29 TH April 2013

 We participate in the Mission of God not create our own  Mission is about creating, redeeming, healing, consoling, and inspiring  Participation is about the Gospel. Knowing and living the Gospel message  Fr Stephen Bevans has been clear about Mission being Trinitarian – it is communitarian  My context is the place of Mission – here and now in this place  We have just reflected briefly on that context – health and aged care, education, parish, pastoral roles, justice advocacy and welfare  Our contexts vary. They can be institutional, organisational, individual, hands on.  We all exercise leadership within the context of participating in the Gospel call of God’s Mission now, letting the mystery of God’s light overcome us.

 What sort of leadership?  Theories: ◦ Great Person Theory – inherent ◦ Trait Theories – features ◦ Contingency - depends on the environment ◦ Situational – varies according to the situation ◦ Behavioural – made not born ◦ Participative- involves other but leader decides ◦ Managerial – rewards and sanctions ◦ Relational – transformative – connections made ◦ Do you identify any of these leadership styles in your context?

 Servant leadership – leadership exercised by Jesus  where one is motivated by the needs and interest of others within the context of the gospel message – to bring one another to experience the presence and mission of God.  Leadership exercised by Jesus who brought God’s mission into our human form.  The perennial example is the washing of the feet.

 Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John.  All groups, all societies are built on the model of a pyramid: at the top are the powerful, the rich, the intelligent. They are called to govern and guide. At the bottom are the immigrants, the slaves, the servants, people who are out of work, or who have a mental illness or different forms of disabilities. They are excluded, marginalized. Here Jesus is taking the place of a person at the bottom, the last place, the place of a slave. For Peter this is impossible. Little does he realize that Jesus came to transform the model of society from a pyramid to a body: where each and every person has a place, whatever their abilities or disabilities, where each one is dependent upon the other. Each is called to fulfil a mission in the body of humanity and of the Church. There is no “last place”. (p.227)

 Healthy self-esteem  Strong self-belief  Moral conviction  Emotional stability  Transparency between words, actions and life.

Vision aligned to the Gospel-know what you are about.  Capacity to listen to God, self and others  Trust – delegation – belief in the capacity and integrity of others  Freeing but with accountability  People matter and so does performance  Willingness to keep learning, taking one step at a time.

 Where is the prophetic edge?  In complex organisations. Is our leadership different from the corporation culture? How and why?  Bottom line – what prevails in the end?  Power differentials and distance  Individualism – not the highest paid, nor one with distinguished title, competitive environment  Short term gain or medium to long term rightness  Solidarity and humanity not success or competition.

 How do I review my own role, job description, or calling within this understanding of mission as God’s mission for the world?