Good, Bad, and Hopeful Thoughts on Church Leadership

Have you had a chance to check out my book or course yet?! I hope so… Here’s the back cover ‘blurb’ for my leadership book, Leading Freely: Good, Bad, and Hopeful Thoughts on Church Leadership, that is available now:

What does it mean to lead from a place of freedom? We have been inundated with plenty of examples of bad leadership both in the world and in the church. But that has always been the case! This is a selection of writings, both philosophical and practical, combining blog posts and teaching resources from almost 30 years of church leadership experience. It is one part journey, one part instruction, and one part challenge to how we all need to learn to lead from a place of freedom.

OK, I’m feeling especially generous today, so here’s a short excerpt from the book! You can click on the book cover right now if you want to purchase and download (Thank you!)

Why (or What???) Leadership?

Every person is a different bird.

If I have learned nothing else in my time ministering to people through the local church, it is that people are unique. I am a system thinker and enjoy defining the constructs of each person within their given setting, but I have yet to have stumbled upon two that are the same. Oh, there are similarities, and common triggers, and of course narratives which bind, but as hard as I might try to cookie-cutter my way through a counselling session on this basis, the higher my failure rate goes. People have different expectations coming out of the same background and storyline. People have completely different interpretations of an almost exact upbringing, much to the shock of the other. The combined narrative in a local church setting is unique. Even though the churches look similar, they somehow arrive at a unique place. Every person brings uniqueness, creating a unique setting unlike any other place on earth.

Church is just a different bird.

If I have learned nothing else in my time working as a leader within the church, that above statement has been proven true time and time again. There is much to be said about organizations and organizational theory, but so much of it can be thrown out the window when applied to the local church. There are many axioms and typologies to be applied to the generic local church, but at the end of the day every congregation has a different story. The story of each church carries a different set of stories for its leaders and leadership histories. Even the most generic system of church cannot fully apply to the average church. The average church still molds and shapes its own story and set of cultural dynamics that are unique to it within its individual setting. Even if there are many similar features to those around them, they are each a different bird.

Leadership types are just a different bird.

As much as I have railed against the idea of those called separate from the group for the sake of leadership and direction, I have been proven wrong. There are many examples of bad, controlling, dominant, or aloof leaders in the world. But they are not the reason for the absence of leadership or that there is no such thing as leadership desired by the masses. It is there, it is real, and it is sought. People are unique, and the leadership they desire is unique amongst the group.

The systems of leadership have been the problem. Those who have trusted some of the destructive or controlling leadership ideologies have been burned, and chosen to either go the opposite, or to not partake in leadership. By these I mean people who have been the biggest ‘shareholders’ in their said system when the system did not work. Maybe they were leaders themselves, maybe they just got caught up in a movement. Either way, the desire for a leaderless-system-of-leaders often comes out of those mistakes. Leadership is still desired, just not the way it was experienced before.

Church leadership is just a different bird.