Rev. Joel Fitzgerald, Sr. Director of Church Relation
I live on a flyway for Canada geese and cranes. Every fall and every spring, hordes of birds descend on the fields and ponds near me. It is amazing to watch them take off: one, then two, then dozens more waddle-run until they are flying in perfect v formation. It often looks like there is a clear leader, one strong willed goose who takes charge and leads the flock.
Yet that is not how goose psychology works. Geese do not have one set leader; in fact, they do not even have a committee. One goose decides to follow another, and the next goose decides to follow the one next to them. What looks like one commanding decision to leave is really a lot of small decisions made on an individual level.
Power plays a vital role in how churches function, yet it often goes unspoken. Church power structures are often hidden.
In C3: Courageous Congregations Collaborate, one of the muscles we talk about is Sharing Power. The United Methodist Foundation of Michigan partners with the Texas Methodist Foundation to offer the C3. The program equips congregations to strengthen five essential “muscles” for ministry today: grieving well, discerning purpose, walking alongside, tending power, and expanding imagination.
Sharing power involves both recognizing the power we have, and using that power in a collaborative, generative way. To paraphrase Reinhold Niebuhr, it means recognizing the things we can change, the things we cannot change, and learning to be ok with that reality.
This work takes time, wisdom, and discernment. It calls us to sit with uncomfortable tensions and navigate uncertain terrain. If you would like support in that work, I invite you to consider whether C3 is right for your church. The United Methodist Foundation of Michigan is dedicated to investing in churches and servant leaders to help transform the world.
What I am currently reading: Leaders That Last by Margaret Marcusson. Marcusson takes a Family Systems approach to pastoral leadership, giving insight into how to navigate unfamiliar landscapes. Her insight into how anxiety affects systems was particularly apt given the current state of the church and the world.
