Spiritual Temptation: “Leadership”

Last year, my friend Roland Grenouillou introduced me to William C. Martin’s book The Art of Pastoring: Contemplative Reflections. I’ve been reading and re-reading it as part of my devotions, as I’ve found it to be very helpful in centering me on what is truly important as a pastor. I came across this meditation the other day and just wanted to post it here. It gives a vision of leadership that is very different from most other leadership books that I’ve read. And as I try to “lead” my congregation, this vision is one that I try keep in mind.

The pastor refuses to impose her mind.
Instead she honors the minds of her people.
She treats all within the parish
as lovable and trustworthy,
even when they are not.
This makes her difficult to understand.
People wait for her to lead.
Instead she waits for them to know
the voice within their own soul
which will lead them perfectly.

Martin then gives some observations:

Ground Rules for Civil Discussion

At our first “Simple Church” leadership group discussion meeting, I distributed this list of “ground rules” to set some emotional boundaries and procedural parameters for our discussion.  This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but I offer it in the hopes that it might help other groups faced with the task of a potentially contentious discussion.  If you have other “rules” to add, please feel free to share them!

Show RESPECT. Each person will have an opportunity to speak. Please do not interrupt until that person is finished.

Be HONEST. Honestly verbalize your personal views and feelings, no matter how “unorthodox” you think it may be.

STAY ON THE TOPIC. There will be times when it will be tempting to go off on a tangent! If an “off topic” is very important to you, write it down for discussion at a later time.

Be IN TOUCH with yourself. If the ideas being discussed are making you really uncomfortable and anxious, ask yourself: “Why am I having the feelings and reactions that I’m having now?” “What could be the cause of these feelings?”

Use “I” statements. Say: “I think . . .” “I feel . . .” “I wonder . . .” “I am uncomfortable . . .” “If I hear you correctly . . .”

Seek first to UNDERSTAND others before trying to be UNDERSTOOD. Ask questions that help people define and clarify what they are trying to say.

Focus on the merit of the IDEAS presented and not on the PERSON presenting the ideas.

“Simple Church” Part 2 - Simply Irresistible?

One of the reasons I am using the book Simple Church as a spring board for our church leadership to begin discerning our vision and mission is that I really resonated with many of the ideas that Rainer and Geiger presented. Many times, church can seem to be too “cluttered” with competing ministries, committee meetings and endless activities that drain the life and enthusiasm out of the “active members” to the point that they drop out. Church programs can take on a life of its own to the point that people are made to serve the program rather than the other way around. This point was driven home to me by a church member who said that, for him, “church was a place of work; it was no longer fun.” I took that to mean that church was no longer a place where he experienced or witnessed life change in a way that drew him closer to Christ.

As I had more conversations with various people in the church explaining the premise of Simple Church, I found that most could readily relate to the idea that church for us had become too complicated, too cluttered, and too unfocused without a clear vision. I was not surprised by this. The glowing reviews of the book at amazon.com show the extent to which this book is resonating with many church leaders and pastors. When I approached twelve church leaders about reading Simple Church and discussing and perhaps implementing its ideas, most of them eagerly agreed to be a part of the group. In the midst of our complicated lives, I was banking that the notion of a “simple church” would be simply irresistible.

I was wrong.