Clashing Shepherds: Leadership in the UMC and a Way Forward

For some, leadership looks like the shepherd out in front of a flock. This shepherd carries with them a staff they use to defend the flock. The shepherd has a vision and is going in a direction that the sheep are to follow. Some sheep may wander away and that is okay to this shepherd because this shepherd has a vision of what a flock can look like and only has energy for those sheep that can keep up.

Others view this idea of leadership to be less than ideal because there are many sheep that are lost and left behind. This second view of leadership is like that shepherd that takes time to ensure that every sheep is in the flock. This might look like a a pastor making house calls to every member to ensure that everyone is okay and tended to. This "lead from the back" shepherd keeps an eye on every sheep and pushes them forward as best as the shepherd can. 

For most of my ministry these two versions of leadership have dominated. There is the pastor as CEO (lead from the front) and the pastor as caretaker (lead from the back). Both of these types of leadership are called for at times however, these forms of leadership are no longer as helpful in the current time we live in. When things like collaboration, vulnerability, authenticity, and transparency are values of the day, leading from the front or back creates more problems than they solve. 

The third way of leadership is not by leading from the front or the back but among.

This style of leadership is frustrating because you will loose sheep, you cannot protect them all, you are not totally in control of the direction or pace and you are among the smells and biting of the flock. However, it is this style of leadership that is called for in our time: leading among. 

The Bishops "A Way Forward" is, I believe, a leading from among. It is not perfect. It has the same weaknesses such as loosing some of the flock and not being completely in control. However, it also is an attempt to uphold the values of collaboration, vulnerability, authenticity, and transparency.

No one is surprised that there is disagreement in the UMC on the issues of human sexuality. What is a bit surprising to some is the disagreement on what sort of leadership is needed in our time.

The UMC has clashing shepherds.

#OrlandoUnited - Facing Limitations and Inadequacies

While reading a number of painful responses to the homophobic terrorist attack in Orlando Florida and reading about the victims, I find myself at a loss for words. I struggle to find words to address the pain and injustice and evil of this situation. I am not a member of the LGBT community and I live miles away from this tragic event which give me pause to ask if it is even appropriate to add my words to the conversation. So I stay quiet. In doing so St. Antony comes to mind:

‘He who sits alone and is quiet has escaped from three wars: hearing, speaking, seeing: but there is one thing against which he must continually fight: that is, his own heart.’

I have no connection to this event. I am disturbed and appalled by the actions taken by a sick man with an easily acquired arsenal of weapons. I do not know what to do. So I sit alone and remain quite. Not because I condone such violence or that I am not heartbroken, but to humbly admit that I do not know the way forward. I am confronted with my own limitations and inadequacies knowing that I still feel unequipped to be a man, husband, father, pastor for the world that we live in.

Lord in your mercy.

Holy Communion: An Example of what Not to Do

Often the Bible is seen as a collection of stories and teachings that give a model for how to live. In many cases this is very true, however the Bible is richer than just giving positive examples. The Bible is also full of negative examples. Put another way, there are stories in the Bible that teach us what NOT to do.

The story of Jesus instituting the Eucharist (Holy Communion) is perhaps one of the classic "do this" stories. In fact Jesus says, "do this in remembrance of me." Could it be that Communion is also rich enough to carry not only this prescription of Jesus but also a proscription? Is the sacrament of Communion not only showing us what to do but also forbidding something? If so, what could Communion be forbidding? 

When the bread is broken and the wine poured out in the liturgy of Communion could Jesus have been also saying, "Break bread and not bodies. Pour out wine and not blood." Could Jesus, in prescribing Holy Communion also be giving us the proscription against doing harm to our neighbors? 

Perhaps this proscription baked into the very essence of Communion is a reason for us to pause in awe and wonder as we come to feast with Christ. Perhaps it is a chance to repent of all the ways we have contributed to the harm of another person. How we desired for the breaking of a body or the spilling of blood in order for something to be "made right". It is an invitation to break bread instead and discover how table fellowship is the more excellent way of making things right. 

There is more to say on this subject matter, but let us consider all the ways the Bible is full of examples and negative examples. Let us consider the proscription in every prescription of the Bible so that we may discover a deeper way of the Spirit of God.