Leadership on the Line, Chapter 11: Sacred Heart

OK, it's the last chapter. Did you read it? Did you really read it? You don't want to miss this one. Why did I have you read this book? Read the last chapter and you'll know.

See you Sunday!!!!!

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 10: What's on the Line

Wow, two guys from Harvard actually wrote this. I don't believe it. I've always had the impression that Harvard would hide from anything resembling faith. And yet they put it right out there. While neither claims to be Christian, and one even describes himself as a Jew, they clearly get it when Jesus says, "Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor too." They say that love is at the root for reasons to lead. Incredible, wasn't this chapter worth reading the whole thing?

They say two other things I don't want you to miss. One is that meaning cannot be measured. And I agree with this. Last week I issued the challenge that we have 150 new members go through the STEP program at our church. This isn't about upping the membership numbers, it's about putting 150 new people in the mission field for Christ.

The second is that everyones contribution is important. The form of that contribution is not. That sounds a lot like the Body of Christ metaphor would fit here well.

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 9: Anchor Yourself

Step 4 in AA's 12 step program requires a person to "make a fearless moral and spiritual inventory." You might also call it a reality check. Chapter 9 suggests that we need to consider how to distinguish between who we think we are, and what is truly important.

What I find most important as it relates to church leadership is for us to be truly centered in who we are. That is, to distinguish between the roles we play, and who we are at the core of our being. If you ask me to tell you a bit about myself I might say "I'm a husband (role) and father of three (role.) I'm a pastor (role) and serve on several boards and committees both in and out of the church. (roles.)" But what if I were to answer, "I am a child of God (being) and a follower of Jesus Christ (A role, but it evolves out of being). I am also a part of the Body of Christ (being) and play an integral part in seeking to bring the world to Christ. (role that evolves out of being.)"

Anchoring ourselves in our being helps us to define the truly important roles in our life.

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 8: Manage Your Hungers

With only about 5 days and 4 chapters left, I like you, am cramming to blog these last chapters before our meeting on Sunday night. So if you're reading the book as a part of our Leadership Development practicum, it may be time to play catch up. Like I'm doing now.

Chapter 8 begins 4 chapters on the personal side of Leadership and the personal dangers we face. The sentence that best sums up this chapter is found on page 166. When you lead, you participate in collective emotions, which then generate a host of temptations: invitations to accrue power over others, appeals to your own sense of importance, opportunities for emotional intimacy and sexual satifaction. The authors go on to say... But connecting to those emotions is different from giving into them. Yielding to them destroys your capacity to lead. Power can become an end to itself, displacing you attention to organizational purposes.

It has been my observation that there are three types of people in leadership in churches. The first is the natural born leader who gravitates toward leadership in all circumstances. Whether out of a need for power or a need to assure that things go right, they tend to grab the reigns and move things forward. There is nothing wrong with natural born leaders, I assume that many of you fit that category. However, many natural born leaders are also workplace leaders. Pastors and nominating committees in churches observe some amount of worship attendance, recognize a persons leadership in their own particular vocational field, and assume church leadership is a good idea for that person. The issue, clearly, is when that workplace leader leads a church like a business, or leads it away from it's missional purpose.

The second type of person in leadership is the person who doesn't find any amount of control or influence in their home or work life and seeks to exert some control over their church life. (By the way, this is a case study in any non-profit situation.) Their leadership often starts out as effective as they usually have enough passion to get things started. However, as their lack of leadership skills catches up with the demands of their position they tend to either grow disillusioned, or controlling. Either way, its a recipe for disaster unless someone steps in and helps them learn how to become an effective leader. (Assuming they are open to suggestions.)

The final type is the person with the humilty to recognize that the task of the church is not about self, but others. Not about glorifying accomplishments, but glorifying God. Not about seeking what works for self or family, but what works to make a change in lives for Christ.

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 7: Hold Steady

One of my favorite quotes from the Bible book of James is "Let your yes be yes, and your no be no." Its a word about integrity. In order to effect a plan for ministry and live into a vision you must be willing to hold steady to the plan you have set into motion. One of the toughest thing a pastor and church leaders face is the heat that often comes with change. People will come at you from all different directions.

The easier route is the way that many church leaders tend to take. The last thing you want is a church that's angry at you. Best to satisfy the loud minority than to make the tough choices that will be best for the Kingdom. Besides, what if someone threatens to leave the church. Aren't we supposed to be growing the worship numbers not running people off?

