A year ago, I was sitting in the foyer of a hotel in London having tea with Pete Grieg, founder of the global 24-7 Prayer Movement. He joyfully said in passing, ‘We’ve just been given an abbey!’ Ignorantly, I said to him, ‘What’s an abbey?’ (How would I know, on the continent of Africa you don’t ever hear of an abbey?)

This conversation got me thinking about the importance of visionary leadership and the establishment of institutions – the subject of this article.

You may be wondering what institutions have to do with leadership, so to get us started, let’s go back to the subject of abbeys. In my home country of South Africa, I found a St Benedictine Abbey in one of our northern provinces – it was established in 1911. Old, some may say. Waverley Abbey (the 24-7 gift) was founded in 1128 and facilitated centuries of Christian prayer, learning and mission. And therein lies the importance of this discussion: leaders who develop firm foundations leave great legacies of faith that inspire generations.

In Africa, we have so few institutions that our very young Christianity sometimes totters on its thin base. We have (anecdotally) one million untrained pastors in Africa. The church across the continent is missional and growing, but the cost may be the duplication of shallow theology. This is evidenced by how quickly a toxic prosperity gospel can take root inside our churches. Or how African traditional religion can enter and reshape the thinking of so many pastors and congregations.

We have Christians in the marketplace who do not know, nor have ever been taught, theology that is applicable outside of the church. As a result, we are missing the impact of wise biblical stewardship of wealth that leads to generosity and effective contribution to societies that flourish. In so doing, we become ignorant proponents of the very sacred-secular divide that we tend to decry as a scourge to our culture – yet we lean into it without understanding that God has called us to a kingdom that permeates all of life and creation.

We need to start investing into Christ-centred leadership. This is one of the three core focuses of all our work at Mergon. Of course, there are many amazing churches and leaders, and several ministries that are actively working to bring health into the body of Christ. We know and work with several of them. But we need leaders and we need healthy institutions – we are in very short supply.

A rough estimate would put the number of accredited theology training seminaries in Africa around 200. In the United States alone, there are between 500-600. This translates into approximately only four to five formal theology institutions in each country across the African continent (considering some countries are closed to the gospel).

Across the Western world, society has enjoyed the fruit of institutions that have been deeply embedded into the fabric of culture over centuries. Systems like democracy, healthcare, education, the arts, and even social welfare still thrive in large part because of these institutions built on biblical foundations and the evergreen, life-giving truths of scripture. Historian Tom Holland, in his book Dominion, points out how much of what we consider moral and just in Western society – from human rights to the dignity of the poor – has roots in Christian thought and institutions. Whether it’s hospitals originally founded by monks, universities launched by clergy, or charitable systems developed through the church’s influence, these institutions have shaped the very moral architecture of modern life.

Here are some examples that come to mind:

Billy Graham established five institutions, including Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Christianity Today, The Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, and of course the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

William Wilberforce didn’t just fight for the abolition of the slave trade; he also helped launch Bible societies and justice-focused organisations that trained others in truth and advocacy.

Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity built hospices and homes for the dying that dignified the forgotten and gave witness to Christ’s compassion in a practical form.

John Wesley, beyond the global Methodist movement, was instrumental in launching schools, clinics, and even micro-credit societies – seedling systems of education, healthcare, and economics that impacted countless lives.

Here is the point: if we do not invest into developing and raising up Christ-centred leaders of character, grounded in good theology and with a wider vision for the kingdom of God, African Christianity will struggle with weak roots. But when we do, this continent will know both its sacrificial and missional forms of Christianity, and will have added to it a powerful, foundational health that comes from leaders who dig deep, think hard, and lay foundations that other generations can continue to build upon.

We need a hundred more agile and fit-for-purpose theology training institutions. We need thousands more redemptive businesses. We need institutions that can train governmental leaders to lead according to a biblical worldview. We need ministries and institutions that can help to reestablish the family structures, the very fabric of our societies that have eroded. We have much work to do. At the centre of all of this, we need Christ-centred leaders, with bold humility, to step up and lead.

Let this be the last generation that asks, ‘what is an abbey?’

Discover how Christ-centred leadership can unlock Africa’s God-given potential. Access the Awakening Africa report here.