Leadership as Sacramental Vocation

Katherine Tyler Scott

When a culture loses its authorized version, the body politic fragments, and its spiritual prosperity withers.

— Bruno Bettelheim

Although differences in polity and theology across the Anglican Communion seem irreconcilable at times, what I find constructive in this time of turmoil is that the current conflicts have precipitated a period of reexamination of identity and purpose. The church has been motivated, and in a few instances pushed, to identify what its beliefs are at the core and to create a common understanding from which to engage and reorder relationships with others in the Communion.

The Search for Coherence, the monograph based on the research by William Sachs following the 2003 General Convention of the Episcopal Church, describes the church as being in a state of "creative incoherence." This is the result of old ways no longer working and a lack of the conviction and courage necessary to risk changing. The ensuing modernday Tower of Babel reveals one of the challenges of being on the margin, of being in between the familiar and the yet-unborn, that of having vocational amnesia. The state of creative incoherence beckons us to return to our foundational sense of who we are and why we exist. It is a call to the vocation so movingly articulated in the Baptismal Covenant.

The Baptismal Covenant conveys our Christian call; it is the contractual agreement addressing the universal questions of identity, our relationship to God, and our obligations to one another. In the reading of, listening to, and practicing of this sacred covenant we enter into the heart of God, a God who promises us community and connection, who holds and cradles us, a God who provides the peace and belonging we crave. We come to know an expectant God who asks us to fulfill our obligations to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to treat them with dignity and respect, and to persevere in resisting evil. When we are sent into the world "in peace, to love and serve the Lord," we are being sent out to live this covenant in some of the most challenging conditions. When asked whether we will seek to meet God's expectations in the covenant, we respond, "We will, with God's help." In this response we are expressing our strong desire to live out our baptismal promises, while knowing that we cannot enter into the gap between reality and the ideal without the help of the Divine.

The Baptismal Covenant calls us all to a common endeavor, and yet unless the deeper meaning of these words is translated into practical day-to-day actions, they lose their power to transform. The loss of meaning results in a state of creative incoherence — a state of hollow ritual and busyness lacking meaning. The church continues to clarify how the ministry of all the baptized should manifest itself. The working out of these shifting roles and relationships is vital in obtaining a creative, coherent state of leadership in the church.

Implicit in the Baptismal Covenant is a template for the relationship and responsibilities of laity and clergy. It evokes shared leadership and mutual ministry that, when faithfully practiced, reinvigorates the church and expands its mission and impact across the globe. The Baptismal Covenant sees leadership in everyone and at every level. It claims a new paradigm of leadership, the DNA of which is embodied in the covenant.

When the Israelites wailed in the desert, "What is to become of us?" they had forgotten who and whose they were and what they were called to do. The Israelites had lost the signposts that helped them to remember their identity and ultimate destiny, the guides that had provided them with security and direction. Likewise, the church is experiencing a passage of confusion and loss, and in our contemporary desert time the question of what is to become of us still hangs in the air. The story of Exodus reminds us that in the in-between times, historical amnesia and loss of identity is a recipe for prolonged suffering.

We are being called to have the faith and courage to move with grace-filled patience and trust, knowing that we will arrive at the Promised Land with God's help. Remembering our vocation, living out our Baptismal Covenant, will help us to endure and triumph.

The transformation of the church can be accomplished without losing what is precious to it, but it cannot avert change. Whether it is accepting a revised Book of Common Prayer or the service leaflet in its place, the loss of an esteemed lay or clergy leader or the departure of parishes and splitting or consolidation of dioceses, a period of grief and disorientation will ensue. Any time our understanding of identity, authority, and vocation is called into question, the real work is to live into and through the dissonance that automatically comes with change, emerging with an even stronger faith.

This is work that cannot be done alone; learning to do the work of transformation requires a community of faithful learners and leaders. The church should be the primary institution preparing leaders for this work. If it accepts this vocation the church will enter a "renaissance of mission" that will revitalize the church and plant the seeds of transformation in the world.

We will need a set of skills and resources designed to bring about such transformation. The resources described on the following pages will enable leaders to read differing historical and cultural realities deftly, to develop competence in group dynamics and development, and to gain expertise in facilitating adaptive work. Additional skills in managing change and resolving conflict, translating facts into a meaningful narrative, creating communities of learning, engendering cultures of trust, and manifesting courage, integrity, and authenticity will be essential.

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Understanding Organizational Culture

In addition to the larger societal, global, and historical contexts in which your parish sits, obtaining a broader and deeper understanding and knowledge of organizational culture is critical to the work of transformation. Culture is a complex concept, and its creation and ongoing development is one of the key responsibilities of the new leadership. The ability to read culture and to manage the complexity of human and organizational experiences and perspectives that exist within it is the sine qua non of leadership.

Terry Deal, coauthor of Corporate Cultures and an expert observer of systems, describes culture as "the way we do things around here." This pithy aphorism captures the behavioral aspects of culture, without highlighting the deeper underlying structures and unconscious assumptions that frequently evolve into unquestioned beliefs and unexamined behaviors. Both aspects of culture compose a hologram through which we can view how a parish perceives, believes, and thinks about itself, how it is perceived by the larger public, and the impact of these perceptions on mission. The...