A more expansive view: a blog about encounters with Presbyterians and seminaries

What is Courageous Leadership?

Leadership projects, initiatives, programs and the like are emerging everywhere across the PC(USA).  Presbyteries, colleges, and seminaries often seem to be serving as partners with congregations in the formation of church leaders.  National partners including each of the six agencies of the General Assembly and the Committee on Theological Education, that I staff, are also invested in what I believe is becoming a ecclesial social movement to change the church leadership ethos.

Next Monday I will be on the campus of Maryville College, a Presbyterian-related college in gorgeous an East Tennessee mountain valley, to talk about leadership.  They have a new certificate program in "Ministry and Church Leadership."  

So, WHAT IS LEADERSHIP ANYWAY? I could certainly use your help to prepare for my talk, but so could all of us thinking about new and renewed ways to empower church leaders! I would like to know what do characteristics of leadership you find essential in church leadership?  

Here are a few of my ideas:

I believe leadership is more than learned skills or genetic qualities; it is a series of spiritual disciplines if not a SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE itself.  Presbyterian minister and writer, Marjorie Thompson describes spiritual disciplines as a means of grace rather than ends themselves.  They are "like garden tools.  The best spade and hoe in the world cannot guarantee a good crop.  They only make it more likely that growth will be unobstructed." (Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life)  Discipline is just that, a willingness to stay the course despite the odds.  It is an ability to follow through on the mission goals.

Therefore, the primary dimension to this discipline is COURAGE.  I am grateful to L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Ron Heifetz with Martin Linsky for their book Leadership on the Line  on this point.  Leaders have to believe in the mission enough to be willing to put everything, really everything, on the line to foster that mission forward especially when the heat is high.

Leadership also requires, CREDIBILITY: A trustworthiness grounded in lived relationships and expressed in mutually beneficial partnerships, authentic living, and believable actions and words.  They are students of the culture and context and are, therefore, lead compentently and humbly in our multicultural world.

CLARITY ABOUT PURPOSE based on deep listening and analyzed observations of complexity seems essential as well. To keep a spiritual discipline and fulfill a mission, a leader needs to be clear about both.  Inherent in this dimension of leadership is the ability to "get in the balcony", quickly respond to emerging needs by "getting back on the dance floor," and stay focused on a common vision at all times.

The best leaders I know are ENGAGING enough to capture the imagination of old and new followers. They inspire people to get involved and stay involved. They are open enough to engage others, draw lines of connection, invite and welcome others in including those who are rarely invited and hosted.  They string together important moments, mentor persons and communities, and build movements as a result.

Do you know any leaders like this?  What else would you add?

On journey/ pilgrimage, Lee

P.S.  I am back in Louisville after a fall sabbatical where I was based in Debrecen, Hungary studying leadership formation and working on my patterns of spiritual discipline. It is great to be back and hope you will come back to engage with me as I continue to reflect on that experience as well as my continuing encounters with Presbyterians and our seminaries.

 

Leaders Notice Connections

  Katharine Hendersonrecently visited Louisville and we sat down for a cup of coffee at the corner of Fourth Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard.  I pointed out to her that in 1958 Catholic monk and author, Thomas Merton, had an epiphany on what was then the corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets and Louisville's center of commerce.  On March 19th of 1958 Merton recorded the moment in his private journal:

"Yesterday, in Louisville, at the corner of 4th and Walnut, suddenly realized that I loved all the people and that none of them were, or, could be totally alien to me. As if waking from a dream — the dream of separateness, of the 'special' vocation to be different."

Muhammad Ali was 16 years then and often training for the 1960 Rome Olympics only a few blocks away at a gym and community center operated by Presbyterians. His name was Cassius Clay then, an AAU and Golden Gloves boxer. Maybe he was one of those people Merton saw moving about that day!

