This past week our parish's pastoral leadership team (parish staff) and I attended an event called the Global Leadership Summit. The event is sponsored by the Willow Creek Association in Illinois and brings together more than 100,000 leaders (most from churches) to listen to high powered speakers share their expertise on leadership. This was my fifth year attending the summit, which is beamed by satellite to locations across the country. We attended at a church in nearby Glenarden. This year's speakers included Colin Powell, Patrick Lencioni, and Dr. Henry Cloud among others. Every year I leave the event energized about the possibilities for me as a pastor. This year my energy level was even greater as I saw the excitement in the faces of our parish staff. The basic premise of the summit is, "when a leader gets better, everyone gets better." But not only pastors are called to be leaders in churches. Certainly our pastoral leadership team are leaders within St. Pius, but so are all our volunteers, heads of ministries, organizations and programs. And really, every member of our parish is called to "lead" others to Christ. We call this discipleship. Discipleship is a term you have heard me talk about a lot the past several months. It is the title Christ gave to those who followed him. Ask yourself how you are doing as a leader. Are you getting better, do you need some encouragement, direction, or prayers? Many opportunities exist for every disciple to grow and get better. Most times, all that is needed is the courage to act; to take on something new, have a conversation with someone about your faith, push yourself a little. One great quote I heard during the summit sums up the challenge we all face as leaders: you can be courageous or you can be comfortable, but you can't be both...so choose one! May you be a truly courageous witness for Christ, leading others to him and his kingdom. |