What Does It Mean To Provide Effective Leadership in the Church Today?
by Dan Holloway
What does it mean to provide effective leadership in the church today? What is required of those chosen to guide and lead the disciples gathered under their care? Such a question has always been important for the successful functioning of communities of faith but it is not answered nearly as easily as it once was. Indeed, many of the conflicts I have seen in congregational life in recent months and years have revolved around this very basic question. There seems to be a growing discrepancy among congregants about what effective church leaders ought to do and how they should function in order to provide effective leadership. And many clergy persons find themselves caught in the crossfire of debates around this topic.
At the heart of such conversations is the reality of change in the lives of faith communities. We now find ourselves knee-deep in a season of transition everywhere. Congregations everywhere are dealing with questions of identity, purpose, and resourcing. It is clear that old ways of functioning are not nearly as effective as they once were and yet there is often great resistance to considering what might be required for greater purpose and success. One writer has described it as swinging from one trapeze to the next, suggesting that we currently find ourselves in mid-air, having let go of one way of being the church but not yet able to grab the new way that will eventually come. It has likewise been described as a liminal season, where change is obvious but clarity about next steps is sometimes hard to find.
So what are leaders to do in such a time? First, allow yourselves an extra dose of grace. Be sure that you are not alone in trying to navigate these turbulent waters. Remind yourself over and over again that you really are in uncharted territory and sometimes you do have to make it up as you go.
And second, go back to some of the basic questions of leadership that are listed below. It is to be hoped that such questions can be explored in relationship with others both within and beyond the church who can give helpful feedback. Yet ultimately it falls to the leader to answer such questions for himself or herself.
Who am I? Start with the question of your own identity. What is it that I am uniquely qualified to do? What are the gifts that God has given me? What is essential to my daily functioning for me to experience a satisfactory level of joy and sense of fulfillment?
Where do I see God at work in the life of our community? Where is there evidence of the presence of God’s Spirit and how can we connect with what the Spirit seems to be doing?
What does this congregation that I now lead most need to be doing in these days of transition in response to the Spirit? Is it to grieve? Is it to learn? Is it to provide a community of support for those in rapid transition in other areas of their lives? Is it to enter into partnership with others within the community? What are the first tasks we need to be about?
How then shall I lead? When I know who I am, when I am paying attention to the work of the Spirit, and when I am helping my congregation recognize important first steps in a season of transition, I will also have taken essential first steps towards effective leadership. And these days that is the best that any of us can do.