Spiritual Leaders

Back from a week-long course on transitional ministry. One of the things I picked up that was most helpful is some ways of turning church boards or councils into communities of spiritual leaders. (That's the title of a book by CHarles M. Olsen, from the Alban Institute.) Churches share some characteristics in common with businesses, but they're fundamentally different and require different leadership models. I know our monthly Council meeting is often a big YAWN -- most of the time spent on rehashing stuff that has already happened, or, if you took two steps back and looked at it, isn't really all that important. Olsen describes a church that patterns their meeting agendas after their Sunday worship -- with time for thanksgiving and confession, story telling and biblical reflection. The "offering" comes when the committees place their reports on the table as an act of offering, and the follow-up is in the form of prayerful reflection. This doesn't have anything to do directly with affiliates, but if congregations were more intentional about leadership formation, I know it would have an impact on the way we appear to those on the outside, or on the margins.