I wonder if it would have mattered or even have been heard if Merton had would have been able to communicate his connection and love to those people that day? I wonder who or what we notice and discount… even as a denomination? Could we put ourselves in a place where we have an epiphany?

In the month leading up to Merton’s trip to Asia and death in Thailand, his journals record that he "spoke the most on prayer." Bonnie Thurston, a Merton scholar and Wheeling, West Virginia "protestant monk", by her own definition, says Merton’s approach to prayer was quite simple: "Start where you are and become aware of connections."

This approach reminds me of Barbara Brown Taylor’s explanation of spiritual practices in her new book, An Alter in the World. The chapter titles name some of those practices: "Wearing Skin," "Walking the Earth," "Carrying Water," and my personal favorite "Getting Lost."

In her chapter on the spiritual practice of paying attention, Taylor writes, "I have a variation of this practice that I do on the subway, at least if I have a pair of sunglasses with me. From behind the veils of my dark lenses, I study the human beings around me…" She goes on to talk about how she will occasionally quietly pray the Lord’s Prayer while she pays attention to these strangers. The practice, she says, "shift(s) her equilibrium. For all (she) knows, one of them is practicing reverence on (her.)"

Reverence, paying attention, noticing others, shifting our equilibrium, praying, engaging spiritual practices: these are all worthy goals for church leaders.

The Committee on Theological Education (COTE) recently initiated a report that begins to help us as a denomination "start where we are and become aware of all the connections."

In April 2009 a COTE initiative established a Joint Committee on Leadership Needs with the General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC) and the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA). Each group was represented on the Joint Committee and the paper will take center stage during a Feb.24 joint GAMC/COGA plenary.　

This Raising Leaders report on PCUSA Leadership Needs is an invitation to a conversation and ideas about future and current leadership in the PCUSA. One good place to join the conversation with others across the PCUSA and beyond is by joining our PCUSA Leadership Needs group on facebook where we can make connections, become aware of where we are, pay attention to each other, shift our equilibrium, pray, and raise new leaders for the mission of God.

May it be.

Lee in Louisville and looking forward to the conversation.

An Early Christmas Present to SFTS: Laird J. Stuart, Interim President

I’ve decided that funerals make sense on Christmas Eve or really anytime in Advent. I just returned from a funeral for the mother of a church friend. She had lived a full 87 years of life and was married for over 60 of those years. The heavens cried with rain and the songs, prayers and rituals urged us forward.

Courage to move forward in the midst of pain is all the more difficult when surrounded by sugarplums, sparkling lights, and piles of packages.

In my almost five years of service with and or our church our Presbyterian seminaries, I have found our schools to truly be the "crowned jewels" of the PC(USA) that Michael Lindvall, Linda Valentine, and others call them. Their faculties, staffs, trustees, alumni, campuses, libraries, programs, and storied histories light up the PC(USA) as bright as the lights on my Christmas tree.

But that does not mean they have it easy. The economic recession continues to have a dramatic effect on theological education, but that is not all. The church is changing. Congregations and denominations are not just smaller; they are becoming more and more contextual in their approach. The one-size-fits-all approach that standardized so much of how congregations operated for the last 50-60 years is more the exception than the rule.

This makes preparing leaders for the church an adaptive opportunity, but not an easy one. Dollars are difficult to come by and the demands on and expectations of seminaries are higher and more than ever.

So when a longtime servant of the church that could ease into retirement after a full ministry takes on the challenge of a seminary presidency all I can call that person is courageous.

This Christmas, I give thanks for those with the courage to see through the tears and toward hope about to be born anew. The Rev. Dr. Laird J. Stuart, pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church, San Francisco is just such a person. Yesterday, December 23rd, San Francisco Theological Seminary received an early Christmas gift: the announcement of Dr. Stuart as Interim President of SFTS beginning in March 2010.

My Christmas prayer: May those who hold leadership positions lead with courage to see beyond the fog of death that seems to surround with vision to see and welcome unexpected gifts that arrive at unexpected times… even God’s creative transformation with us, Emmanuel, here and now.

