An interaction with Perspectives on Leadership: Form the Science of Management To Its Spiritual Heart Written by Gilbert F. Fairholm

This morning I woke up, rolled over in bed, grabbed my cell phone and began to return emails that I had received through the night. Shortly after finishing, I picked up my Ipad and began finishing a book I started the night before. About a hour went by and I got up changed clothes and began to tie up some lose ends at work, finalize some deadlines for my doctorate program, confirm a call from a professor in Oregon and verify a Skype call with and expert advisor about a project I am working on. As all of this was taking place I walked up to my oldest sons room password protected his Xbox 360 and finished up some last minute touch ups to my work before meeting a pastor on staff the help him set up for a Lifegroup event this weekend.

The truth of the matter is times are changing and so are people. As a result of the recent culture shift, we have seen changes in technology, community, urbanization, generational loyalty, organizational decentralization, church structuring, and numerous other fronts. It is not surprising, that in light of what is taking place, people ask the question “how does one lead in the 21^st Century?” According to Fairholm the answer depends on “how well leaders understand their roles, the leadership process and their own values and vision as well as those of their groups. Their behaviors set the course others follow and determine the values and other measures used to account for group actions.” (xiii)

As a result of the “new” world that we all live in we need a different leadership mind-set with alternative ways to think about leadership. In order to address leadership in some sort of comprehensive manner Fairholm identifies five levels of leadership.

1.     Leadership as Management

2.     Leadership as Excellent (Good) Management

3.     Values Leadership

4.     Trust Cultural Leadership

5.     Spiritual (Whole-Soul) Leadership

Many of those who read this post have perhaps read numerous books on leadership, so for the sake of repetition I want to focus on the most unique and current level of leadership identified, Spiritual Leadership. I am going to identify several statements made by Fairholm and comment of a few of them. Thinking about the fifth level of leadership about on our current organizational and cultural climate what are your thoughts on these areas?

It is hard for many of us to separate our work from the rest of our life...People in all kinds of occupations are voicing a cry for spiritual foundation in a chaotic world…our spiritual self is finding outlet in the secular work place. (111-112)

I find this to be true. Given the increase in technology and the integration of work and life in so many respects along with the fact that I spend many of my waking hours at work. As a result, I true to allow my spiritual life and work life to integrate as much as possible. Being a minister this does not yield some of the difficulties of a secular work place.

We need to reconnect to the fact that our hearts and minds and not just our bodies, are dominant in our business relationships. (113)

It seems that the church has had her hand in separating our spiritual lives from our work lives. We go to church and do church things and go to work and do work things. The separation of sacred and secular is not something this generation desires to promote and those who lead them must understand this principle.

Few will accept this easily, but what is most needed today is not more intellect, but more soul. Neglect of our spiritual nature helps explain the whole range of workplace problems.” (114)

At first glance at this statement I want to say “of course that is true because we have a sin problem in the world,” but as I continued reading I realized that the issue lies with caring for the entire person and not just the results or job the person is responsible for. If people are emotionally healthy and spiritually feed it stands to reason that productivity and healthy work environments would increase. Earlier this year I read a book entitled The Leadership Mystique it introduced the idea the 21^st century leaders needed to have a higher EQ (Emotional Quotient) and IQ (Intellectual Quotient), maybe today’s leaders also need a healthy SQ (Spiritual Quotient) as well!

Spiritual leadership helps followers by empowering them to similar service. This leadership is also directed toward maintaining a climate to help followers freely accept the challenge to excellence. Conformity may bring unity, but it also brings mediocrity. (115)

There is a reason that God made each person unique and upon salvation gives us each different gifts. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution there was a reason why factories needed to generate some sort of conformity in order to produce large amounts of goods in a factory setting. Today times have changed and most new jobs bring with them the flatting of technology and independence. Management is no longer needed like it once was. Leadership according to Fairholm places higher “emphases on creativity, intelligence, and integrity.” These are the skills needed both in workers and leaders today.

 We have obviously reached a point where non-intuitive, learner, rational management has made a mess of America companies. We badly need true leaders who have a belief in the value of what whey do and in the collective vision and mission…They get beyond spreadsheet analysis to the essence of these situations. To their spirituality. (116)

There is a large part of me that wants to say if it is on paper and the statistics tell it, it is what we need to do, but at the same time something in me screams and says wait there is often things that no one can ever explain, intangibles, that are more than meets the eye. For example, athletes all the time make professional teams and become All-Pro and none of their physical skills match up with their team’s accomplishments. They are not the best individually but some how they make everyone around them their best and the results defy what the analysts predicted. Leaders today must see they unseen that lies in the hearts of each one of their followers. In addition this seems like a fundamental shift from left to right-brain leadership styles.

