Counter-cultural

In case you thought that retirement had settled upon me in such a way as to make me a bit like Rip Van Winkle, asleep while the world passes by, let me assure that I've actually been busy enough this week to keep me going most of the time. Okay, occasional rests have been the order of the day, and walks with the dog, but in general I'm still keeping an eye on what's going on.

Hence, links to a couple of blog posts. The ubiquitous David Fitch wrote one, and is featured in the other. Don't let that put you off; to me he speaks some pretty good sense, if we're prepared to listen.

The first is Fitch's own, a post on the kind of leadership needed for the postmodern world. It looks pretty much like the servant leadership Jesus espoused - so that's a good thing (!)

The second comes from another old favourite on this blog, Len Hjalmarson. In this one he quotes Fitch a good deal as he draws up a list of ways to 'instill missional habits.'

This post is as countercultural (at least counter church-cultural) as the first. Both worth chewing over while you're having your morning cuppa.

Belonging to a community

Community: The Structure of Belonging, by Peter Block.

“Modern society is plagued by fragmentation. The various sectors of our communities–businesses, schools, social service organizations, churches, government–do not work together. They exist in their own worlds. As do so many individual citizens, who long for connection but end up marginalized, their gifts overlooked, their potential contributions lost. This disconnection and detachment makes it hard if not impossible to envision a common future and work towards it together. We know what healthy communities look like–there are many success stories out there, and they’ve been described in detail. What Block provides in this inspiring new book is an exploration of the exact way community can emerge from fragmentation: How is community built? How does the transformation occur? What fundamental shifts are involved? He explores a way of thinking about our places that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen.” [From the book’s blurb.]

The list of contents may prove interesting (certainly more interesting than the cover design!):

Intro: The Fragmented Community and its Transformation...

Part One The Fabric of Community
1 Insights into Transformation
2 Shifting the Context for Community
3 The Stuck Community
4 The Restorative Community
5 Taking Back our Projections
6 What it Means to be a Citizen
7 The Transforming Community

part 2 The Alchemy of Belonging
8 Leadership is Convening
9 The Small Group is the Unity of Transformation
10 Questions More Transforming than Answers
11 Invitation
12 The Possibility, Ownership, Dissent, Commitment and Gifts Conversations
13 Bringing Hospitality into the World
14 Designing Physical Space that Supports Community
15 The End of Unnecessary Suffering

Peter Block is a proponent of servant leadership, a concept initiated by Robert Greenleaf.
Block has a newer book out, The Abundant Community.

Pat Snedden on Leadership

Two comments from Pat Snedden on Leadership:

What I’ve been attracted to all along- maybe it’s the Catholic influence – is what I call servant leadership. It’s the capacity to be confident enough to put your skills and resources in the service of the various agenda you have running but not to run it with tickets on yourself. In other words, it’s not about you – it’s about the thing you are trying to be part of.
What about seeing New Zealand as a place where there are a lot of people who spend a lot of time resolving difficult social issues and selling that IP across the world. How might the Treaty process work in Palestine?

Quoted in the Sept 09 NZ Management magazine, pg 40. The full article is called Pat Snedden: on transformation and servant leadership.

Everyone is Called to Serve

While the church today (and the world as a whole) seems preoccupied with leadership and the achievements of leaders (with endless books and seminars on how to become a better leader), it leaves me wondering whether anyone might purchase a book or attend a conference on “Becoming a Servant.” Yet, when we consider the work of the early church, leadership and sacrificial service were inseparable.

While our world seems eager to grasp positions of authority and leadership, scripture makes it clear that hard work, sacrifice, and service are integral to one’s calling as a leader, guide, shepherd, overseer, deacon, and elder. Biblically, a case can be made that one’s reach as a leader stretches only as far as one’s willingness to stoop and serve others.

Two paragraphs from a short blog post by Mimi Haddad on Jim Wallis' God's Politics' blog. Do we spend far more time looking at leaders and leadership than at the much larger group of people who quietly get on and do the basic work?