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

Lee in Louisville

José R. Irizarry: A Gift to the PC(USA)

José R. Irizarry  is a student of culture, a teacher of intercultural engagement, a writer, professor, minister, artist, father, spouse, and a real gift to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  Jose is the Decano Académico and Acting President at one of our Presbyterian Seminaries, Seminario Evangelico de Puerto Rico (SEPR or ESPR). 

ESPR was founded by a variety of mainline denominations ninety (90) years ago this month and maintains ecumenical as well as a strong denominational connections with Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, and Lutherans among others in addition to the PC(USA).  

On behalf of the General Assembly, the Committee on Theological Education is engaged in a review of the GA covenant with ESPR.  Recommendations will come to the November meeting of COTE and the GA in July of 2010.  The timing of this covenant renewal, in effect for over a decade already since Reunion, coincides with the first time both the President and Academic Dean of ESPR are Presbyterian. 

Sergio Ojeda-Carcamo was called to teach pastoral theology at ESPR in 1995 and has served as President for the last six years.  While Dr. Ojeda-Carcamo is on sabbatical, Jose Irizarry has added to his already full plate by also serving as Acting President.

Who is Dr. Irizarry?  First of all, he is Jose’ to most who know him, Joe to some. A down to earth person with vision far beyond the horizon.  I was honored to spend some time with him and others on his campus in early September and just last week here in Louisville as he represented COTE at the General Assembly Mission Council meeting.

Jose’ has at least two collections, turtles and children's books.  Each describe this emerging leader.  If you go in his office you will see the collection of turtle trinkets, many that were given to him.  I suspect they have a multiple meaning for him.  For me, they remind me of the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare.  As they race, the hare runs and rests and ends up losing the contest to the slower tortoise who just keeps on moving forward.  Jose never stops moving forward at a consistent pace, with an even keel and great determination and intentionality.  I suspect he knows the story well, because he collects children’s storybooks!  This second collection has a practical use, as he is the parent of three children ages 10, 8, and 5.  He reads to them and loves a good story.  Good children’s stories describe culture and convey a message.  That’s Jose, a student of culture and an interpreter of meaningful messages. 

Formerly the dean of doctoral programs and McCormick Theological Seminary and professor at the Lutheran School of Theology, Jose has a background in theatre and a PhD in Religion and Personality.  He has served as the president of the Religious Education Association of the US and Canada, a board member of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, and as an author and contributor to journals and edited volumes.  One recent essay is entitled “Lost in Translation: The Challenges and Possibilities of Ecumenical Dialogue” is featured in the New Theology Review.
May we all give thanks that in addition to his service to the Seminario, Jose currently serves on the PC(USA) Committee on the Review of the Whole, as the ESPR Institutional Representative to COTE, and will be a panelist and presenter this week in Chicago at the annual gathering of Theological Educators for Presbyterian Social Witness (TEPSW).  And may we join in prayer for his strength in the coming days. 
Lee in Louisville on a windy day

Process or Product?

More and more I am convinced that process matters more than product. A Chinese proverb says it this way, "Give someone a fish, feed them for a day. Teach someone to fish, feed them for a lifetime".

My theological degree programs changed my life for the better. I was formed and reformed in ways that I never imagined. The papers and presentations, lectures and class projects were all valuable, but the methodologies of exegesis, thinking theologically, and learning how to ask the right questions have lived with me longer. My MDiv senior statement of faith, that I did collaboratively with three others including my partner for life, Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, is something I treasure, but again the practice of working together as a team had the larger impression. So it was my "Plan for Continuing Education" that I might most appreciate from my Doctor of Ministry program. The thesis, classes, and the classmates still impact my daily life and ministry, but that plan to continue learning was priceless. It’s true, the more we learn, the more we discover how much we don’t know.

What is your plan for continuing education?

