AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 11:46:00 AM ----- BODY:

I was reading a bunch of blogs today...feeling connected with dear brothers and sisters in the journey...getting excited about the thoughts and perspectives that the Holy Spirit is bringing into the conversation of ekklesia...laughing as my very pregnant daughter was thinking about what life is going to be like without the bowling ball that has taken up refuge in her stomach. One of my passions is leadership development. God has placed me in a season of life where I have responsibility and the honor of teaching and mentoring high school and college students on the pathway to difference-making in their culture/world to the glory of the Kingdom of God. I love it when I read some new perspectives like that below which comes from the New Reformation blog: Leadership as conversation - Dwight Friesen writes, "After sitting with the question of "the nature of leadership" for some time, I find myself moving toward a very simple understanding. Leadership is about conversation. Leadership has less to do with the clarity of vision, and much more do to with the quality of conversation. Rarely does a stated vision mobilize a person/community to live into a new reality however the quality of an invitational conversation which dynamically shapes the ethos of codividuals can and does alter the present and future of codividuals. Influence is dialogical. Leadership which stands apart from the led may be a "Type-A myth. How one fosters conversation is everything. Bringing self to the table, creating open space, speaking, naming, surrendering the need to be right, etc. Hidden agendas, unstated vision, passive aggressive needs to control, and rigid categories are just a few of the many ills ready to subvert conversation." I like the metaphor because it connects for me to meaning making.. people need frameworks of meaning in which their actions make sense. In times of discontinuous change, old frameworks no longer work, and we need a new imaginative architecture in order to move forward. I believe new architecture is created and given in conversation.. and conversation can take place through so many media, though face to face is often the best. It also connects to Jen Leman's reflection of last year.. "I wonder if the point of the post-whatever-pastor is simply about holding space. Not space so you can examine me and try to be just like me as your leader, but space so that you can think about who you need to become, about who you are already in relationship to this alternate reality we call the kingdom. The leader just shows you how not to be too afraid while you do that, how to relax a little, how to plunge ahead into chaos lighthearted and pull yourself out of the fire unscathed. A leader shows you by living beside you what it means to be terrified yet faithful, doubtful yet full of hope…” This is me again, Robin...I'm going to post this today not because I love redundancy but rather because I need each person who is in my sphere of influence to consider how God is leveraging the gift of leadership in their life. If we are bringing hope and comfort and conversation and healing and grace and mercy...those things are the realities of the Kingdom that we are called to equip others to experience to the fullest. If we are bringing ANY attention to ourselves...our accomplishments...our wisdom...our buildings...our attendance figures...our booksales...the electricity of our personality...then we are missing the proverbial boat. I love blogs!

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: wellis68 COMMENT-DATE:1:51 PM COMMENT-BODY:good post Robin. I love it! -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Unknown COMMENT-DATE:2:58 PM COMMENT-BODY:thanks, robin. God has had the wheels and gears turning on this topic for quite a while now. --------