Leadership - What does it take?

My new column in the United Methodist Reporter engages the first of the "Four Areas of Focus" that make up the current connection-wide ministry emphasis of the United Methodist Church. You can find the column at this link.

The Four Areas of Focus call for the following as the collective emphasis of the UMC's ministry:

1) Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world;

2) Creating new places for new people by starting new congregations and renewing existing ones;

3) Engaging in ministry with the poor;

4) Stamping out killer diseases by improving health globally.

When I read those four statements, I've got to admit that I'm not sure they are the specific ones I would have chosen if I were going to state definitively how our church should be marshaling its resources. (Or at least I'm not sure I would have worded them in the same way.)

But that said, the four areas do have a lot to recommend them. For one, they certainly name four great needs with which practically everyone can agree. And for another, they are specific enough to be understandable but broad enough that they can be contextualized in different ministry settings. My sense is that the Council of Bishops and Connectional Table leadership that developed the four areas were looking for just that quality: guiding ideas that individuals, congregations, and annual conferences could get behind while framing them within their own local contexts.

I am personally attracted to the first area of focus - leadership development - for a number of reasons. A lot of it probably has to do with my primary setting in ministry right now, which is at Duke Divinity School. As I work toward finishing my Th.D degree in historical theology, I serve as a preceptor (that is, teaching assistant) and instructor in the seminary's spiritual formation program. In those roles, I get to see a lot of students in our M.Div program as they work out their sense of vocation both academically and pastorally. These are the church's future leaders. And I've got to say, the quality of students I see and the eagerness they have to be in ministry for the sake of Jesus Christ both give me a great sense of hope about the church's future.

Then again, I don't think there is any easy formula to good leadership development. That's what my column is about. As always, your feedback is welcome and encouraged.