Our individual lives suggest that, as society or individuals move away from traditional religion, they still must find and outlet for these moral drives. For a growing number of people that is the work they do. (117)

Tim Elmore and other leading writers on the “next generation” state that the up and coming generation is one of the most “cause driven” generations in the history of the world. Denominational reports tell us youth and young adults are leaving traditional churches like never before. Organizations inform us that younger employees are more cause driven than company driven. I see this statement as a reflection of what is transitioning in our society as a whole, and what will continue to happen if things remain on their current course.

I think that Fairholm encapsulates level five when he writes, “When leaders respond to the values of the heart, others will know what we are truly about and can freely choose to follow.”(119) I think this is the essence of volunteer lead leadership and the future of leading the next generation. When someone is cause driven they do no care how much you know until they know how much you care. This is leadership 101 in the 21^st century and this is what people will follow.

Ninety percent of genius is hard work – Albert Einstein

Leadership is something that is discussed daily in both non-profit and for-profit organizations. It is something that endless books have been written about and is debated on every corner. Are leaders born are they made? When leaders fall could it have been prevented? Does leading differ in “for” and “non” profit organizations? What is the best way to train the next generation of leaders? By no means are these questions an exhaustive list but they do point to the fact that leadership is just as important today than it has ever been.

Jim Collins wrote a book entitled Good to Great; Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t. In this book he describes seven characteristics of companies that went from good to great. While describing the qualities that each companies exhibited these seven areas stood out:

• Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but driven to do what's best for the company.


• First Who, Then What: Get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go. Finding the right people and trying them out in different positions.


• Confront the Brutal Facts: The Stockdale paradox - Confront the brutal truth of the situation, yet at the same time, never give up hope.


• Hedgehog Concept: Three overlapping circles: What makes you money? What could you be best in the world at? and What lights your fire?


• Culture of Discipline: Rinsing the cottage cheese.


• Technology Accelerators: Using technology to accelerate growth, within the three circles of the hedgehog concept.


• The Flywheel: The additive effect of many small initiatives; they act on each other like compound interest. *

In response to the overwhelming interest in this book by non-profit organizations and the numerous letters, emails, and questions received about how organizations go from “good to great” that operate on a fundamentally different level than for-profit companies, Collins wrote a monograph, to accompany “Good to Great,” entitled Good to Great and The Social Sectors. In writing this monograph Collins closes his introduction with these words.

“I do not consider myself an expert on the social sectors, but in the spirit of John Gardner, I am a student. Yet I’ve become a passionate student. I’ve come to see that it is simply not good enough to focus solely on having a great business sector. If we only have great companies, we will merely have a prosperous society, not a great one. Economic growth and power are the means, not the definition, of a great nation.” **(I)

In my lifetime I have had the opportunity to start a very successful for-profit organization and also be apart of very successful not-for-profit organizations. In both of these experiences I have learned numerous things that are applicable to both sectors and other things that are specific to only one or the other. Although there are similarities, they are not the same, and the leadership required is not the same. “We must reject the idea–well intentioned, but dead wrong – that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become more like a business.” ***

With this in mind Collins gives these five areas as the framework for his discussion on organizations in the social sector.

·       Defining “Great” – Calibrating Success without Business Metrics

·       Level 5 Leadership – Getting things done with a diffused power structure

·       First Who – Getting the right people on the bus within social sector constraints

·       The Hedgehog Concept – Rethinking the economic engine without a profit motive

·       Turning the Flywheel – Building momentum by building the brand

In Reggie McNeal’s book Practicing Greatness, McNeal writes about being a ‘Great Leader,’ not just an average leader or even a good leader but a ‘Great Spiritual Leader.’ In order to be a great spiritual leader one must be self-aware, manage themselves, understand their mission, make good decisions, belong, and understand aloneness. McNeal continues by stating, “The discipline of self-awareness is the first and single most important piece of information a leader posses.” **** Perhaps this is the single most important reason leaders fail? Tim Irwin wrote a book entitled De-Railed, each leader he identifies has failed in his or her organization. Each failure can be traced back to one of five things and at the heart of each failure is the integrity and character of the leader. They are not honest with themselves and have not developed themselves in areas of virtues and character as much as in areas of numbers and people. Understanding the very real problem Universities like George Fox Evangelical Seminary has developed a doctorate program in Spiritual Formation. The leaders who come out of this group understand the very thing McNeal points out, themselves. This understanding allows them to lead with self-awareness in any organizational setting. 