All of our PC(USA) Seminaries have a great deal to offer. Check out their websites for more information. Two programs came across my desk that may make participating even more affordable, if not free. Princeton Seminary has received a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to fund a new Science for Ministry initiative (1st program Nov. 2-6). Science and religion questions in our culture are pressing ones and this program will help you or someone you know think through them carefully and faithfully. Another great opportunity is one that Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary continues to offer, the College of Pastoral Leaders. Cohorts can write proposals for a course of study to be funded (Due Oct. 31).

"Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ 6 He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish." (John 21:4-6)

Maybe it is both, product and process. But, maybe it’s time to cast your net on the other side?

Have a great weekend!

Lee from Louisville.

Katharine Henderson: New Auburn President as Wheeler leads Study Center

The Rev. Dr. Katharine Rhodes Henderson, Executive Vice President of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City, has been elected its next president effective July 1, 2009.  Barbara Wheeler has led Auburn for thirty years will continue as the Director of the widely respected Center for the Study of Theological Education at Auburn as the demand for research and consulting increases.

The Committee on Theological Education has no better partner than Barbara Wheeler.  Her voice, research, wisdom, and faithful counsel has and will continue to have an extremely positive and expansive effect on the ministry and mission of seminaries together and individually.   We also welcome a friend and colleague to our table in Katharine Henderson.  A gifted leader and visionary theologian, Dr. Henderson will strengthen our common work in theological education in the PC(USA).  For that, I am grateful.

Mark Hostetter, chair of Auburn’s Board of Directors, said of Katharine Henderson’s appointment, “Recognizing in Katharine a person of international reputation who has all the qualities and commitments we seek, we are proud to appoint her as president. We are excited that Auburn is poised to have even deeper transformational impact on religious leadership. Under Barbara Wheeler’s extremely successful 30-year leadership, Auburn has built a reputation for excellence in many areas. The Center for the Study of Theological Education is a special source of pride and a permanent part of Auburn’s mission.  We are very pleased that Barbara will devote full-time to its vital work as Katharine leads the whole institution into the future.”

Author of God’s Troublemakers: How Women of Faith are Changing the World, Henderson said: “Building on Barbara Wheeler’s distinguished presidency, it is my vision that Auburn emerges as a premier center for religious leaders to find theological depth, multifaith understanding, media savvy and literacy about the moral dimensions of public issues. Between the poles of secularism and religious fundamentalisms, Auburn stands boldly as a Presbyterian institution with multifaith commitments, convinced of the power of religion to promote the progressive values of peace and justice, inclusion and interdependence.” In addition to strengthening Auburn’s programs for Christian leaders, Henderson has attracted a multifaith staff. Among the program leaders are a Reform rabbi who leads Auburn’s multifaith work and a Palestinian Muslim director of Face to Face/ Faith to Faith, a program that brings together teenage leaders from religious conflict zones around the world and the U.S. to learn how their religious traditions can be resources for making peace. Henderson’s longer term vision entails harnessing state-of-the-art technology to build a virtual campus.

James A Forbes, former Senior Minister at Riverside Church said of Dr. Henderson’s book “Troublemakers identifies a latent power in each of us to help change the world from ‘what it is to what it could be.’ It describes a process of character formation, which released the power in some remarkable women of faith and action, and it’s certain to move us from silent complacency to conscientious commitment to peace, justice, and compassion…a primer for bold and fruitful progressive witness!”

Letty Cottin Pogrebin of Ms Magazine said of the book, “Through her probing interviews with twenty change-makers, Katharine Henderson has illuminated the path to ethical action and personified the transformative possibilities of leadership. This book of practical strategy and pure inspiration proves that one person can change the world by using power differently—not to control but to empower, advocate, and ignite the passions of others.”

Barbara Wheeler has ignited passions and empowered others and Katharine Henderson has as well.  May we give thanks that each will be doing this in a newly empowered ways in these days.

