Leadership Lessons
I have been leading the Eldership team at Everyday Church for just over two years! It doesn’t seem possible, as ever time has flown. However, when I reflect on all that we have worked through, and all that God has done I realise it has to have been 26 months since Phil Moore resigned and we emerged out of 18 months of COVID. We have rooted ourselves once more in the grace of God through our series in Galatians; experienced the Word made flesh in John; reminded ourselves of who we are and why we are here in our Vision and Values series; walked through Exodus and Eagerly Desired Spiritual Gifts!
God has been so faithful to us as a church over these last two years and I am excited about all that he might do in the years ahead. I am always encouraged by Paul’s words in Ephesians 3 that we have a God who longs to do more than “all we can ask and imagine”.
Reflecting recently on my time leading Everyday Church, I was asking myself what leadership lessons I felt GOD is teaching me. I say that in the present tense because I have learned over the last 30 years of leadership that leadership lessons are always in the present tense. In the same way that Paul encourages us to go on “being being filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5), leadership lessons are not exams that you pass, they are truths that deepen in their impact year on year. Over these two years I have been reminded repeatedly of the vital role of team and the foundational importance of prayer.
Prayer
It seems such an obvious lesson – prayer matters! Yet we so easily forget. It is so easy to try and move forward in our own strength and gifting. We know that all our abilities come to us from God, and we are thankful for them, but God does not establish his works through our gifting – God moves in and through our prayers. John Wesley (1703-1791) famously said:
God has been so faithful to us as a church over these last two years and I am excited about all that he might do in the years ahead. I am always encouraged by Paul’s words in Ephesians 3 that we have a God who longs to do more than “all we can ask and imagine”.
Reflecting recently on my time leading Everyday Church, I was asking myself what leadership lessons I felt GOD is teaching me. I say that in the present tense because I have learned over the last 30 years of leadership that leadership lessons are always in the present tense. In the same way that Paul encourages us to go on “being being filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5), leadership lessons are not exams that you pass, they are truths that deepen in their impact year on year. Over these two years I have been reminded repeatedly of the vital role of team and the foundational importance of prayer.
Prayer
It seems such an obvious lesson – prayer matters! Yet we so easily forget. It is so easy to try and move forward in our own strength and gifting. We know that all our abilities come to us from God, and we are thankful for them, but God does not establish his works through our gifting – God moves in and through our prayers. John Wesley (1703-1791) famously said:
“God does nothing
but in answer to Prayer”
All that we are hoping to see of the Kingdom of God at Everyday Church is rooted in our prayer life. Our personal and corporate rhythms of prayer. This is why these rhythms are so important. It is in establishing rhythms of prayer that we keep on praying through the seasons of life.
But prayer is not just about seeing things happen in our world, it is about our core relationship with God. A good friend of mine would often say that he was both an evangelical and a monastic when it came to prayer. As an evangelical he believed that prayer changed the world, but as a monastic he knew that prayer changed him.
It is in times of prayer where we call out to God, listen for his voice, wait for his manifest presence and respond to his prompting, that we are changed and our relationship with God is deepened. Prayer matters.
Team
When I am asked about my role at Everyday Church I try and reply that I “lead the team that leads the church”. This is not just semantics; this is the reality. If Prayer is the foundation of our leadership, that leadership is worked out in team. Leadership is a team sport. When I think of those who have left leadership over recent years, either because of burn out or because of personal character failings, there seems to be a common cause – isolation! When a leader says they are lonely, I fear it is because they are trying to lead on their own.
Team is not just a way to get more things done. Real teams keep us safe. Teams of leaders who build genuine friendship built on mutual trust and accountability. Teams who invest in one another and not just the task in hand. Teams that seek to make decisions together. Teams that are diverse in culture, age, and gender. I have learned again and again over the last two years that an individual’s good idea, can become a great idea when it undergoes robust discussion and discernment within a team.
There is no such thing as the perfect team. We are imperfect people and imperfect people create imperfect teams. We haven’t always got it right over the last two years. But we are committed to moving forward as a team, learning from one another and listening to God together. We want to hear and apply the wisdom of Solomon:
But prayer is not just about seeing things happen in our world, it is about our core relationship with God. A good friend of mine would often say that he was both an evangelical and a monastic when it came to prayer. As an evangelical he believed that prayer changed the world, but as a monastic he knew that prayer changed him.
It is in times of prayer where we call out to God, listen for his voice, wait for his manifest presence and respond to his prompting, that we are changed and our relationship with God is deepened. Prayer matters.
Team
When I am asked about my role at Everyday Church I try and reply that I “lead the team that leads the church”. This is not just semantics; this is the reality. If Prayer is the foundation of our leadership, that leadership is worked out in team. Leadership is a team sport. When I think of those who have left leadership over recent years, either because of burn out or because of personal character failings, there seems to be a common cause – isolation! When a leader says they are lonely, I fear it is because they are trying to lead on their own.
Team is not just a way to get more things done. Real teams keep us safe. Teams of leaders who build genuine friendship built on mutual trust and accountability. Teams who invest in one another and not just the task in hand. Teams that seek to make decisions together. Teams that are diverse in culture, age, and gender. I have learned again and again over the last two years that an individual’s good idea, can become a great idea when it undergoes robust discussion and discernment within a team.
There is no such thing as the perfect team. We are imperfect people and imperfect people create imperfect teams. We haven’t always got it right over the last two years. But we are committed to moving forward as a team, learning from one another and listening to God together. We want to hear and apply the wisdom of Solomon:
“two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labour:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Looking Forward
God has been so faithful to us as a church over recent years. We know we can trust in his sovereign steadfastness as we head into this next season. As a team of leaders committed to God in prayer and committed to one another in team we are going to need all the wisdom God allows us as we seek to build missional disciples, as we capture afresh God’s heart for the poor, as we navigate the gender debate with biblical integrity and unconditional love and as we invest ourselves in the next generation.
Please pray for us as a team.
God has been so faithful to us as a church over recent years. We know we can trust in his sovereign steadfastness as we head into this next season. As a team of leaders committed to God in prayer and committed to one another in team we are going to need all the wisdom God allows us as we seek to build missional disciples, as we capture afresh God’s heart for the poor, as we navigate the gender debate with biblical integrity and unconditional love and as we invest ourselves in the next generation.
Please pray for us as a team.
Tagged with leadership