by Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

A Model for Fruitful Leadership

In working with these concepts of pastoral effectives, the following working draft of a model for fruitful leadership has emerged. I share it for your reflection and feedback.

(Character × Competence × Contribution)^Grace ® Fruitful Leadership

Times Not Plus

The model uses “times” instead of “plus” because of something everyone learns in elementary mathematics: anything times zero equals zero. In this model, one must give care to all three categories and avoid the tendency to pick and choose. The person who says, “I’m not really into accomplishment, I just love and care for people,” scores zero on this scale. So does the person who is high on accomplishment but is not trustworthy. So does the person who is a skilled professional with accomplishments but who neglects spiritual foundations.

Yields Not Equals

The “yields” symbol (®) is used instead of the “equals” symbol to acknowledge that this model is akin to a scientific equation in which each of the elements reacts with each other to yield something the individual elements alone could not produce. It is not enough to have the components alone. Their power in combination with each produces something more than it would be otherwise.

To the Power of Grace

No model can adequately capture the power of fruitful leadership. The seemingly ordinary components of character, competence, and contribution are raised to the power of grace by God. The Holy Spirit takes all of our best efforts and plans, and our failures and limited visions, and converts them into something far more than a human achievement. Fruitful leadership depends on the vigorous and responsible use of the talents God has given to each of us. It also depends on the work of the Spirit weaving those talents into a rich tapestry. And it is the marvelous and mysterious working of God through our lives and work that we call grace that takes human efforts by ordinary people and converts the sum into and exponentially greater reality.

by Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

Lovett H. Weems, Jr,. is distinguished professor of church leadership and director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He also directs the seminary’s SPE program, the Church Executive Leadership Program to Sustain Leadership Excellence This article originally appeared in the March 1, 2006, edition of Leading Ideas, a free online newsletter of the Lewis Center.

[For a Local Shared Ministry context the words 'pastor' and 'clergy' have been substituted with Ministry Team - Bonnie]

Extracts from a paper presented at Enabler Training 2007 by Anglican Enabler Geoff Haworth

“The joys of Enabling”

• Seeing a worshipping community develop confidence in its sense of mission and its own involvement in that mission
• Being alongside people who have experienced a sense of calling, and observing their spiritual growth as their ministries develop
• Helping LSM units to become more self-sufficient and progressively less depending on the authority and status of clergy.
• Helping people to develop their God-given gifts of creativity, as they feel encouraged to develop their gifts.
• Enjoying with LSM units signs of growth, for example, as groups work together to revive youth ministry, plan sermons together, initiate community projects, work more closely with other local churches etc.
• Developing close and trusting relationships with the people of the LSM units
• Constantly learning more about how God’s grace transforms problems into opportunities and God’s spirit continues to provide worship communities with useful gifts. In practical ways, to “hear what the spirit is saying to the church”.
• Discovering more about the resources God gives us to carry out the ministries to which God calls us – personal growth in the Spirit
• Seeing LSM units become more closely connected to other LSM units so that they gain a sense of working with other faith communities within the same model of ministry.
• Being able to leave the Sunday by Sunday preaching and worship preparation to others; and likewise the day to day pastoral care i.e. training others for ministry but not having to DO it all the time.

To provide a concluding focus, I’ll borrow the words of Ken Booth and Jenny Dawson from “Practising the World’s Future”:

“The Enabler comes not just to endorse what is done, but as a kind of ‘apostolic visitor’ who asks questions the locals have forgotten to ask, or provides support when they do not know how to go about being the living body of Christ in this place. The Enabler is an outsider, though not a stranger. (To which I add the Enabler knows when to step in and spark some significant action or reflection, and when to step back and let the people attend to God’s business.) The Enabler is always representing a wider vision of ‘church’ than just the community in which the LSM unit is situated and must help people be aware that ‘church’ is always bigger than their local experience of it. The Enabler always needs to be able to say: “What is God’s mission for you here? How are you responding to that call of mission”? And – crucially for the future of LSM – “What are you doing to ensure that this unit is vital and growing? Who will be doing Christ’s work of ministry here in ten years time?” “