It is my opinion that the organization must understand the very same things that McNeal points out about the leader. In order for social sectors to be proficient and great in what they do they must understand the five areas Collins points out in addition to being self-aware about the organization, manage itself well (systems), understand decision making, make its member feel like they belong (ownership and connecting), and realize it must not be like everyone else it is unique to itself.

Regardless of your thoughts on this topic one thing is for certain, leadership is hard work and requires sacrifice. A leader must be “motivated first and always by the greatness of the work, not themselves.” *****            

What are your thoughts on leadership?

What are the differences between leading for-profit and non-profit sectors?

Are there fundamental differences between social sector and business sector?

*Jim Collins “Good To Great”

**Jim Collins “Good to Great Monograph” (I)

*** Ibid, (1)

**** Reggie McNeal Practicing Greatness: Seven Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders (8-10).

***** Jim Collins “Good to Great Monograph” (11)

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Ninety percent of genius is hard work – Albert Einstein

Leadership is something that is discussed daily in both non-profit and for-profit organizations. It is something that endless books have been written about and is debated on every corner. Are leaders born are they made? When leaders fall could it have been prevented? Does leading differ in “for” and “non” profit organizations? What is the best way to train the next generation of leaders? By no means are these questions an exhaustive list but they do point to the fact that leadership is just as important today than it has ever been.

Jim Collins wrote a book entitled Good to Great; Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t. In this book he describes seven characteristics of companies that went from good to great. While describing the qualities that each companies exhibited these seven areas stood out:

• Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but driven to do what's best for the company.


• First Who, Then What: Get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go. Finding the right people and trying them out in different positions.


• Confront the Brutal Facts: The Stockdale paradox - Confront the brutal truth of the situation, yet at the same time, never give up hope.


• Hedgehog Concept: Three overlapping circles: What makes you money? What could you be best in the world at? and What lights your fire?


• Culture of Discipline: Rinsing the cottage cheese.


• Technology Accelerators: Using technology to accelerate growth, within the three circles of the hedgehog concept.


• The Flywheel: The additive effect of many small initiatives; they act on each other like compound interest. *

In response to the overwhelming interest in this book by non-profit organizations and the numerous letters, emails, and questions received about how organizations go from “good to great” that operate on a fundamentally different level than for-profit companies, Collins wrote a monograph, to accompany “Good to Great,” entitled Good to Great and The Social Sectors. In writing this monograph Collins closes his introduction with these words.

“I do not consider myself an expert on the social sectors, but in the spirit of John Gardner, I am a student. Yet I’ve become a passionate student. I’ve come to see that it is simply not good enough to focus solely on having a great business sector. If we only have great companies, we will merely have a prosperous society, not a great one. Economic growth and power are the means, not the definition, of a great nation.” **(I)

In my lifetime I have had the opportunity to start a very successful for-profit organization and also be apart of very successful not-for-profit organizations. In both of these experiences I have learned numerous things that are applicable to both sectors and other things that are specific to only one or the other. Although there are similarities, they are not the same, and the leadership required is not the same. “We must reject the idea–well intentioned, but dead wrong – that the primary path to greatness in the social sectors is to become more like a business.” ***

With this in mind Collins gives these five areas as the framework for his discussion on organizations in the social sector.

·       Defining “Great” – Calibrating Success without Business Metrics

·       Level 5 Leadership – Getting things done with a diffused power structure

·       First Who – Getting the right people on the bus within social sector constraints

·       The Hedgehog Concept – Rethinking the economic engine without a profit motive

·       Turning the Flywheel – Building momentum by building the brand

In Reggie McNeal’s book Practicing Greatness, McNeal writes about being a ‘Great Leader,’ not just an average leader or even a good leader but a ‘Great Spiritual Leader.’ In order to be a great spiritual leader one must be self-aware, manage themselves, understand their mission, make good decisions, belong, and understand aloneness. McNeal continues by stating, “The discipline of self-awareness is the first and single most important piece of information a leader posses.” **** Perhaps this is the single most important reason leaders fail? Tim Irwin wrote a book entitled De-Railed, each leader he identifies has failed in his or her organization. Each failure can be traced back to one of five things and at the heart of each failure is the integrity and character of the leader. They are not honest with themselves and have not developed themselves in areas of virtues and character as much as in areas of numbers and people. Understanding the very real problem Universities like George Fox Evangelical Seminary has developed a doctorate program in Spiritual Formation. The leaders who come out of this group understand the very thing McNeal points out, themselves. This understanding allows them to lead with self-awareness in any organizational setting. 

