I have just recently returned from the gift of planning for a national training programme with the United Church of Canada (UCC) for Designated Lay Ministry. There is much that has drawn me to this opportunity to be involved in the formation of future ministers within our midst and I would say that one of the primary motivations has to do with the idea of leadership – sometimes understood within a Christian context as discipleship.

Question mark

Though this is not a new area upon which for me to reflect, I also had the pleasure of watching a TedTalk recently by Simon Sinek, How great leaders inspire action (see below). The connexion for me – which I recently hinted on facebook that the video would be central to a blog – has to do with our current denominational angst about who we are, where we are going and the paralysis that seems – at times – to take hold and we forget about how we might lead, how we might embolden, how we might inspire.

Regardless of organisation – corporate, entrepreneurial, NGO, government or faith-based – Sinek’s TEDTalk has me stirred in thought about the difference between leadership and one who leads: the difference between management and creativity; and the difference between maintaining what is and inspiring what might be. I will not try to offer an overview – watching the video does a much better job of sharing his articulate exploration – but what is most present is what he calls ‘The Why.’

At the centre of one who leads is confidence in one’s motivation, the intent for action, The Why they do something. Everything else The How or The Why that happens, whether that’s the production line of a product of the processes that help disseminate a message or brand, without The Why mediocrity ensues. After mediocrity, I think apathy arises with inertia holding people back from truly life-giving opportunities because The Why is missing.

Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles

At times it feels like that churches – large and small – our larger denominational body and the ancillary NGOs and justice groups within the UCC have begun to forget our Why. In Christian language we call that Why the Good News – a sense that there is in fact freedom from the oppressive nature of human society, whether that be such structures that range from misogyny to homophobia or from racism to ageism to mention only a few of the ways we devalue one another. The belief that – with compassion and humility – the world can begin to change to reflect a future (we call that the Kingdom) that begins in the Now. This future world possesses the potential to recognise that all people are meant to shine and that we each possess a light that can inspire another if only it is nurtured and cared for.

I have experienced this more fully as we get mired in the illusion that there is not enough, that if we tweak this process all will be well, that if only this group or that group came more regularly all would be as it had once been or any of the myriad ways in which we do not acknowledge that life is abundant-filled and that it is to the Creator that all belongs. If we hold onto control, we become leaders or managers intent on maintaining that status quo, as opposed to leading with a passion and dream that is only limited by the degree to which we think all things are possible.

I have just recently returned from the gift of planning for a national programme with the United Church of Canada (UCC) for Designated Lay Ministry. The gift of this group of men and women – Brothers and Sisters – is that many are in their second or third careers and yet not only have they lived a life of ongoing learning, they have responded to a whisper, a Call to lead. To walk into people’s lives and share the Good News: news that challenges and is radical, a message that breaks down assumptions and stereotypes, a faith that encourages love in the face of human hate. They may not know why they are finally making this decision, but they have indeed grounded themselves in The Why to lead …

A Deacon’s Musing blog

A Map of the Apostles’ Travels

I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging over the last few weeks. Some time off, enjoying family, wrestling with family, noting the gift of family, navigating the relationships of family … in other words reconnecting with people whom I do not often get to see is indeed a blessing!

As I return to the beckoning cursor, I have been struck by our recent denominational decisions to once more lay people off, to wrestle with the ongoing narrative of deficit. In this place, I am endeavouring to find the balance of critique and reflection, while avoiding judgement. Let me know how I do …

I must – at the outset – name I am not, nor have I been at the table where all of the information is available. I also realise that these are likely not easy decisions lightly considered. We are – in all of our human frailties – a faith community that endeavours to be compassionate. Okay, those are some of my disclaimers …

What I do know is that denominationally we sometimes make decisions that I do not completely understand. When there was a recent opportunity to strike a new path, follow a new trajectory that might mean relocating national offices that possessed the potential of both abundance and – what seemed to me – fiscally sound stewardship, we decided to stay located in a place that is … well … rather expensive!

From this recent decision, others have occurred that lead me down corridors and hallways upon which each door has a question hanging and which seems to still invite discussion …

We are benefitting from a long history of being Christians who are complicit and intimately connected with Empire and now it seems we’re holding on to that illusion. By clenching with white knuckles, we seem unable to awaken to the newness about us. This newness – if you will – is also generously provided for by proceeds which we can now choose to squander with abandon and joy!

I could write tomes about what this Empire thing means (Christendom is one of the old school words), but that’s already been done. Let’s just say that the United Church of Canada – as a reflection of a larger possible discussion around Empire – is the only church in Canada established by an act of Parliament on April 5, 1924. This decree stretches back through almost two millennia in which the Christian message, the Good News as we call it, has had to accommodate that which – at one time – its first leader, Jesus, critiqued! And now, as we lose the influence that came with being the Empire’s religion, we have to confront some difficult realities. And – for me – these are some of my questions:

As is my wont, I do not have the answer, but I certainly have some inkling. Whatever we mean by the Good News, it’s always been about transforming lives. And staying where you are, entrenching in the Now, is about inertia and a state of static disrepair. Across this vast country there is wealth – the proceeds – tied up in capital assets, buildings and land, trust funds, mutual funds that make some countries GDPs look like a Piggy Bank filled with pennies, which though still  legal tender are no longer in circulation here in Canada! Imagine, if we cut those strings, withdrew the seed from the stores and started planting with abandon … I know I don’t have the answers, but I sure am fascinated with wonder …

A Deacon’s Musing blog