Kia ora e te whanau
I’m on the road this week – In Wellington on Friday for the National Dialogue for Christian Unity (an annual meeting between leaders of the Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and Society of Friends Churches), and on to Gisborne for the weekend. I’m looking forward to it!
Personal and Leadership Resources
1. When to delay a conversation
Here’s a great reminder. Experience tells me that initiating that difficult conversation before I’ve prepared my own heart and mind for the encounter, and before I’ve held the encounter before God in prayer, is so often a recipe for the whole thing going south. Part of my preparation is to engender within myself a spirit of openness and inquiry – making sure I understand the whole, and have a fair representation of the perspective of the person I’m having the conversation with. It’s all to easy to come in, mind made up, all guns blazing, judgement simply needing to be delivered. There’s so much more I could say. The article can be accessed here: https://www.smartbrief.com/original/when-to-delay-a-conversation
2. Want to be a Better Leader – Learn to Let God of Control
We may talk about team, yet so often in churches we don’t really have them. It’s difficult as ‘Pastor’ to let go of the need to be in control. So much of what happens in church reflects on us – for good, or for ill. And yet, if we’re truly the church, recognising that each have their God-given gifts, we need to ‘trust’ ‘our’ people to be able to do the tasks entrusted to them without the need to micromanage what they do and how they do it. This could be a wake-up call for those of us who find it difficult to not be calling all the shots. The article can be accessed here: https://www.fastcompany.com/91194353/want-to-be-a-better-leader-learn-to-let-go-of-control
3. Psychology Just Discovered the Type of Zoom Background Your Brain Likes Best
It’s true – blurring the screen, having moving scenes, or boring ‘professional’ background images is not the best for our mental health. And, apparently having to look at oneself constantly is both exhausting and nerve wracking – the article doesn’t tell us that we can disable our self-view – but we can. For clues as to what works best for ourselves and for others read on here: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/psychology-just-discovered-the-type-of-zoom-background-your-brain-likes-best
Homilies & Preaching Resources
Trevor Hoggard’s sermon offers a somewhat pointed reflection on the lectionary texts Job 38:1-7; and Mark 10:33-45, considering the competitive nature, seeking of status, not only of the first disciples, but also us in our time. Jesus is clear that the pathway to greatness in leadership is found through the doorway of service and suffering. His sermon can be engaged with here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5Wj4ElgAaA
My response to the Gospel text of Mark 10:35-45 focuses on the request of James and John to sit at Jesus left and right when he comes into his kingdom. My homily is titled ‘So, You Want to Lead?’. It can be experienced here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnPmb5W5Yqw
Michael Godfrey (out of the Dunedin Anglican Diocese) hosts a conversation of Theologians and Practitioners at the beginning of each week around the Gospel lectionary text for the coming Sunday. The site with all its options can be accessed here: https://www.calledsouth.org.nz/gospel-conversations/ The conversation for this coming Sunday based on the gospel of Mark 10:35-45 and can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E_0LoOpznM
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