Missional Leadership And The Freeway - Part One
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
This is "Part 1" in a three-part post. The other parts can be found here:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
For those of you who don't know me too well, I am a leader at a missional little church community in Hamilton, ON called The Freeway. The church community was started in 2002 and has evolved/changed through several stages, phases, life-systems, etc. It certainly doesn't look the same as it did "back in the day" although our values, ethos and main idea have not really changed.
All along we have tried to organize ourselves as best we could without too much formalization (or unneccessary hierarchy, structure, etc.) in order to stay true to who we felt Jesus wanted us to be as a unique community in a unique context.
In terms of leadership, from the beginning up until 2004 we had a pastoral staff (of 2 people) and a leadership team (of 12 people) as do most churches in our tribe. The leadership team met monthly or so and were chosen based on "portfolio" essentially (eg. children's ministry leader, finance team leader, prayer team leader, etc.). That model of leadership worked less and less for us over time for several reasons (which I don't really want to get into right now). Things weren't working, so we decided to make a change. We decided to disband the leadership team and re-organize ourselves a different way. We wanted to create a system that is:
I don't think things are perfect... far from it... we have many struggles, we make bad decisions, not everyone from our community feels they have "a voice" yet, etc. But I do think we are on to something. Here's how we explain our leadership structure on our website:
Link
The cohort started out as four people: myself, Mark, Melissa & Sharlene. Mark and I were on staff as pastors for the church community (so they were stuck with us), and Melissa and Sharlene were chosen by Mark and I. We had to start somewhere. We asked people we trusted what they thought. We identified in these two women huge leadership potential/ability, humility, creativity, great skill that we felt we needed, a willingness to do anything that needed to be done, wisdom, intrinsic motivation, spiritual depth, and mostly a great love for Jesus and his Kingdom.
Melissa has led our children's ministry since day one. It is one of the few areas of the church that we really don't have to worry about in general. She has consistently loved, nurtured and guided the kids of The Freeway (doing way more behind the scenes than you can imagine) and has still always taken a large role in leading worship gatherings, planning events and retreats, and giving spiritual wisdom in decision-making. We would not be where we are if it was not for Melissa. We can call her anytime and she will help with the situation at hand. I have learned alot from her about what it means to "love others as you love yourself."
Recently we added a few people to our cohort (and unfortunately had one leave - Sharlene moved away with her husband who pastors a church now in Etobicoke. She will never be replaced... she couldn't be).
Earlier this year we decided to hire a full-time manager for our coffee house and we felt that whoever we hired should become a member of the cohort. So with that in mind we based part of our decision on who we would hire on what that might look like. Randy was the person we felt God wanted us to hire (and so to join us in leadership on the cohort). He is incredibly creative, has a heart for urban renewal, is a very spiritually mature guy, cares for the over-looked, balances community, justice and the arts amazingly, and is super-strong in his mission/ministry perspective. Though he has only been part of our community since October, he (and his whole family) fit in like Lego (a new Pernell phrase - feel free to use it). He has already taught me loads about all kinds of things and even though he sometimes butts heads with some of us (we don't always agree on everything right away), we look forward to what the future has in store for us together. He is an absolute asset to the community and to us as a cohort.
For more than six months the cohort was talking about, thinking about, and praying about adding another member or two to the cohort. Several months ago we asked the commmunity to make suggestions in terms of "elders". Time and again, Al's name came up. And even though we didn't end up establishing formal elders, that stuck. He is a very warm, friendly and caring guy. Every church leader I talk to says that when looking for leaders they look for someone who is willing to clean toilets with little thanks and for no money... Al is that guy. He does whatever he is able to do to add to "the vibe" at the church community. Al is dependable, approachable, loyal, and thoughtful. Often during cohort gatherings he says nothing... but he often e-mails his thoughts later after he has had time to think and pray. For a guy who shoots off at the mouth far too often, I have really learned alot from the thoughtfulness of Al.
Rachel is a full-time student at Mac going into her last year of nursing. She is new to the community (since September) and she is very young. Her future with The Freeway is unsure. Who knows where she will be when she finishes school. I suppose all of this could be seen as positive or negative in terms of leadership. We think it's positive. She is a great example of encouragement, positivity, energy, creativity, hospitality, and simply making people feel super-good. She may be involved in planting a church in Sarnia next year, if so, we feel we are building into the Kingdom by giving her leadership experience at The Freeway. But regardless of what happens next year, she is constantly building into us with her life and her heart for Jesus and his way. Her future is bright... with her around, so is ours.
In two following posts (hopefully this week) I will address two other parts of the missional leadership equation at The Freeway:
Part Two - Not Demographically Or Culturally Diverse Enough?
Part Three - More Power To The People.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
For those of you who don't know me too well, I am a leader at a missional little church community in Hamilton, ON called The Freeway. The church community was started in 2002 and has evolved/changed through several stages, phases, life-systems, etc. It certainly doesn't look the same as it did "back in the day" although our values, ethos and main idea have not really changed.
All along we have tried to organize ourselves as best we could without too much formalization (or unneccessary hierarchy, structure, etc.) in order to stay true to who we felt Jesus wanted us to be as a unique community in a unique context.
