The Lighthouse Foundation: Discovering the Underlying Reasons that Prevented Its Launch, While Understanding Leadership When Faced With Failure

Abstract

The focus of this research portfolio was to discover the reasons that prevented the Lighthouse Foundation from launching. The Lighthouse Foundation is a non-profit ministry initiated by, but separate from the church, The HUB/New Beginnings Ministries in Toronto, Ontario where the researcher is the Associate Pastor. The purpose of the Lighthouse Foundation was specifically designed as an evangelistic opportunity for The HUB to have a presence in the community, and to create relationships with the residents by providing a variety of community based programs. The research portfolio includes chapters on the researcher’s leadership development, philosophy of Christian leadership, and action research project that determined why the Lighthouse Foundation failed to launch. The methodology used was evaluative research with selected church members as insider participants. Data collection was in the form of one key informant interview, along with two focus groups consisting of nine participants, which were facilitated by a Tyndale University colleague with predetermined questions. Outcomes of the research landed primarily on three areas: busy lifestyles, the lack of clarity of communication, and the need for training leaders. These findings also helped the researcher to understand that the vision was too unrealistic to achieve without the necessary skill-sets and volunteers needed for a successful project.