Unraveling Religious Leadership

Unraveling Religious Leadership considers various attributes related to the form and function of leadership within religious institutions in conversation with decolonial ideas and practices. Decoloniality, in negation of the ongoing legacies of colonialism, seeks ways of being and doing beyond white, eurowestern, modern ideals of who a leader is and what a leader does, especially in the context of Christianity and its entanglements with empire. In this book, Lizardy-Hajbi draws upon decolonial ideas, worldviews, and practices to question the current assumed understandings of religious leadership as individual, singular in role and structure, centralizing in power, possessing of expertise and select qualifications, production-oriented, and primarily change-inducing. Pulling on each of these threads invites a reconsideration of the epistemologies (knowledges) and ontologies (notions of being) that give shape to religious leadership in North American Christianity today. Lizardy-Hajbi's innovative approach directly challenges popular leadership styles in wide use among leaders today, placing these styles in conversation with decolonial scholarship, diverse realities and worldviews, and practices that disrupt idealized norms. Popular styles such as authentic, charismatic, servant, executive, and transformational leadership are found wanting in terms of their substance and utility for meaningful leadership within religious institutions. Ultimately, Lizardy-Hajbi engages readers by presenting alternative constructions that consider the myriad complexities within both the role and function of leadership, offering new ways to frame the leadership identities the church needs for today's world.

Unraveling Religious Leadership invites readers to reconsider foundational assumptions in Christian communities. Drawing upon decolonial frameworks and realities beyond white, eurowestern, modern ideals of who leaders are and what they do, this work pulls on the threads of colonialism and empire to create new possibilities for religious leaders.

Leaders in congregations and Christian organizations wrestle with an unraveling of the world in which they have little experience and training. While they are offered unending resources by experts on leadership, some with claims to biblical blueprints, the challenges seem mismatched to those methods. Branson and Roxburgh frame the situation as one in which "modernity's wager"--the conviction that God is not necessary for life and wisdom and meaning--has defined the Western imagination. Because churches and leaders are colonized by this ethos, even when God is named and beliefs are claimed, approaches to leadership are blind to God's agency. Branson and Roxburgh approach this challenge as a work in practical theology, attending to our cultural context, narratives of God's disruptive initiatives in Scripture, and a reshaping of leadership theories with a priority on God's agency. With years of experience as teachers, consultants, and guides, they name practices which lead to more faithful participation. Leadership, God's Agency, and Disruption is wide-ranging in cultural and biblical scholarship, challenging in its engagement with numerous leadership studies, and practical with its focus toward the on-the-ground life of churches and organizations.

Right relationships begin with the leader's spiritual maturity. For better and worse, the church is the family of God; and as families, congregations are also susceptible to the glories and dysfunctions of family living. Some church family members can even sap the strength and drain the life from the leader's soul. When pastors reel from wave after wave of real and perceived pressures, the church family is set adrift with no firm foothold. Using a system framework, this book will show leaders ways they can develop spiritual, emotional, and relational stamina so that they can better minister to the family of God and help them walk through the inevitable dark valleys and continue to grow closer to God together. From the Circuit Rider review: "Inside the Leader’s Head does a masterful job of weaving psychological analysis and Wesleyan theology to produce a practical guide for leading a congregation. For those who are new to family systems theory, they provide an accessible and brief introduction to the subject. For those who are familiar with the theory Holeman and Martyn cover familiar terrain from a refreshing perspective that shows how these themes are connected to the Trinity and holiness." (Click here to read the entire review.)

The awareness that the churches shaped out of the European Reformations are in an advanced process of unraveling is becoming increasingly sensed by many. This book proposes a way of addressing this unraveling based on the experiences and knowledge of people who have always had to struggle with the unraveling of their own communities and worlds. It takes us outside the circular conversations of the Euro-tribal churches into dialogue with people who have been marginalized to see how they have learned to reenter their formative stories to discover ways of remaking themselves in the unraveling. The book then turns these discoveries into ways the churches can engage their own massive unraveling.

This title tackles issues relevant to leadership in the realm of religion. It explores such themes as the contexts in which religious leaders move, leadership in communities of faith, leadership as taught in theological education and training, religious leadership impacting social change and social justice, and more. Topics are examined from multiple perspectives, traditions, and faiths.

Is it possible for church leaders to use biblical and secular leadership concepts in a way that keeps Christ—not the marketplace—at the center of their mission? Drawing on biblical material and business wisdom, In Pursuit of Great AND Godly Leadership explores the critical leadership decisions and practices that shape the success of Christian organizations. These decisions are illustrated in compelling interviews with over forty leaders of churches, universities, denominational bodies, and international ministries. Mike Bonem leverages his background as an MBA-trained manager and an experienced church leader to bridge the gap between the analytical and structured world of business and the faith-driven approach that is essential for healthy churches. Written to offer practical solutions for senior pastors, executive pastors, key laypeople, and leaders of other Christian entities, In Pursuit of Great AND Godly Leadership clearly shows the ways that secular practices can be imported into their organizations. Bonem addresses a variety of topics such as planning, finances, personnel management, measurement, team dynamics, and organizational change. In doing so, he points to the AND that every spiritual organization should strive to achieve.

As American mega-churches continue to grow in both number and congregation size, more and more people want to know what all the commotion is about. Here, MacNair shows the emergence of the modern mega-church as not only a disturbing break from tradition, but as a distortion of the Christian tradition of worship - morphing the Church into something more like a business than a place of worship or a place where the presence of Jesus is preserved for future generations. This book answers several questions in an effort to help readers better understand this trend: What is the impact of the emergence of the mega-church, what does this mean to modern Christianity and to the future of Christianity? What does this tell us about the practice of religion today and about faith in God, in any God, in any religion, in the face of the encroachment of mega organizational thinking and money-making upon traditional belief systems? An inside observer, social scientist and faith leader, MacNair offers an insightful critique of mega-churches and their proliferation throughout the country. Reporting from within the halls of Christian history and the Christian intellectual tradition, he offers a new perspective on a growing trend in American Christianity. Taking readers on a tour of a typical mega-church, MacNair reveals the inner workings of this growing organizational approach to American Christianity. He looks at the physical meeting place, the music, the sermon, the groups and services available to congregants, the messages and values it promotes, and the future of the mega-church in America. He argues that the main goal of the mega-church is growth and expansion, and that such an approach distorts the essence of Christianity and sends the wrong message to followers. With more than 1200 mega-churches in the U.S., and hundreds of thousands of congregants, this controversial work will pique the interest of anyone who wishes to know more about the movement as well as the critiques it engenders.