In terms of leadership, from the beginning up until 2004 we had a pastoral staff (of 2 people) and a leadership team (of 12 people) as do most churches in our tribe. The leadership team met monthly or so and were chosen based on "portfolio" essentially (eg. children's ministry leader, finance team leader, prayer team leader, etc.). That model of leadership worked less and less for us over time for several reasons (which I don't really want to get into right now). Things weren't working, so we decided to make a change. We decided to disband the leadership team and re-organize ourselves a different way. We wanted to create a system that is:
- Less hierarchical.
- Easier to manage (smaller, less time in meetings, committees, etc.).
- More organic (allows people to lead, serve, etc. based on passion and skill and not rely so much on "offices"... and to do so without permission or even being asked to).
- Led by a group of friends - on equal footing - who decide to do what it takes to keep the church community "on track."
I don't think things are perfect... far from it... we have many struggles, we make bad decisions, not everyone from our community feels they have "a voice" yet, etc. But I do think we are on to something. Here's how we explain our leadership structure on our website:
The Freeway is sort of chaordically organized and is led by a cohort. In addition to the cohort there is a collective of people who lead in a variety of ways.
There's no simple definition to say who we are. One of the strengths of The Freeway is the variety of people involved. We are pastors, web designers, students, teachers, nurses, and more... all of us bring the talents and perspectives from our lives to the making of this unique church community. Some of us are single, some are married, some have families.
Link
The cohort started out as four people: myself, Mark, Melissa & Sharlene. Mark and I were on staff as pastors for the church community (so they were stuck with us), and Melissa and Sharlene were chosen by Mark and I. We had to start somewhere. We asked people we trusted what they thought. We identified in these two women huge leadership potential/ability, humility, creativity, great skill that we felt we needed, a willingness to do anything that needed to be done, wisdom, intrinsic motivation, spiritual depth, and mostly a great love for Jesus and his Kingdom.
Melissa has led our children's ministry since day one. It is one of the few areas of the church that we really don't have to worry about in general. She has consistently loved, nurtured and guided the kids of The Freeway (doing way more behind the scenes than you can imagine) and has still always taken a large role in leading worship gatherings, planning events and retreats, and giving spiritual wisdom in decision-making. We would not be where we are if it was not for Melissa. We can call her anytime and she will help with the situation at hand. I have learned alot from her about what it means to "love others as you love yourself."
Recently we added a few people to our cohort (and unfortunately had one leave - Sharlene moved away with her husband who pastors a church now in Etobicoke. She will never be replaced... she couldn't be).
Earlier this year we decided to hire a full-time manager for our coffee house and we felt that whoever we hired should become a member of the cohort. So with that in mind we based part of our decision on who we would hire on what that might look like. Randy was the person we felt God wanted us to hire (and so to join us in leadership on the cohort). He is incredibly creative, has a heart for urban renewal, is a very spiritually mature guy, cares for the over-looked, balances community, justice and the arts amazingly, and is super-strong in his mission/ministry perspective. Though he has only been part of our community since October, he (and his whole family) fit in like Lego (a new Pernell phrase - feel free to use it). He has already taught me loads about all kinds of things and even though he sometimes butts heads with some of us (we don't always agree on everything right away), we look forward to what the future has in store for us together. He is an absolute asset to the community and to us as a cohort.
For more than six months the cohort was talking about, thinking about, and praying about adding another member or two to the cohort. Several months ago we asked the commmunity to make suggestions in terms of "elders". Time and again, Al's name came up. And even though we didn't end up establishing formal elders, that stuck. He is a very warm, friendly and caring guy. Every church leader I talk to says that when looking for leaders they look for someone who is willing to clean toilets with little thanks and for no money... Al is that guy. He does whatever he is able to do to add to "the vibe" at the church community. Al is dependable, approachable, loyal, and thoughtful. Often during cohort gatherings he says nothing... but he often e-mails his thoughts later after he has had time to think and pray. For a guy who shoots off at the mouth far too often, I have really learned alot from the thoughtfulness of Al.
Rachel is a full-time student at Mac going into her last year of nursing. She is new to the community (since September) and she is very young. Her future with The Freeway is unsure. Who knows where she will be when she finishes school. I suppose all of this could be seen as positive or negative in terms of leadership. We think it's positive. She is a great example of encouragement, positivity, energy, creativity, hospitality, and simply making people feel super-good. She may be involved in planting a church in Sarnia next year, if so, we feel we are building into the Kingdom by giving her leadership experience at The Freeway. But regardless of what happens next year, she is constantly building into us with her life and her heart for Jesus and his way. Her future is bright... with her around, so is ours.
In two following posts (hopefully this week) I will address two other parts of the missional leadership equation at The Freeway:
Part Two - Not Demographically Or Culturally Diverse Enough?
Part Three - More Power To The People.
Labels: leadership, the freeway, writing
Sounds quite Presbyterian oddly enough. By that I mean that the "minister" and the elders are in actual fact the same. The "minister" just takes the lead in the teaching and preaching isn't "in charge of" the church to any greater extent than the other elders are. There are some more conservative churches who've even replaced the title "minister" to "Teaching Elder" to better reflect this thinking.
3:09 PMBTW: it was nice to meet you on Saturday.
Tom Skerritt