Review | Functional & Non-Functional Christian Leadership

Reviewed by Thomas Scarborough

During my recent postgraduate studies on Christian leadership in the USA, well over 90% of my seminary's required reading originated in the Global North. Yet in my personal experience -- loosely speaking -- there are vast differences between Christian leadership paradigms in the Global North and in the Global South. In short, the result is that the Global North comes to appreciate very little of Christian leadership thinking in the Global South. This is compounded by the fact that much of the material in the Global South is not available in English. This means that it is largely closed to the Global North -- although sometimes one will find summaries or abstracts in English.

The purpose of this review is therefore to open a window on the thinking of the Global South, by means of a doctoral dissertation, written in Afrikaans, by Dr. Vincent Atterbury of South Africa. While the dissertation under review is specifically Pentecostal -- it is titled "Church Leadership From a Pentecostal Perspective" -- it also casts its eye over leadership "in the church as a whole" (:iv), and would seem, to me, to represent wider thinking on Christian leadership in the Global South. I would estimate that two-thirds of the ministers in my own minister's fraternal -- who belong to various denominations -- would broadly subscribe to its views.

I shall begin at the end. The dissertation has a single Addendum, titled "Statistical Analysis of Church Leadership Literature". This analysis encompasses 116 books on Christian leadership, published between 1976 and 1998, mostly in the Global North. The analysis shows that a mere 16% of these books deal explicitly with "the operation of the Holy Spirit" in Christian leadership (:229). Dr. Atterbury's thinking would seem to have been prompted by my own alma mater in the USA, through a pastor of the Apostolic Faith Mission, who, following his studies in the USA, introduced the idea, in South Africa, that "church leadership [is] the crucial factor in church growth" (:9). This, among other things, led Dr. Atterbury to believe that a void existed with regard to "the role and influence of the operation of the Holy Spirit" (:10).

"In Practical Theology," writes Dr. Atterbury, "one focuses on acts of faith which take place in and through human beings. The total context within which [such] acts of faith take place includes, inter alia, the reality of God, who on His own initiative, through His Spirit, acts within that context" (:21). In keeping with much of the Christian leadership literature of the Global North, Dr. Atterbury emphasises the work of the Holy Spirit "in" the leader. However, the real difference of his dissertation would seem to be found in his emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit "through" the leader (:39). With this in mind, the success of the early church, he writes, "may be ascribed to the operation of the Holy Spirit alone" (:42).

Dr. Atterbury distinguishes between two basic approaches to Christian leadership: the "functional" on the one hand (mainly Global North), and the "non-functional" on the other (:77). A functional model of Christian leadership focuses on influence, mobilisation, focus, progress, and facilitation (:80), while a non-functional model focuses on "critical spiritual aspects" (:84) in order to find a "more balanced approach" (:158).

My one disappointment with the dissertation was its preoccupation with conceptual or theological issues, at the expense, I thought, of how the two models of Christian leadership might influence ministry attrition -- not to speak of the burden of ministry. By and large, it failed to sketch the influence of "non-functional" Christian leadership on Christian ministry in practice. The dissertation might further have expanded on the relationship of the Holy Spirit "in" the Christian leader and "through" the Christian leader, particularly since the former would seem to be of central importance to many Christian leadership authors of the Global North.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here follows my own translation of pages 65 to 67 of Dr. Atterbury's dissertation, which represents, in "rough form", the "theological theory" which historically undergirds a "non-functional" model of Christian leadership. Note that Afrikaans does not always closely coincide with English, and the original text will provide the original meaning:

"a) God the Father has appointed Jesus as head of the church.

b) Jesus rules over the church in and through the Holy Spirit.

c) Jesus and the Holy Spirit choose ordinary people to become members of the church. These become members of the church through the process of rebirth.

d) These persons are further baptised in the Holy Spirit, and this gives them the opportunity to participate in the gifts of the Spirit. In particular, speaking in tongues is important here. This baptism in the Spirit is the first and primary opportunity by which, through the direct operation of the Holy Spirit, people experience Jesus as Lord.

e) Those who have been baptised in the Spirit can be used by the Spirit, in any place and in any circumstance, particularly through any of the nine gifts which are enumerated in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11.

f) In order to govern, to lead, and to enlarge His church effectively, Jesus elects, by His Spirit, certain persons as leaders, and permits them to function as leaders within the fellowship.

g) The fact that these leaders have been baptised in the Spirit, and experience the manifestation of the gifts, and are led by the Spirit in various circumstances, enables them to apply, in the community, the dominion of Christ in the church and through the church.

h) All that church leaders therefore require, to operate as effective leaders, and to effectively build up congregations, is a calling and a touch by Jesus Christ through His Spirit.

i) Persons who have been baptised in the Spirit, and have thus directly experienced the touch of God, will also have the faith that God's plans for them, and for His church, will be fully developed through them.

j) Any other means, which might be described as a means of assistance, should be regarded with suspicion. God's Spirit is sufficient to build up His church. He does not need any means of assistance. All that is needed to effectively lead the church, and to build it up, is persons, baptised in the Spirit, who live obediently under His leading. The proof of this is found in the Scriptures. In the Scriptures, the Spirit led -- and obedient, called persons, such as Peter and Paul, acted as His instruments. Where needed, the charismata worked through them. Nothing more than this is needed.

k) From the foregoing formulations, the following follows: The problem with other churches, in particular the Catholic and historical Protestant churches, is precisely that they relied on their own traditions and theological insights. Persons who came to the fore as leaders in these churches were frequently not born again Christians, or at the least were not baptised in the Spirit. Therefore they were not truly serviceable instruments in God's hand. They also had no witness to the direct touch of God in their lives. By implication, theological training was also a stumbling block, since people thereby came under the temptation to rely on their learning, rather than being continually dependent on the Spirit of God."

By way of commentary, points d) and k) in particular would seem peculiarly Pentecostal, while points i) and j) would seem to be particularly characteristic of Christian leadership in the Global South, whatever the denomination.

Dr. Vincent Atterbury's full dissertation may be downloaded -- free -- from the University of South Africa (UNISA) at http://etd.unisa.ac.za/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-03072007-144800/unrestricted/thesis.pdf. Its size is 5.6 MB.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rev. Thomas Scarborough is currently completing an M.Th. (Leadership)

through the South African Theological Seminary (SATS). He is the minister of an Evangelical Congregational Church in Cape Town. He keeps a ministry blog at http://thomasscarborough.blogspot.com