Lee from Louisville.

More Time to Reflect: Looking out the Window

The pastor of the “Mayberry” Presbyterian Church/ First in Mt. Airy, NC, Steve Lindsley  encouraged me this past Sunday to start blogging again.  I was there to preach for morning worship and had the added bonus of connecting again with my college and summer camp friend Steve. 

Well, Steve is right:  it has been almost a month since my last entry.  I apologize to you faithful readers out there.  On January 20^th I wondered about a “new way forward.”  With the financial crisis hitting our seminaries I was very concerned about what would be our next steps.  Some plans are being put into place, but it will not be easy.  I guess I needed a mini-sabbatical, of sorts, from writing.  So thank you for your patience. 

Well, I did have some time with my a cohort group of mine that began with the Union-PSCERehoboth Project in the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic and my presbytery, Coastal Carolina, in particular.  A Sustaining Pastoral Excellence project, Rehoboth, gathered presbytery staff, pastors, educators and college staff together to rest and reflect in a wide open and freeing way.  Although our grant money provided by the project and the Lilly Endowment has run out, our group continues to gather no less than annually.  It always feels like a mini-sabbatical… one I needed.  I believe all church leaders need time away with a cohort of colleagues.    

So after preaching at First Presbyterian in Mt. Airy, I was able to easily make the transition into another SPE project of the Office of Theology and Worship: Reforming Ministry.  A group of Presbyterian seminary and college folk along with presbytery executives and pastors gathered for three days of intense reflection on a Healthy Pastoral Eco-System.  I and others were renewed by the forward thinking ideas discussed.

It's teacher conference time at our house and my eight year old son’s teacher asked my son, Garrison, to fill out a report on his progress.  Last night I reviewed that report.  He marked areas he felt he had mastered and other areas where he needed to grow.  The last question asked about what he wished he had more time to do.  He responded in this way: “Read, write, and look out the window.” 

This morning I asked him what he meant by looking out of the window?  Although he is fairly introverted and able to stay quite focused on any given project he answered in a profound way.  “When I look out the window, things are not moving so my thoughts are not interrupted.” 

Take time today or soon… for a moment or for a few days to “look out of the window” to “get in the balcony” as Ron Heifetz says… to rest, reflect, and imagine… to take a mini-sabbatical.  It is not an act of laziness; it is a practice of leadership. 

Lee in Louisville.

PS.  The picture above was taken today from my desk chair... my place to look out a window and see the real world, a crumbling warehouse building behind the Presbyterian Center.  I, for one, hope it is not renovated when the new arena goes in a block away!  It is a symbolic reminder of where ministry is needed.

Seeking a New Way Forward

Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States today.  In his historic address he suggests that leaders need to "see a new way forward."  On the global, national, and local poltical front this is true... as well as in the church.  Obama also talked about a changing world that requires us to adapt.  I could not agree more.

On questions of leadership in the church and in theological education the possibilities are endless.  Seminaries have strategic plans that they hope address the needs of the church that they evaluate and revise regularly.  The current economic crisis has seminaries thinking even more creatively than ever.  Since most of our PC(USA) Seminaries are endowment driven the market downturn is having and will have a dramatic effect on the three year averages they use on the percentage of funds they draw from those investments. There is no doubt they each are striving to work even smarter with less money.

Fortunately none of our schools has been impacted yet like some other seminaries affiliated with the Disciples of Christ and Episcopal Church.  An article in Louisville, KY's Courier-Journal summarizes this impact and talks specifically about one school.

It is time for us all to pray and rededicate ourselves to funding theological education in PC(USA).  Future generations are depending on us as we have depended on them. 

I remember a few years ago when the PC(USA) responded to Hurricane Katrina by giving over $40 million in gifts.  I wonder how we might get the news out about this disaster that is blowing and risks severe damage to PC(USA) Seminaries?  I wonder how you might support this mission cause today? 

