“If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.”—Romans 12:8 (NLT).
As leaders in God’s work we take the role with all seriousness until a time comes when we are called to release that leadership position to another leader, and we prepare for our next ministry season.
Whether I am a Pathfinder leader, General Conference Executive Committee member, elder, women’s ministry director, principal or whatever the leadership role in the church may be, it is a sacred privilege to serve as a leader for God’s work. As leaders it is incredibly helpful to keep in mind that the leadership roles we are called to fulfil belong to the church. The church invites us to take on leadership roles for the purpose of providing ministry support to our communities for a particular period of time. We are called and gifted by God to be temporary stewards of a ministry position for the time that we are in the role.
Over my years in ministry I have observed and experienced the pull towards assuming continuation, or even permanency, in a church role. An expectation develops resulting in disappointment or even bitterness if re-appointment does not occur. So just recently, it was a striking example for me personally to witness a leader who was not re-appointed to a role accept the decision with grace, dignity and integrity. My esteem and respect for that leader skyrocketed. This leader has always been steadfast about being open to God’s leading through His church. This leader was consistently true to their godly values, and was therefore humbly obedient to God’s call for change.
The work of church appointment committees are spiritual processes carried out by fellow church members who are prayerfully Spirit-led to appoint ministry leaders.
What has given me confidence in the nominating process of the church is that though I may not agree or like an appointment decision made by a committee, God is always faithful in ensuring that His work goes forward, whilst caring for leaders who are releasing their current role and transitioning to their next ministry calling.