I don't see that as a proper way of moving forward. We must hold steady on the course we have set in motion. "But what if it causes people to quit?" This is a very serious question and not one to take lightly. Martin Luther left the church for what he believed in and history informs us that he was right! So we don't easily discount those who feel we are absolutely wrong. Instead we pray. Instead we re-evaluate our mission, and if we find that our mission is pushing for the Kingdom come, than we reluctantly say goodbye. But we do not say goodbye with any sense of victory, only with sorrow and hope that the others will find a place where they can be useful to God.

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 6: Give the Work Back

A common perspective of church members is that those who are employed by the ministry are the ones who do the ministry. Church employees created this misconception themselves. First the priests of the Roman Catholic church, followed by the pastors and preachers of the protestant reformation, clergy have led the charge to take on all responsibility for ministry. The more recent evolution (in the last 100 years) of full-time church employment only served to perpetuate the mistaken idea that only those paid by the Gospel should be working for the Gospel. Churches became, and still are today, entertainment and self-help venues. 500 years ago the founder of the protestant revolution surfaced the notion of the priesthood of all believers, but most people have chosen to serve God mostly in an advisory capacity.

In a recent sermon I offered a challenge. I first pointed out that if the entire staff (8 full-time paid, 3 part-time paid, 2 part-time volunteer, 5 paid nursery workers and about 12 pre-school and PDO teachers) at GUMC were to seek to make a difference in the lives of 4 neighbors we would impact 120 families in the next year. However if every home represented at GUMC were to make that a priority we would make a difference in the lives of over 1,500 homes this year. If we continued that trend and they did as well we would impact 7,600 homes next year and 38,000 in the following year. That's a significant impact on our community... now let's start talking about changing the world.

We can't allow our churches to go on relinquishing our God given ministries, the ministries of all believers, to those who do this for a living. Churches must be a training ground for missionaries who are sent into the world to change it.

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 5: Orchestrate the Conflict

Again we return to the admission that adaptive solutions to our problems causes changes that will bring conflict. I'm fond of repeating Jesus' words "Where two or three are gathered together, I am there," but altering them to say "Where two are three are gathered together there's gonna be a fight." That fight, or conflict can be orchestrated, according to the authors, to effect a positive outcome. In the world of Church business the only outcome that makes sense is one what makes a positive impact on effecting a difference in the lives of others; a difference that brings others to Christ.

The four ideas that the authors offer make a lot of sense. A holding environment is like floating trial baloons. It allows an idea to evolve within a group of people. I've used this bry bringing together "think tanks" in a church. When you involve people representing a wide range of groups within the church you can come to a proper understanding of where the Spirit of God is leading.

The second step, controlling the temperature, begins to sound manipulative. I don't like manipulation but I do have an appreciation of leading a congregation toward needed adaptations that allow it to live its mission. Controlling the temperature in the church involves celebrating each of the small changes. As people begin to see each small change has an effect on ushering in the Kingdom, they will begin to demand more change sooner. Eventually a congregations is turning up its own temperature.

The third step is to pace the work. This is the actual changes that you make and celebrate on the way. I've never been one to make hard and fast schedules for change. Schedules of a particular pace do not allow for course corrections that come when God sends us new people, with new talents, and new passions. But if we mean by "pace" taking it slow enough to honor every voice and bring all along with us to the Kingdom, then it has merit.

The final step is showing the future. This is the issue of vision casting and is the number one job of Church leadership. Vision is developed through a dilligence in prayer and Bible study coupled with an understanding of the needs of a community and the assets (financial, property, and people) that God has provided to accomplish a mission. Vision, properly cast, can cause a people to hear the Lord's calling on their lives to effect God's preferred future.

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 4: Think Politically

Most people I know decry politics in the church and participate heavily in them. How odd is that. I think this chapter helps us to remember that there is no such thing as a church or church system without politics. The word comes from a Greek root which simply means "Citizen." Therefore being political is acting within the rights and responsibilities of a citizen. In Church that would mean acting like a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Oh that this were as easy as I make it sound. The clear problem is that people differ in what the Kingdom of God looks like.

When people have clear differences it is important to try to steer the church toward the leader's vision of God's preferred future. That vision needs to be clearly presented. When people can see what it is it becomes easier for them to follow. However, vision casting is not the final answer. Rather it's the beginning of bringing people on board through that nasty little word known as politics.

I would suggest that most of us hear the word "politics" and assume that a negative form or manipulation is going on. Let me use a metaphor here. Yesterday I went to visit a chiropractor that goes to our church. We were talking about something unrelated to my healthcare but in the midst of our conversation I felt that he wanted me to have comfort in my life. I've been in a car accident many years ago and occassionally feel the pain in my neck. I trusted him to do the techniques he's trained in to manipulate muscle and bone to find comfort. The reality is that it hurt bad last night and I had to take some ibuprofen just to get comfortable, but today it feels real good.

