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“Greatness” writes Jim Collins, “is not a
function of circumstance. Greatness it turns out is largely a matter of
conscious choice and discipline.”
When I first came to this Diocese, I made it clear that developing spiritual
leadership was a priority of mine. By the gracious giving of donors we have
and will continue to develop spiritual leadership, lay and ordained, who
will lead the Christian communities of the Diocese now and into the future.
Why leadership?
A cursory reading of the Bible reveals that God uses leaders. Often these
people are neither willing, nor are they the apparently obvious choice for
the job, but God calls them and empowers them and a work gets done. All the
way through the Bible this pattern seems oft repeated. Leadership seems more
to do with empowerment rather than control, which is a pretty hefty
challenge to much of our Anglican culture!
One thing is very clear. Our ability to deliver the Diocesan Strategy will
require the input of leadership. Consequently we are looking again at
leadership development This will mean further investment and the task of
raising money outside the Diocese and this is well underway.
This obviously has repercussions within the Diocese. We want to see emerging
clergy and lay leaders do what leaders do. A menu of different resources
will be made available to further this. The fact that over 150 lay and
ordained leaders attended the recent Willow Creek GLS is hugely encouraging,
almost all of whom would speak very positively of their experience.
But we also have bigger aspirations to enable the Church in developing
countries to get access to high quality leadership training. As far as we
are able we would like to gift such training to places where earnings would
not permit people to pay for themselves. Of course the context is important.
We need leaders who will lead us into growth, more often they need help with
managing growth!
At another level we would like to influence leadership teaching on a broader
stage. For instance. opportunities to train and support the Head teachers of
our Church schools and charities
The more I have learnt and taught about leadership, the more I can see that
it’s about building character, based upon the firm foundation of a fertile
relationship with God. It’s not about learning a few management techniques
from a book. It’s about authenticity, humility, prayerfulness, wholeness,
serving and self-discipline. In that sense it is about what we are becoming
in Christ.
The Bishop’s Council have ratified this commitment to leadership development
as have the Area Deans meeting. I can only say that this development
inspires me hugely and I look forward to seeing it emerge.
I think all of us want to live a life of value and significance. If Jim
Collins is right (and I believe he is), we need to choose to make a
difference and then develop discipline both in ourselves and in the wider
Diocese.
As Katherine Rohr suggested at the recent Willow Creek Conference when asked
what she would advise leaders first and foremost to do.
Her response was immediate. “I would advise them to pray this prayer and see
what happens.Bring it on God.”
Amen to that!
+Mike
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For further details
about, baptisms, Weddings etc. please do not hesitate to contact the Revd
Simon Drew, The Vicarage, Church Lane, Marshfield (Tel: 01225 891850).
Please note that the Vicar’s day off is Friday. |
MARSHFIELD
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