Is spiritual leadership different from other forms of leadership? Skills ought to be transferable, but where are the differences? What are the differences?
Spreadsheets are important. Some of you nod your heads enthusiastically. Mystery, faith & faithful risk are also important, vital even if there is to be spiritual growth.
How do we practice spiritual leadership within organizations which have responsibility for numerous people, mortgages and master calendars?
Can we only exercise faith, take risks and involve mystery within the realm of our own personal spirituality?
Is this some of the conversation being held by emergents, new monastics and alternatives?
Here's what Henri had to say in the 70's.
"The first and most basic ask required of the minister of tomorrow therefore is to clarify the immense confusion which can arise when people enter this new internal world. It is a painful fact indeed to realize how poorly prepared most Christian leaders prove to be when they are invited to be spiritual leaders in the true sense. Most of them are used to thinking in terms of large-scale organizations, getting people together in churches, schools and hospitals, and running the show as a circus director. They have become unfamiliar with, and even somewhat afraid of, the deep and significant movements of the Spirit. I am afraid that in a few decades the Church will be accused of having failed in its most basic task: to offer men and women creative ways to communicate with the source of human life."
Henri Nouwen, 1970's
Would love to sit round with steaming hot mugs of tea or coffee and delve further. But alas, there's very possibly an ocean between us, literally.
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