The Authenticity of Leading Change - 4/28/05

Our assignment is to think about the authenticity of leading change. The calling of the Church is to be a community in which followers of Jesus can grow deeper and live joyously and freely, and to make a difference in the world for the sake of the Gospel. To be true to our calling we confront change continually.

Leading in a time of change requires a potent mix of

·        personal integrity,

·        disciplined spiritual energy, and

·        thoughtful planning.

Unless we who lead are trustworthy and true we will not long have a following. Unless we continually do our spiritual homework in prayers, study, fasting, almsgiving and the like, we will not be deep enough to inspire confidence in those we would lead. Unless we have the patience and exert the energy to use our minds in thinking through the directions to which we would direct the group and why that course is a right one for those people in these times, our leadership will be marked by meandering and loss of focus.

All too many pastors diminish their, however well-intentioned work, by neglect of one, two, or all three of the requirements for strong leadership. There are other qualities as well, including listening to the voices of people in the group, humility, and the like.

A word about change may be helpful as well. I have been inspired by the word of the 7^th Consultation of United andUniting Churches, Driebergen, Holland (2002) which identified a fourfold set of principles that apply to change. (They applied those principles to a model of unity.) The change must be:

·        tangible enough to make a difference in the world;

·        intense enough that those in it recognize their responsibility for one another in it;

·        costly enough that whole congregations - not just individuals - are affected;

·        intentional enough that the body of Christ is renewed through the sharing of gifts.

David Digby, First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Ames, Iowa