A MESSAGE FROM REV. KAREN KINNEY: THE ELEMENTS OF SERVANT LEADERSHIP
Grace and peace to you,
This Sunday, we begin a new sermon series on leadership. At our Session meeting earlier this week, our devotion centered on members’ reflections of what leadership meant to them, thinking about 1 Peter 5:2-3.
They also thought about the characteristics a 
leader should have. They mentioned that leaders needed to have a spirit of humility which allowed them to have empathy. Leaders needed to be active listeners, which required one to be vulnerable. Leaders needed to be reflective, thoughtful, project confidence and not ever ask someone to do something they themselves weren’t willing to do. Leaders need to lead by example.
These characteristics provide a framework for servant leadership – a style of leadership that is Christ-centered, empathetic, humble, engages in active listening and where it is known that everyone has worth and value. It is leadership that evolves out of an ever-deepening relationship with God.
However, servant leadership in the church doesn’t mean being a doormat – something or someone that gets walked on over and over. Leadership should never be abusive. But elements of leadership that we tend to fear don’t need to get lost in this model of servant. Courage, power, acceptance, conflict and grace are all elements of servant leadership. We just don’t always think about that.
How would you define servant leadership and its characteristics? Do those qualities seem out of reach to you? Is there something that makes you feel servant leadership isn’t for you?
Over the next several weeks, we will explore leaders in the Bible from Joshua to Shiphrah and Puah, Pharaoh’s daughter and Moses, his mother and his sister. We will think about Peter and the disciples and Jesus. We will explore leadership from the context of using power for the good, resolving conflicts, accepting God’s call on our life, and grace.
We begin this week by looking at Joshua, Moses’ successor leader. What can Joshua’s story of assuming the leadership of a people after Moses’ death teach us about leadership that finds its anchor in relationship with God? Why does God tell Joshua three times to be strong and have courage? Are those too qualities of leadership? Come and see! Come and explore!
Blessings,
Pastor Karen