In the example above I came to trust the vision of health that was cast. I allowed the manipulaton because of that trust. The change was uncomfortable at first, but the long term benefit came and I will trust him more in the future.

Can you see the obvious translation into politics. Healthy church politics first builds trust. Once trust is established, the people will allow an amount of manipulation. The change is always uncomfortable at first. However, if that change is God inspired, it will bring great benefits that will result in futher trust in the future.

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 3: Get on the Balcony

When I was in seminary our capstone course centered around a challenging book that every student dreaded reading. The author had created a rather complex practical theology that was deep, thick, and befuddled us all. One day in another class many of us mentioned to the professor that the book was so compicated. Dr. Way, beloved by all and a friend of the author of the book, said, "Oh it's not difficult, just start with Chapter 7. Then go back and read the rest."

Ohhhhhhhh, why hadn't we thought of that?!? So we all went home and read chapter 7. It was in the middle of the book and yet it was a synopsis of the author's thesis. It all came together and made reading the rest of the book a breeze.

All that was to say this, Chapter 3 of Leadership on the Line is about the same thing that chapter 7 of A Fundamental Practial Theology taught us. That is pastoral method. In Leadership the authors advise us to occassionally remove ourselves (mentally) from the situation at hand and get an objective overview of what's going on. It's what you have to do as a pastor offering care. You listen intently to what is being said, because the relationship that is built is as important as the information being transferred. However, you are also listening for the theology of the other, as well as their sociology, psychology, and any other "ology" you are conversant with. In this way a pastor can really get an understanding of what is going on.

As a leader you must not only understand the problem, be it technical or adaptive, you must also evaluate the motivations and understandings that are behind those who are causing, presenting, and seeking to solve the problem. Our authors call that "Getting on the Balcony."

The balcony at church is an important place to be as most people come with ideas, problems and solutions that are more influenced by their workplace, upbringing, or political stance then they are by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In churches the Gospel seldom reigns as people can rarely find ways to move beyond the assumptions (the authors call it the song beneath the words) that they bring to the table in order to find a way to let God operate. I'm guilty of that often. I come to church with a strong business background and sometimes find it difficult to go beyond that to see that Christ's business and the business of a "for profit" capitalist industry are two very different things. Only when I remove myself, and my assumptions, can I view what is really going on in any given situation and seek to allow Christ to enter in.

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 2: The Faces of Danger

This chapter outlines several specific methods that are used to draw attention away from the changes that need to happen. Remember from the previous chapter that all change involves grief, loss of what has been. Those who are grieving often take measures to try to establish some control over their lives. I think, when it comes to church, people don't generally try to sabotage change. Instead, I think, they are trying to create some calm out of the chaos of their lives. Evil steps in when people try to control their environment rather than allow Christ to be the ruler of their hearts.
The book outlines 4 major categories of danger and one sub-category. The four are marginalization (with personalization as a sub-category), diversion, attack, and seduction. While each of these has their own insidious ways to limit the disequilibrium that they changes have caused in the system.
Good Shepherd has been about change for so many years now that it seems to always be in a state of disequilibrium. This is good because we can always assume that changes are possible and expected. However, we should never discount the possibility that, when changes are needed, we are now a 17 year old church and things are beginning to "settle down."

Leadership on the Line, Chapter 1: The Challenge

Chapter 1 begins by continuing the conversation about the threat that Leadership represents. People do not resist Change per se, people resist loss. (P.11) Leading and organization into the future means that the past must be left behind. That "leaving behind" represent loss and people don't generally react well to loss. When people experience loss in their lives they go through a process we know as "grief".
Grief is both predictable and as varied as the people who experience it. However, there are certain stages of grief that have been identified and are revealing to the leader who effects change. Being aware of the stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance helps a person to lead a group through the difficult changes and into a healthy transition.
During these stages of grief people will use certain methods (the author calls them dangers) to try to take the leader's ability to lead away. Again, awareness of these methods is vital. Two of the dangers are obvious and will be experienced overtly. These are marginalization and attack. The other two are more subtle. Diversion disquises the problem by prentending there is another, more imporatant issue at hand. Seduction is worse, it plays on personal ego to distract. Too often it is welcomed by the leader and it isn't until it is too late that the danger is realized and the leader is discredited.
Another important concept introduced in this first chapter is the division of problems into two groups. Those are "technical" and "adaptive" problems. The author describes them in this way, "Every day, people have problems for which they do, in fact, have the necessary know-how and procedures. We call these technical problems. But there is a whole host of problems that are not amenable to authoritative expertise or standard operating procedures. They cannot be solved by someone who provides answers from on high. We call these adaptive challenges because they require experiments, new discoveries, and adjustments from numerous places in the organization or community. "(p.13)