We had our staff and Executive Council leadership retreat this past weekend. We did something different than we had done in previous years. Instead of an overnighter at a retreat center, we shortened our time and went just down the street from our church to Hamilton Gables. Also, instead of team building games, creative activities and long periods of “down time” we lasered in on scripture, telling stories of life change in our church, leadership and our evolving communication strategy.
One of the ideas we focused on was unity. We looked at John 17 and Jesus’ passionate prayer for unity. We were reminded of how important unity and alignment are among people of “the body”. But, that idea starts with the leadership. If the leadership arrows aren’t all pointing in the same direction (within the larger arrow of the mission of the church) then we create confusion for those trying to follow. We must ruthlessly hold fast to our missional direction. All it takes is one or two arrows veering off course to slow down momentum and cause frustration for the others who are passionately moving forward. Jesus clearly understood that one of the weak spots in the human condition is the gravitational pull toward dis-unity and selfishness. If leaders give in to this, the church is in trouble. So, “Jesus help us!”.
Anyway, it was a great retreat. I’m proud of our leadership.
I with you on needing unity for a “body” to maintain momentum and forward progress. How do you straighten out the arrows? What if the arrows that aren’t aligned have no idea they are misaligned? It’s hard to have unity if there isn’t a clear well communicated path or direction. Is a high level vision good enough to gain unity or do you need specific directives?
I guess your post has sparked some thoughts for me. Sorry for all of the questions. Just thought I would share what hit me when I read your post.
Heath, thanks for chiming in with good questions!!
I think the misaligned arrows are leaders who may go along with most of the vision, but when they encounter aspects they personally don’t like, they intentionally make it hard for those who are trying to move forward. Usually the problem shows up as negative attitude toward other leaders, gossip, intentionally being hard to work with etc.
As far as communicating the path of the vision, I agree that it must be clearly presented. I also know, through experience, that vision leaks over time and sometimes people have selective hearing. It can be a tricky thing. I think it takes striving for better, more consistent communication. Unity, though, begins with a genuine desire to love and serve Jesus and others.
I appreciate your thoughts!
I am also in agreement on the need for unity for forward progress. I fear I have been one of the misaligned arrows – how do the smaller arrows know where the big arrow is pointing and when it has moved. Are the arrows necessarily misaligned or just aligned differently (either way they need to be aligned, but it seems that most issues of the arrows direction aren’t arguments of Biblical Truth, but of process/procedure).
Can we have a safe place (intent of no harm – we all share common goal) for the arrows that have aligned differently to spin for awhile and re-align.