Aug. 25 Reflection: Spiritual Leadership
Dear Holy Covenant Community,
What do you think of when you hear the word “Leader”?
Efficient CEOs? Successful politicians? The ability to empower others toward a common goal?
We learn much about leadership in our secular lives, from school to business to our volunteer efforts. These messages are helpful and can lead to many kinds of successes. But when we talk about leadership in the church, in our lives of faith, what do we mean? Is it somehow different?
I invite you to our Holy Covenant Leaders’ Retreat, Saturday Sept. 11 from 9am-12pm at the church. We’ll be exploring what it means to be a spiritual leader under the guidance of Rev. Lisl Heymans Paul. During the morning we will examine our own spiritual gifts and then use Scripture and prayer to discover how we can best use these in our church.
If we want to lead our community to Seek God, Love all People, and Change the world, we first have to go deeper in our own spiritual lives before we can know where God is calling us. Henri Nouwen, the great spiritual writer, says this about a saint of the faith: “Like all great disciples of Jesus, Mother Teresa affirmed again the truth that ministry can be fruitful only when it grows out of a direct and intimate encounter with our Lord.” Our call is to be a community of spiritual leaders, focused not on how much we can get done, but on how close we can grow to Christ. When this is our focus, we will be amazed with the abundance that flows forth! We’ll produce more fruits than we ever thought possible.
You are welcome to come if you hold an official leadership position, are a leader of the community without a title, or someone who is interested in becoming a leader here and wanting to learn more. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions. If you’re coming, RSVP to me and please bring a Bible. If you don’t have one, let me know, and I’ll get you one!
See you on Sunday and think about who you can bring with you.
Grace and Peace,
Kate
