It sounds ridiculous, but I have to confess that though I’ve spent the past twelve years studying, practicing, and becoming a pastor, I’ve consistently had an allergic reaction to books, conferences, and materials that fall into the category of “church leadership.” Three things have tended to bring on these allergies:
- I share my generation’s commitment to (and frequent idolization of) authenticity, and have perceived church leadership materials as formulaic and inauthentic. The way many church leadership materials have been marketed as “quick fixes” has always made me want to run in the opposite direction.
- When I was a full-time student, I found an emphasis on practical ministry applications to be frustrating, as I had limited, part-time leadership roles in which to inadequately (I felt) implement what I learned. I preferred my imaginary ecclesial ideals.
- Quite simply, I’ve been arrogant. There have been moments where I’ve dismissed the suggestions of experts and vowed to figure it out myself. Adam introduced Richard Rohr’s idea of “infantile grandiosity” in his last post, a term which accurately describes this toxic attitude.
Parenting three little kids, leading a church for three and a half years, turning thirty, and encountering all the messiness therein has increased my openness to the expertise of others.
All this is to say that over the past few months I’ve discovered with new appreciation the rich field of church leadership. For what feels like the first time, I’m excitedly engaging these materials. I’m discovering a world of theologically thoughtful, spiritually deep reflection that engages the complex and accelerating world in which we seek to serve and lead faith communities. In my last post, I found myself affected on a personal level by a church leadership text by Soong-Chan Rah, and in my next post, I will do some reflection on Samuel Chand’s Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code.
You might struggle with some of the same cynical impulses I do, and I think that’s okay, because maturity is being able to roll your eyes at something and keep on reading. Dismissiveness is the easy road that leads to despair, but engagement the hard road that leads to maturity.
This is a short list, but here are some of the church leadership books I’ve read recently:
- Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church by Soong-Chan Rah
- A Door Set Open: Grounding Change in Mission and Hope by Peter Steinke
- The Ministry of the Missional Church by Craig Van Gelder
- Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code: Seven Keys to Unleashing Vision & Inspiration, by Samuel Chand
Good word brother. I find myself having similar reactions, in part because I went to business school (concurrent with seminary) in hopes of diving deep into the leadership world… Long story short I was pretty disappointed with the way those two worlds intersected. What I found was that all the things I was reading on church leadership were largely imported from the business world to the church without appropriate (in my estimation) ecclesiological/theological grounding. In some cases the level at which purely business ideas were incorporated into models for Church leadership was so wildly wholesale, so cavalier, that I found myself frightened and dismayed for the Church.
Since then, I have been able to find some really good Church leadership resources as well as secular leadership resources that are able to thoughtfully be employed in the Church without turning God’s bride into a market place. For me I think the key has been the quality of the resources themselves… I will continue to loath certain resources, like books on church “marketing.” But some resources, even secular ones have become invaluable to me. i.e. several volumes by Ronald Heifetz but especially “Leadership Without Easy Answers.”
Anyway, thanks for the Church leadership discussion… love it!
Thanks for the thoughtful response, brother. I understand, and I know you’re not the only one who felt that tension within the dual degree program.
My next post will convey the frustration you’re talking about, where I question the spiritual and ecclesial implications of a particular idea. Stay tuned:)
I realized that I got so caught up in trying to resonate with your “allergic reaction” that I missed conveying what I hoped primarily to say… i.e. to applaud your willingness to learn, even from people/places/things you don’t necessarily agree with or that aren’t in your “wheel house.”
Cue applause…
Thanks, Noah. You know I always appreciate me some applause. Right back atcha.
Hey Andrew! Your reflections resonate with me. I was never into very practical stuff while pursuing degrees, but now that I’m on the ground in ministry I find that I am very hungry for stories and thought patterns that encourage me to lead effectively. Thank you for narrowing down some options – if there’s anything that’s frustrating about leadership literature, it’s the overwhelming quantity of material (where discerning where there’s quality is what’s most important!).
Thanks, Kelly! I haven’t talked about it here, but “A Door Set Open” is uncommonly good. A lot of the Church Vitality Directors in the ECC have been passing it along, and it’s quite compelling.
Awesome! [heading to amazon.com...putting in shopping cart...okay, I'm back] Here’s another question for you – how/when do you actually read these books?
I’m a scattered person by nature, so I just kinda squeeze reading in on an open afternoon, etc., but would be curious to hear what your discipline is (if you have one).
I’m very scatterbrained myself, but over the past few months, I’ve gotten into a good rhythm. Basically I try to read for at least a half hour, first thing when I get to the office each day.
On some days, when I return from lunch, I need to reset my brain and I’ll read for another 30 minutes or so. Ever since I’ve given myself permission to do this, I’ve found myself being much more productive than before (or at least FEELING more productive).
Anybody else listening in who wants to weigh in on this? I hardly count myself an expert on time management:)
I like that!
So nice to be able to introspectively unpack our allergic reactions. I could do to do more of that.
I hear ya, Lindsay! Important things are often revealed in the process, difficult though it may be.
[...] change, even chaos, during times of peace, but in this section, Chand delivers a line that sets my old church leadership allergies aflame. Quoting John Kotter, Chand says that “Central to a continuous change culture is a [...]