Leadership column

The Mennonite Church USA Executive Board has taken specific leadership steps since February, when it declared that our combined leadership habits do not adequately support our vision and mission. Why did they say this? What actions have they taken?

Leaders accept the baton passed from former leaders. In 1999-2001, the new Executive Board proposed recommendations for merger to delegates, creating Mennonite Church USA. Leaders in 2001 recognized that the work of reorganization was not completed in 2001. A baton was passed then, and accepted now by the current Executive Board, to conduct a review of organizational structures six years later. The current Executive Board has grasped that baton and is running with it on the next leg of the race.

Leaders read the big picture. The board has said that if the vision of healing and hope is to have relevance outside the church, the vision needs to be supported by habits of relationship among church parts that produce a meaningful witness. New organizational habits and structures can increase options to focus churchwide priorities and initiatives. We need a new approach to communication and funding through a more nimble and responsive leadership structure. Sure, we could reduce cost and gain efficiencies, but the board is looking beyond those measures of success. The board is dreaming of a future where our church finds new ways of joining God’s work and has a witness that’s relevant to a postmodern culture. The board’s proposal for one new leadership board was an attempt to move toward these goals.

Leaders prepare us for the future. It is said that folly is to do the same things with the same people in the same way and expect a different result. The Executive Board, in its role to discern what is good for everyone in Mennonite Church USA, asks what will happen to our witness if we continue to be guided by 20th-century assumptions about churchwide affairs. Our fast-changing 21st-century environment requires more adaptable organizational patterns to support our witness.

Leaders listen and act. The board based its actions on consistent listening to constituency over the past eight years. Prior to the June all-boards meeting, I joined the moderator and moderator-elect in seeking advice through 30 telephone calls, listening to more than 200 leaders, including agency boards.

Leaders pace their leadership. At the June all-boards meeting, the Executive Board heeded the request of agency boards to slow down the process of final decision-making to allow more time for everyone to learn new ways of working together. The board said it could return to the proposal for one board, if needed.

Leaders support and depend on other leaders. The Executive Board (or a new board, if created) provides “centrist” leadership—the gathering place for corporate discernment in churchwide affairs. It is important that we have capable centrist leadership affirming and connecting with leaders throughout the church. Without centrist leadership, the diversity of our leadership patterns and initiatives may produce confusion about our identity and mission. It’s important for centrist leaders to humbly remind all leaders that the church does not exist for itself but for the world.

Leaders risk making mistakes. At a March Constituency Leaders Council meeting with conference and constituency group leaders, a conference leader, noting an air of controversy, asked Ed Diller, moderator-elect and CLC chair, “After all you have heard, Ed, would you say, ‘Get over it,’ or would you say, ‘I’m sorry’?” Diller said he would reverse the order of statements, saying, “We’re sorry, get over it.” He explained that trustworthy leaders always make mistakes. They need to be accountable and apologize for mistakes. He continued, “We also have to get over it because as leaders continue to lead they will make more mistakes.”

Leaders know leadership is always earned, never bestowed. The Executive Board, as our principal churchwide leadership body, assuming the role of the delegate body when it is not in session, works tirelessly and listens carefully to the Holy Spirit to guide the experience of every aspect of the vision and mission of Mennonite Church USA. Overarching all our structures is our vision of healing and hope.

James Schrag is executive director of Mennonite Church USA.