Clergy/Leaders' Mail-list No. 2-053 (Leadership Issues)

EAUK DIRECTOR URGES CHRISTIAN LEADERS NOT TO PUT STYLE BEFORE SUBSTANCE

In a culture obsessed by image and spin, Christian leaders must guard against promoting style over substance warns Evangelical Alliance General Director, Joel Edwards.

Effective Christian leadership runs much deeper than personality and needs to be firmly based on a sense of calling, a vision which engages and a willingness to take risks, says Joel.

"More than ever before, leadership presents immense challenges and privileges," he stresses. "Christian leadership stands at an important crossroad because it is often the way in which people make sense of the Christian Church in the present culture."

But Christian leadership can often be undermined by the pressures and demands of the role he adds. "More than most, we are driven from within and hassled from without. We are pushed by our own vision for a better church and a redeemed world, and hassled by those we lead to come up with the goods. As such, we are more prone to walk in a hurry than we are to walk in the Spirit."

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Joel believes successful leaders are people orientated, are able to see beyond the here and now and are bold enough to recognise when it is time to pass the baton on.

"God's future agenda depends on present investment," he states. "If we truly believe that God's unfinished agenda is likely to be unfinished when we are gone, we will be serious about mentoring others who will work with us in the present and who will carry on when we are gone.

He added: "A successful leader must have flexibility and be willing to take risks - particularly with younger people. This kind of leadership will also be willing to learn from others who bring different gifts to the table.

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Evangelical Alliance (UK) email: <> Website - http://www.eauk.org

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The Evangelical Alliance UK was founded in 1846 and today represents over one million Christians in 30 denominations. The Evangelical Alliance was a founding member of the World Evangelical Fellowship, which now has 120 member Alliances, together representing 200 million evangelicals worldwide.

EAUK considers that an evangelical is someone who believes that Jesus is both God and man; that the Bible is the ultimate authority in all that it addresses; and that the traditional beliefs of the Church such as the physical resurrection of Jesus are true. An evangelical owns a commitment to Christ as their personal saviour and a desire to live out that faith in the community.