Congregational Transformation

Takes Leadership

10/21/02

There is a reason why The Jesus Connection holds a seminar for ministers. We are the key to change in churches. This doesn't means we are more important than laity. It's simply a matter of being in the primary position to influence the direction a church takes. It made sense to us when we began this ministry to target the key group first. If ministers are not committed to change, change will not happen. If they are, change may not happen, but not for wont of trying.

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that there are several key ingredients to clergy leadership that takes transformation seriously. The first is knowing who (okay, whom) we work for. No minister works for a church. We work for God. Our first loyalty is doing what we discern to be God's will, and nothing can be more important to us than that if we are going to have the courage to confront what we have to confront whenever we suggest change. We may not know God's will clearly, so that means we seek to the counsel of others and then make the best decision we can about what to do. But doing anything will create friction and perhaps outright conflict. Being able to look in the mirror and know that we are doing God's will for the congregation as best we can understand it is the resource for the inward security transformational leadership requires.

When David Digby decided to present the challenge that has become The Jesus Connection process to his congregation after fifteen years of being there, he said he thought it just might end his ministry. But the risk seemed worth it because he was clear about the One for whom he labored, and it wasn't his church. Yet his church stood more to gain than anyone else.

Perhaps that is the second quality of leadership ministers need. The conviction that the direction of our leadership will in fact benefit the people we are leading. Working for transformation is not an academic exercise. Lives are stake. Gifts and calls to ministry are at stake. Being a counter-cultural force for justice, mercy and walking humbly before God is at stake. To believe that what we are doing bears the potential for new life to individuals and to a whole congregation is an awesome conviction. But that kind of trust in one's own leadership is precisely what ministers who work for God can have. It's not about trusting ourselves. It is about trusting God who is using us to lead people to participate in the new thing God is always doing.

A third quality is flexibility. People need to know there is no blue print for congregational transformation. There is no package to buy or program to follow. TJC process is a way of opening the door to the Holy Spirit and then being amazed at what then happens. The problem with current structures is that they try to cover all the bases and be prepared for every contingency. The TJC is a process that raises questions as much as answers them. It's not about having a plan. It's about having faith. It's about getting free to take flight. As ministers we can model this by resisting the temptation of trying to answer all the questions lay people will have. Instead, we can assure them that together we will cope with whatever unknowns come up, and that such adjustments are endemic to participation in moving to a new land. The only time all questions have answers is when nothing is happening worth worrying about.

There is so much more to say about this all important topic of clergy leadership in TJC process. Loren Olson got us started. I have tried to expand on his piece about coaching. Next week David Digby will offer his own reflections based upon the experiences with the exciting process of congregational transformation.

                                    - Jan G. Linn