Welcome to Glengormley Methodist Church
Part of the Methodist Church in Ireland
At the Leaders’ Day Away in January I was asked to comment on what I feel is important for our leaders to remember as they carry out their role within Glengormley Methodist Church. What follows is not intended to be a prescriptive list or a biblical study on the role of leaders. It is however, a few thoughts that God placed in my mind to share on a practical level about our character and conduct as leaders. This is something that we all should strive to achieve but in reality not many of us could say that we have ‘arrived’!
Commitment
a. It is important that we are firstly committed to God, sensitive to His leading and not afraid to do or say what we believe He is saying to us, as long as it is in accordance with Scripture, spoken in love and done in a gracious manner.
b. We should be an example to others - people of good repute. Integrity, honesty, a desire to care for the needs of those in our charge and consistency in our walk with God are characteristics that should be evident in us as leaders. We must be a good witness to all.
c. We should be people who are dependable and reliable. It is important to do what we say we will do and fulfil the role we feel God has called us to and that we have committed to do e.g. attend meetings, carry out duties. No one is expected to be at everything but if there are particular things that we have agreed to do then we must be faithful in carrying them out.
d. It is important that we have people who are passionate about the role they have undertaken (round pegs in round holes) because then they will be committed to this area and have a desire to see God develop it further.
Confidentiality
As leaders we must be able to be trustworthy. We are all told things at times in confidence and it is vital that we do not break that trust otherwise we can cause deep hurt or damage to others and make situations needlessly difficult for all involved. It takes a lot of courage and trust for people to share very personal things with us and it will undermine both our personal witness and the witness of our ministry/organisation if we divulge this sensitive information. The only exceptions that I would suggest would be if the information concerned a child protection matter or an illegal activity in which case it would be appropriate to discuss with the Minister how such matters should be addressed.
A Servant Heart
As leaders we are to be servants to those in our care. We should aim to build others up, helping them to develop in their faith and encouraging them to find their area of service and identify their giftings. Philippians 2 talks about the need to put our own desires down and instead seek to encourage and build others up.
Pride
This is a big danger for all of us. A humble attitude is required as an arrogant spirit and demeanour can cause such hindrance to the work of God in both our own life and in the lives of others. We must constantly recognise the Source of our strength and success. Once we feel that things are happening as a result of something that we have done or achieved then we run the very real risk of leaving God in the background as we push ourselves forward (intentionally or not).Those in more prestigious /visible roles can be very susceptible to this very subtle danger. Ephesians 4 emphasises how we all need to work as a team and value each other as being just as important – we are all vital parts of the body.
Empowering Others
It is essential that we recognise the giftings that others have and encourage them to become involved in God’s service. As leaders we have a co-ordinating role as well as a participative role. We lead by example and as a church we must provide the support, training and encouragement from the wider church family so that no one feels left to cope on their own.
Our Core Values
Through ‘Clearing our Vision’ we have recently agreed the core values that we believe should characterise our church:
It is important that we as leaders adhere to and actively remind others about these core values. This will help us to keep our church moving on the path that we feel God is leading us along. It is easy to go off on a tangent doing something that is very honourable and worthy but perhaps not the right thing for us as a church at a particular point in time. What can then happen is that very quickly everything becomes diluted and people experience ‘burnt out’. It is important that every organisation and group associated with our church are regularly reminded to reflect on how their group is linking in to these core values.
Commitment
a. It is important that we are firstly committed to God, sensitive to His leading and not afraid to do or say what we believe He is saying to us, as long as it is in accordance with Scripture, spoken in love and done in a gracious manner.
b. We should be an example to others - people of good repute. Integrity, honesty, a desire to care for the needs of those in our charge and consistency in our walk with God are characteristics that should be evident in us as leaders. We must be a good witness to all.
c. We should be people who are dependable and reliable. It is important to do what we say we will do and fulfil the role we feel God has called us to and that we have committed to do e.g. attend meetings, carry out duties. No one is expected to be at everything but if there are particular things that we have agreed to do then we must be faithful in carrying them out.
d. It is important that we have people who are passionate about the role they have undertaken (round pegs in round holes) because then they will be committed to this area and have a desire to see God develop it further.
Confidentiality
As leaders we must be able to be trustworthy. We are all told things at times in confidence and it is vital that we do not break that trust otherwise we can cause deep hurt or damage to others and make situations needlessly difficult for all involved. It takes a lot of courage and trust for people to share very personal things with us and it will undermine both our personal witness and the witness of our ministry/organisation if we divulge this sensitive information. The only exceptions that I would suggest would be if the information concerned a child protection matter or an illegal activity in which case it would be appropriate to discuss with the Minister how such matters should be addressed.
A Servant Heart
As leaders we are to be servants to those in our care. We should aim to build others up, helping them to develop in their faith and encouraging them to find their area of service and identify their giftings. Philippians 2 talks about the need to put our own desires down and instead seek to encourage and build others up.
Pride
This is a big danger for all of us. A humble attitude is required as an arrogant spirit and demeanour can cause such hindrance to the work of God in both our own life and in the lives of others. We must constantly recognise the Source of our strength and success. Once we feel that things are happening as a result of something that we have done or achieved then we run the very real risk of leaving God in the background as we push ourselves forward (intentionally or not).Those in more prestigious /visible roles can be very susceptible to this very subtle danger. Ephesians 4 emphasises how we all need to work as a team and value each other as being just as important – we are all vital parts of the body.
Empowering Others
It is essential that we recognise the giftings that others have and encourage them to become involved in God’s service. As leaders we have a co-ordinating role as well as a participative role. We lead by example and as a church we must provide the support, training and encouragement from the wider church family so that no one feels left to cope on their own.
Our Core Values
Through ‘Clearing our Vision’ we have recently agreed the core values that we believe should characterise our church:
- Love – an overarching value
- Dependence on God
- Growing Continually into Christ-likeness
- Unity
- Enabling Leadership
- Actively Reaching the Lost in Love
It is important that we as leaders adhere to and actively remind others about these core values. This will help us to keep our church moving on the path that we feel God is leading us along. It is easy to go off on a tangent doing something that is very honourable and worthy but perhaps not the right thing for us as a church at a particular point in time. What can then happen is that very quickly everything becomes diluted and people experience ‘burnt out’. It is important that every organisation and group associated with our church are regularly reminded to reflect on how their group is linking in to these core values.