders by many other terms – apostles, apostolic teams, Pauline teams, missionaries, missionary bands, etc. Examples of sodal leaders in the scriptures include Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, Titus, and others.
Ministry of Sodality
The scriptures assign several responsibilities to sodal leaders. They engage in the work of –
- Planting new churches (Acts 13,14)
- Establishing churches (Acts 13,14)
- Training and equipping new apostolic teams (2 Tim. 2:2)
- Developing networks of churches (Acts 16:4 – 5)
- Overseeing churches in the network (Acts 13&14)
These sodal leaders are to help churches in a network whenever they need help of any sort in areas like establishing churches, helping them iron out doctrinal problems, or training leaders. They should support modal leaders and their churches as needed.
Paul lived a sodal leader’s life. Whenever local churches needed help, Paul visited them and talked to the elders. If he couldn’t travel, he wrote letters. When he thought it right, he sent his apostolic team members. This is how sodal leaders help modal leaders and churches.
I should add here that these sodal and modal leaderships are not very exclusive groups of leadership but are involved in the ultimate mission of the church. Jeff Reed says, “what is important to keep in mind is that these groups were not mutually exclusive. There are two complementary spheres of ministry and leadership under the same “Way of Christ and His Apostles.”1
How Can You Help Build Sodal Leadership?
Having known these principles of sodal leadership, here is what you can do practically to bless your ministries.
- Identify leaders with the call for sodal leadership.
- Educate them in understanding their roles and responsibilities as sodal leaders.
- Equip them and send them on mission for the progress of the gospel.
- Support them financially and in other helpful ways.
1 Reed, Jeff, Paradigm Papers, Church-Based Leadership – creating a new paradigm , pg. 310