It is my opinion that the organization must understand the very same things that McNeal points out about the leader. In order for social sectors to be proficient and great in what they do they must understand the five areas Collins points out in addition to being self-aware about the organization, manage itself well (systems), understand decision making, make its member feel like they belong (ownership and connecting), and realize it must not be like everyone else it is unique to itself.

Regardless of what anyone writes leadership is hard work and to lead well requires sacrifice, a leader must be "motivated first and always for the greatness of the work, not themself."*****

What are your thoughts on leadership?

What are the differences between leading for-profit and non-profit sectors?

Are there fundamental differences between social sector and business sector?

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*Jim Collins “Good To Great”

**Jim Collins “Good to Great Monograph” (I)

*** Ibid, (1)

**** Reggie McNeal Practicing Greatness: Seven Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders (8-10).

***** Jim Collins "Good to Great Monograph" (11)

Over the past few weeks my doctorate cohort has read several books that deal with ethnography, iconography, visual methodology, and religious cultures and their interaction with these elements in theory and practice. This week I finished reading The Sacred Gaze: Religious Culture In Theory and Practice, Written by Davis Morgan. I am struggling with writing about this book not because I have a problem with its content but I cannot keep from thinking about one section of the book that dealt with visual images in places of worship. So I think that this post I will try and uncover some predispositions I have towards imagery and its relation to my own religion’s context.

Last September my doctorate program traveled to Kenya and Ethiopia to study theology, leadership, and culture from various vantage points. Perhaps the greatest learning experience for me was learning about the Coptic Ethiopian Orthodox Church. During our stay in Addis Abba and Mek’ele we sat under numerous hours of lecture, during these lectures it was evident that oral tradition played a major role in their faith. For a Southern Baptist Minister there were times that I felt uncomfortable with just how much value oral tradition actually has for them. I have always believed that solo scriptura is foundational to our Christian belief system because within that lies the Bible as supreme authority on all matters. You may be reading this post and already have several things going through your mind about this very topic, it is not my desire to make this entry a case for Biblical authority but to make a point about something I learned.

As we traveled to meet the Pope of the Coptic Ethiopian Church we visited a museum that displayed Art work from generations of artists that told the story of the Ethiopian Church from the time the Ethiopian Eunuch was saved until present day. In fact, they even had pictures that represented the Ethiopian people all the way back to the beginning of the Old Testament. These images told a story, a narrative of faith, culture, tradition, heritage, sacrifice, and God’s grace. While walking though I found myself thinking all kinds of thoughts about what I saw, from what parts of these stories are true to how do I feel about this artwork. For the first time in my life I realized something, I realized that I associated certain types of paintings and artwork as a part of some sort of religious inaccuracy and not a representation of the truth of Scriptures. Let me try to explain a little better. When I see a cross and Jesus upon the cross in some sort of painting I automatically think of the Catholic Church. When I think of that church, I think about things that I do not believe about that church and as a result I reject that painting in some way because of what I believe/interpret it represents. Now, do not get made at me if you think, “wow I cannot believe you think of that when you see art of Christ on the cross.” If you are honest you have your own thoughts when you see certain images.

Morgan states that like any medium of communication, images can be laden with information, densely encoded with ideas, values, or feelings that certain viewers are able to discern. Images can also be interpreted in ways their makers or original users did not intend, serving to corroborate beliefs or desires important to a viewer or a group of viewers. In either case, an image is a visual medium that can act as an instrument of influence. (67-68)

Now its time to tie this together, “the final operation of images that I want to outline here consists of the fear or resentment of them in all religions, which often leads to the damage, destruction, or removal of rival images.” (71) Iconoclasm involves abuse or elimination of images to displacing or discrediting a rival. Morgan gives this great story about an evangelist that was trained in Ethiopia that took down a piece of art in the church he was serving in stating that “there was no compelling reason to use images for religious purposes other than for their usefulness as book illustrations in teaching children.” (71) The painting he took down was of the Crucifixion. The interesting thing was that nine other images were represented in the church but did not elicit the same reaction. “He insisted that images were inessential and even harmful, pointing out that Ethiopian Orthodox believers kiss and bow to pictures…in the future we will try to get pictures out of here.” (73) The church that this happened in was the Lutheran Headquarters.

