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1 Corinthians 11:1

BY SANDRA GREENE

"Follow my example, as I follow Christ."

When most people think of leader-ship, they picture a leader as one giving orders or an employer closely making sure all the work gets done. While these aspects can be apart of leadership they are not the essence of spiritual leadership.

Spiritual leadership embraces wisdom and compassion. It includes a vision and a love-led, empowered, team-driven structure that supports a congregation so that it can thrive in an environment of continuous learning and growth.

True spiritual leadership, enacted with a spirit of love, humility and service, causes people to follow because they want to, not because they have to.

The challenge that we as a church face is not in fostering leaders but in fostering spiritual leaders who will lead with discipline, ingenuity, empathy and compassion.

We need leaders who will seek to understand people and "love" them into action, leaders who pause to ask that all important question before speaking, acting or reacting: "What would Jesus do?"

Additionally we face the challenge of recognizing the fact that everyone has leadership ability in certain areas of giftedness. It is our responsibility and our privilege to help others discover and cultivate their

spiritual leadership potential and apply it to every walk of their lives.

In the course on spiritual leadership that is offered in the upcoming Discipleship Academy, the intention is to develop methods and theories in the domain of spiritual leadership.

This fall, in the four regions of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, participants in the Discipleship Academy will explore the latest information in spiritual leadership development and practice, which not only will make a difference in the way they do ministry, but it will also impact the ability of the church to make disciples for the transformation of the world.

For those who take the class, we will discover that in our own spiritual journey we should pray to God for wisdom on how we can become spiritual leaders.

We also need to ask God to change our hearts and to develop the character qualities that are required for spiritual leadership. And, perhaps most importantly, we must rely on the power of God to give us the strength that we need to exhibit

spiritual leadership in our ministry and in our lives.

I am looking forward to the opportunity to teach the class on spiritual leadership in the Annapolis-Southern Region. The class will be rooted in the leadership wisdom of Jesus. It will be centered on the advantage of forgiveness over

judgment, the importance of love and service, and the wisdom of recognizing the deeper value of those who we are called to serve. These are lessons we all need.

WWJD? Jesus would lead.

The Rev. Sandra Greene is pastor of Mt. Calvary UMC in Charlotte Hall.