Lee in Louisville

Filled with hope.

Giving Thanks for Books!

“Quick, grab the book nearest you.  Right now.  Turn to page 56.  Find the fifth sentence.  Post that sentence along with these instructions in a note on your all.  Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual.  Use the CLOSEST.”  Those were the instructions sent to me over and over again by so many of my friends on Facebook.  The responses were both meaningful and hilarious. 

My favorite may have been by Jennifer Ayers, an Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics at McCormick Theological Seminary:  "Remove from heat; add ground beef, cooked rice, egg, salt, parsley and enough tomato juice to moisten." - Asheboro (NC) Jaycettes cookbook, 1980.  Jen is a thoughtful and reflective theologian, but she also is a cook!  With thanksgiving dinner approaching, she must have been in preparation mode.

This exercise reminded me how powerful books are in our culture.  I am reading Whatever it Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America by Paul Tough.  It is powerfully inspiring and instructive story about how organizations can and make a difference.  Every night I read to and with my children.  Just this week my two year old began reciting the words to one of her favorite books as I read them, Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton.  "With a Baa and a Moo and a Cock-a-doodle-doo, everyone promenade, two by two."

So in this in-between time…. Between Christ the King and the first Sunday of Advent, I pause in this week of thanksgiving, to give thanks for books.  Thanks for those who write books, read books, and publish books. As much as I appreciate media and new media like Facebook, Blogs, websites, video, etc., I love books more. 

Seminaries love books too.  Seminarians and faculty read books and write them.  Just a few weeks ago I was part of a generative conversation with thePresbyterian Publishing Corporation Board that includes a number of theologians itself.  What a gift Westminster/ John Knox Press, the Thoughtful Christian, Theology Today, and These Days are to the world and especially the Presbyterian part of the universe. 

I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and invite you to curl up in comfortable place, possibly near a fireplace, and read a good book over the holiday.  Maybe we can start another Facebook meme to report on what we experienced next week.  I also invite you to leave a comment here.... post it by clicking on "Comments" below.

Oh, here's the fifth sentence on page 56 of Whatever it Takes: "When Canada talks about his son now, it's clear that the boy is at the center of his life; his smiling face fills the only frame on Canada's desk."

Giving Thanks in Louisville, Lee

Two January Leadership Intensives Offered

Seminary students have two extraordinary opportunities in January.  Two unique intensive courses are being offered that will expand one’s knowledge base, increase one’s skills, and deepen student understanding and relationships in significant ways.  Both still have openings available. 

COTE recently voted to co-sponsor a new course that is being offered by McCormick Theological Seminary, Interfaith Leadership: Tools and Theory for Interfaith Action.  Eboo Patel and his colleague Cassie Meyer, from Interfaith Youth Core, will teach the course.  I heard Patel speak this summer at the Chautauqua Institute and could not recommend him more highly.  He is highly educated, extremely engaging, and knows how to build a movement. 

The second course is one that is tried and true.  Highly evaluated time after time, Leadership in a Connectional Church gives participants an insider’s view and experience of the Presbyterian Center, the national headquarters of four of the six national entities of the PC(USA).  More than that, students learn how national ministries partner and serve as a resource for local congregations and presbyteries.  Louisville Seminary hosts this course and it is facilitated by Garnett Foster and Presbyterian Center staff including me.  This may be Garnett’s last year teaching the course, so don’t miss it!

You could actually do both courses….since the MTS course is Jan. 5-9 and the LPTS course is Jan. 12-16, but I don’t recommend it unless you have the constitution of a marathon runner!

As of today, there is room for a handful of others to register for the courses.  But don’t wait too long.  You will want to start reading for these weeklong intensives soon.  Remember, if you are a student at PC(USA) Seminary other than the one hosting the course, you pay tuition to your home school and need to work with your campus contact with the cross registration. 

Lee in a much colder Louisville