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Eating Together
Please refer to the conversation cards sheet above.
Dwelling Together
Mark 6:22-44 (NRSV)
When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ 23 And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’ 24 She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’ 25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ 26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ 37 But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ 38 And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ 39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
What is the difference between Herod’s and Jesus’ leadership? How do they use their power in distinct ways?
Are there leaders who you look up to? Is there something they have in common? What is it about them that inspires you?
Where are you seen as a leader? How do you exercise your authority? How could your leadership look more like Jesus’?
Learning Together
What are the qualities or characteristics of a ‘good’ leader?
Collaborative Ministry
Collaboration is at the heart of the nature of our Trinitarian God. The Message version of Isaiah 2:3 encapsulates what this means: “He’ll show us the way he works so we can live the way we’re made,” which we take to mean that we’re made to work in community, collaboratively. In collaborative ministry, we work together, bringing our different gifts and attributes, our complementary callings and vocations.
Sally Nash, Jo Pimlott & Paul Nash (2008) Skills for Collaborative Ministry, London, SPCK, 4-5.
• What gifts and attributes can you bring to collaborative ministry?
Group Leadership
A basic model for group leadership
There are six key functions of the group leader, which should be followed in this order:
- To create a climate of safety
- To encourage interaction among the members
- To adhere to the task established by the group
- To direct the group toward the purpose
- To intervene when the dynamics prevent group progress
- To evaluate the progress of the group
Loughlan Sofield & Carroll Juliano (1987) Collaborative Ministry: Skills and Guidelines, Notre Dame, Ave Maria Press, 83-84.
Why is it so important to create a climate of safety first, before a group can get anything else done?
Images of Leadership
- Which image of leadership connects most with your sense of what it means to lead?
- Do you think of yourself as a leader?
Reflecting Together on Leadership and Empowering Others
In this session, we will be reflecting on the importance of enabling others to do evangelism, by taking risks, giving opportunities, and leading wisely.
- We will focus on leadership and teamwork as key elements of this process; if we can lead others in ways that promote collaboration and group ownership, we can enable and empower them.
- Such a process can be costly, risky, and difficult at times, but it can also help to produce mature disciples and healthy teams.
A quick question…
- Imagine you’re leading a team at church whose job is to organize an outreach event in the local community.
- Why might it be better to ask a member of the team to complete a particular task (e.g., producing the publicity materials), even if you’re fairly sure they won’t do it as well or as quickly as you could do it yourself?
Traditional vs. collaborative leadership
- Take a look at the handout contrasting traditional and collaborative forms of leadership.
- Which style of leadership do you prefer and why?
- Why might collaborative leadership be important if we want to enable others to do evangelism?
Servant Leadership
Who is the leader in this picture?
In his book Growing Leaders, James Lawrence lists six characteristics from the biblical tradition that mark out a distinctly Christian leadership:
How does the idea of a leader venturing into the unknown and not knowing the way contrast with how wider society view leaders?
- Christian leadership is founded in relationship with God as Trinity
- Christian leadership is rooted in the Bible and directed by the Spirit
- Christian leadership is marked by servanthood
- Christian leadership is shaped by the cross and resurrection
- Christian leadership is sustained by prayer
- Christian leadership is lived out personally as part of the community of faith (Lawrence, 2016: 31-41).
Lawrence asserts that a servant leader has a servant heart – ‘a willingness to listen, a love for people, an ability to adapt, a humble attitude’ (Lawrence, 2016: 36).
What does being a servant leader mean to you?
How distinct is it from other forms of leadership?
Group Activities
Suggested content form Andy Milne (2016)
Andy Milne is known for pioneering Sorted, a Fresh Expression of Church that works with young people in Bradford. In his book The DNA of Pioneer Ministry, he discusses how to foster ownership with a team:
- Admit you need help and don’t be afraid to ask
- Don’t take people for granted
- Build a culture of ownership
- Listen really well and implement people’s ideas
- Suggest ideas and let others take the credit
- The Body of Christ functioning well
- Organic to organisation
Discussion: Which of Milne’s suggestions challenge you the most? Why is this?
Resources to use
Curch Army have developed a suite of resources to enable and resource evangelism and faith sharing in the local church. These are useful tools for you to use when starting to lead in evangelism in your context, and equip those who may feel less comfortable with the idea of sharing why they are a Christian.
Faith Pictures is a small group resource to help Christians talk about their faith journey using language they are comfortable using.
Faith Shared is a resource for Churches thinking about how they can connect with the communities around them and invite them to participate in the life of faith.
Praying Together
Make a paper chain with YOU in the middle:
- On the chains that come before YOU, draw, write or just think about those who have invested in you. Hold them before God in prayer.
- On the chains that come after YOU, draw, write or just think about those you can invest in. Who can you enable to grow in evangelism? Hold them before God in prayer.