This Ethiopian Protestant, who had been shaped by a polemical inter-Christian rivalry in a nation dominated by Coptic Orthodoxy, which was largely absent in the provinces, images signified the wrong allegiance. Removing or ignoring them was a strategy of purified thinking and ideological opposition.” (73).  

Getting back to what I learned, I realized that I do the same thing. Certain images I associate with things that may or may not be accurate and my response to those images may both hurt, or help the individual(s) that I am dealing with depending on their perspectives and places of origin. Part of this program is Leadership and Global Perspectives, how do we lead people from all over the world to a saving faith in Jesus Christ and how do we lead the global body of Christ in service to their King. This has helped me to uncover what is underneath the surface and to understand how images can create a multitude of feelings from numerous people from all over the world. Hopefully, I am a better leader for it.

So what are your thoughts on images, worship, church, culture, and our interpretation of those areas within the context of seeing visual pictures, art, and various other iconic displays? Are there any areas you can identify with me in?   

Last week I read a book entitled Visual Faith: Art, Theology, and Worship in dialogue, written by William Dyrness. This book discusses “the relationship between art and faith in general, and goes farther and inquires into the relationship between the visual arts and worship in particular.” (12) It continues to dive into the relationship between the Catholic and Protestant church and the estrangement between the reformed church and visual arts. Dyrness writes, “after the reformation the arts were no longer welcomed into the church…the spaces of worship were not friendly to elaborate visual elements, for they were seen as distractions from true worship, which always focused on the preached Word…this discussion does not end at the historic level, for things are clearly changing at the turn of the new millennium.” (12-13)

In a culture that has transformed over the last few generations into a visual culture it is no surprise that these types of conversations are taking place. The questions that remain for many is can a church remain faithful to the Scriptures and allow art to complement the Word of God to enrich our worship experience? Is art so subjective that it cannot truly be seen as a reflection of truth? Do we water down the importance of solo scriptura when we allow visual art in the church and incorporate it into our buildings? These questions and many others are essential to this discussion and will plow the ground for future discussions. One important thought introduced into this area of conversations is “can a renewal in Christian worship lead a way to renewal in the arts.” (21) Maybe better wording for introducing this conversation to the church leaders I interact with is over the years Christian worship has changed dramatically with new contemporary worship and various media backgrounds to enrich the worship experience, how do you think this has opened the door for the use of art in the church and should art have an important place in our church and in our worship experiences?

Simone Weil has argued that there are three ways people are drawn to God; through affliction, religious practices, and by the experience of beauty…she argues, the beauty of the world is almost the only way by which we can allow God to penetrate us.” (22) Now I am not going to break this down theologically but I would like to say that Romans 1 discusses how through creation alone we have no excuse in understanding there is a God. Creation is so amazing, so awe inspiring, and so vast that its beauty and intricacy cry out God.

Art, then, may be a means, indeed one of the only means, that will catch the attention of this generation. The problem is that art by itself does not provide the reconciliation and spiritual connection that the human heart longs for. It provides at best a kind of substitute religion.” (22)

Knowing that the current generation coming of age is an image driven generation and understanding that already men, in general, are visually driven. The church must look into the benefits of re-capturing the arts into their places of worship. This ancient/future form of worship has the ability to connect both the head and the heart, the emotion and the will, and the logic and creativity of an individual while allowing them to use both sides of their brains in worship and possibly re-enforce the Word of God like never before. For example, when a person experiences an event they often associate that experience with other things sights, smells, food, people, or any other item. When they experience one of these secondary things it triggers the memory of the event and enforces that experience again. Let me try and give one more illustration that is a little rough but will hopefully explain what I am trying to say. A few years ago I ate four hotdogs with a mound of pickles on each dog. After eating this for dinner I went home and woke up that night feeling sick. A little later I ran to the bathroom sick and started to…well you get the picture. Even today, four years later, if I see a hotdog with a lot of pickles on it I feel sick. My mind associated the sight and smell of hotdogs and pickles with that horrible night and sends signals to my body when I see it again. Now understand that this whole process is mental. When a church uses art, whether visual or other and incorporates it into its practices it has the ability to attach itself onto an experience, lesson, teaching, or song and strengthen it.

