Here's a VERY stimulating note from one of own PALC pals... Steve Pichaske. It pertains to the book we've read, Leadershift, by Don Cousins. I thought Steve was absolutely brilliant in the way he juxtaposed chapter 6 with the case study in chapter 9. (Way to go Steve!)
Here are Steve's insights... but be sure to read all the way to the end... I would love for you to respond by leaving a comment.
Just a note from my Leadershift reading that I wanted to touch on and know that I'll forget about by the time we meet again in January...
(Keep in mind that I'm really enjoying the book and the wisdom Cousins has to offer)
In chapter 6, we're given a biblical model for church leadership that includes "staff led" as opposed to "staff run," with the congregation serving in key leadership roles. Did anyone else find it interesting that his "case study" in chapter 9, particularly with respect to the youth pastor (Doug), seemed to reinforce a "staff run" mentality? I realize that this was a different chapter, and Cousins was trying to succinctly convey a different point - that we need to humbly serve in our areas of greatest annointing.
Still, I was struck by the fact that there was nothing in chapter 9 (at least that I recall) that hinted at "training God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ could be built up." Could Doug have effectively served as this growing church's youth pastor by developing a cadre of fellow youth leaders, including some who whose gifts would have been perfectly suited to the role of planning big events. We've seen this situation play itself out far too often...church realizes it needs a youth minister who can lead a big youth group but sacrifices the development of a team that can both think big and minister small (or they bring in a "superstar" and burn him/her out in 18 months). Meanwhile, "Doug" is living out his calling in the secular world (which is great) but has been lost as a gifted, called vocational minister.
The danger comes, I think, when we hear of a great idea (i.e. training the saints)...but then forget about said great idea when our thoughts move on to the next great idea (i.e. reorganizing staff for greater effectiveness).
I'm probably being too harsh, but Cousins has me doing some mental wrestling...
Thanks again for a great day yesterday (for a couple of reasons, I did end up spending the night in Peoria).
In Christ,
Steve Pichaske
First UMC
Rushville, IL
You Be the Coach
I encourage you to read pages 138-141 starting with the subtitle: "Staff Led" on page 138. Then flip to page 204 and start reading under the subtitle, "Doug's Zone." Read until page 207.
Now, think about the following... and then hit the comment button and enrich our lives:1. What insights do you have from this comparison?
2. Given what Cousins says in 138-141, what other approach might Doug have taken?
3. How would you have coached Doug?
1 comment:
I just let a friend borrow Leadershift. (Ironically to read through Chpt 9 and have him think about his 'Zone')
But my uneducated answers:
I agree that there was a little disjointedness in Cousin's thoughflow from chapter to chapter. Although I hoped that this church hired a Youth Pastor who was an Equipper to take Doug's place. I don't think Cousins was saying they needed a super star to build a big youth group... but they did need someone who could connect with kids AND teach others to connect with kids. (Now maybe Doug could have done that with a little equipping... but from the case study it sounds like he wasn't.)
I would have coached Doug to train others to relate to kids like he did. It did seem like Cousins almost coached him to 'leave the church'.
Hopefully someone else comments, I'm curious everyone's thoughts.
Also, if you haven't read chapter 5- The Credit Heresy, I encourage you to. Great stuff!
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