Art is a way of acting in the world that engages with its materiality in such a way that it illuminates something about the world’s depth and reality. It is an activity that involves a way of knowing as well as doing; it shows us something we can learn in no other way. This value added is possible because there is a depth to things that is ultimately personal. When we cry or exclaim over the beautiful or splendid, we want to share the experience with others. This is because our response is deeply personal, indeed, interpersonal. We are responding on this activity to a call that, Scripture says, goes through all the earth (Ps 19:4). However distant or indistinct, this call is a reflection of God’s work in creation, His presence in Christ, and the personal presence of the Holy Spirit, calling and working in the creature to bring back to the place where it will, in and thorough Christ glorify the Father. (100)

So let me ask you, what are your thoughts on art and worship?  Can Art be used and not undermine scripture? Does Art have a central place in church? Has the absence of art in many churches hindered the body of Christ? What does the future of church look like in respect to art, worship, and the Word of God?

Over the last several weeks my doctorate program has read several booksand articles on visual ethnography and visual methodologies. At the end of our readings we were ask to gather pictures and create a self-elicitation project the reflects some ministry context that each one of us are a part. 

In order to accomplish this I asked each senior staff member at the church I work in to submit 1-2 photos of their ministry context and give a description of what that photo represents to them and how that photo reflects thier ministry. I had not orchestrated any part of what photo's they chose or what each one of them wrote.

As you read this post you may ask "how in the world would a photo help with research about a culture, environment, or a general understanding of a particualr group of people?" Sarah Pink writes this about visual ethnography in response to these types of questions; "photography can inspire people to represent and then articualte embodied and material experiences that they do not usually recall in verbal interviewing. More generally, visual explorations produce useful data for understanding how people experience their social and material environments." (28)

By understanding the "central role that images play in the human mind," (32) One can utilize them to better study people. In addition, one must understand that as various people look at theses iamges, "these visible elements of experience will be given different meanings as different people use their own subjective knowledge to interpret them." (32) 

The pictures that I recieved as a part of the research to describe my ministry context can be found here:

As I examine each one of these photo's and read the comments along with the photo's, several words in each of the descriptions stand out to me. Words like: sharing Christ, mentoring, training ground, people who go the extra mile, volunteering, non-threatening environment, passing the baton, empowering young leaders, helping people connect, student to student ministry, belonging, acceptance, and family. Each photo captures what appears to be essential to each minister.

As I look at the photos alone, I see children using their gifts among the body of Christ and learning how to lead others in worshiip, children around the world being cared for and deemed as "valuable," pastors being equipped all over the world, holistic missions taking place by men who sacrifice thier time for service to Christ, youth who are believed in and valued, youth who are trained up and in returen invest in childrens lives, salvation taking place as people are baptized,  the next generation of youth being taught the word of God, and even what the world may describe as the least of these being taken care of and accepted into the body of Christ.

So here is what I learned:

Mentoring is essential to this group of leaders. Empowering and equiping others to lead and focusing on the next generation of leaders is paramount.

Ministry is not just about the "minister" doing the work but about equipping others to do the work of the ministry.

Missions is both about reaching your local community and the world at large. The body of Christ is required to accomplish both.

Meeting the physical needs of others is important to the evangelization of the lost.

Going the second mile is not only something you do on a work site but is also something you do in relationships, sometimes it can even save someones life.

Discipleship requires community but starts by thinking though how you specifically can accomplish the missional task in your environment. You must understand your vision.

The last picture uses three words to discribe its content at the beginning, these words are belonging, acceptance, and family. I think that description descibes these photos and the environment that they represent.

Personal note:

I am a minister on staff with each one of these participants. Like any staff there are times we argue about opinions, ideas, or objectives. We come from various backgrounds, educational lives, demographics, and upbringings but after viewing these photos it would appear that we are largely on the same page about what is important in the long run. Each one of these photos can easily reflect on the other photo and tell a comprehensive story about our church. The only critique that I would raise is even though there seems to be community amoung the body working together is there community among the body living together.

I hope as you read this you will take a minute to go on the flickr site to comment on what each photo says to you.