Important Invitations to the Decision-Making Table
In 1804, Merriwether Lewis and William Clark were commissioned by the US government to find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. They traveled upstream on the Missouri River to its source, expecting to find another river they could calmly canoe downstream to the Pacific Ocean. What they found was the Rocky Mountains. They had to set their canoeing skills aside for the moment and learn along the way. Lewis and Clark learned to rely on allies like Sacagawea—the 16-year old, Lemhi Shoshone, the pregnant wife of a Quebecois trapper—to navigate the mountains.
Sacagawea became the unlikely hero of Lewis and Clark’s story. She offers a path forward for the ministry adaptations you are navigating in 2021.
Leaning Into the Margins
As church leaders move into the future, it would serve us well to be exposed to the diversity of the world. If we aren’t, our default mental models will create a single-story narrative to help us make sense by making simplistic assumptions that ensure our comfort and keep us from having to change.
That was a mouthful, read it again and then read on.
With a single-story, we make assumptions about people who are different from us that allow us to keep them marginalized. We need to lean into the margins.
The reality of being trained for a Christendom world means that most of us won’t recognize the value of a “Sacagawea” when she is sitting in front of us. Christian leaders in a post-Christendom world need to engage, encourage and even insist that discernment and decision-making begin with making a broader number of voices heard.
Sacagaweas in 2021
Who are the Sacagaweas in our church culture? Single moms, single dads, immigrants, refugees, gays, the poor, the transgender community, people with mental illness, disabled, addicts.
Yes, that is only a partial list, but you get the idea.
Invite them to the leadership table—not to learn from you but to sit with you and help you lead into the future.
How do you do that? It starts with your heart. If the heart is not right and you invite people on the margins into the leadership circle, leaders best be ready to actually change how they function or the invite may do more damage than good.
Those with opportunity give a voice to the voiceless. Space is held for trust to be built. Speaking gives way to listening, statements surrender to questions, and mentoring reverses.
Cultural humility is our best shot at opening up healthy new paradigms.
Dead Centre Meets Life on the Margins
Tod Bolsinger, author of Canoeing the Mountains says, “The future is already here, but it’s on the margins.”
“New paradigms come from those who live on the margins between different social systems or cultures and bring their practices and insights into the ‘dead centre.’ When the centre engages the insights from the margins, the centre comes alive and moves toward the future.”
For those of who have been trained with the mental models of church life of the twentieth century, it’s hard to even think about a different style of leadership. We only escape our echo chambers by inviting those outside our tribe into the conversation.
Four Helpful Questions
Who are those on the margins in your community?
Why is it difficult for us to recognize the value of the “Sacagaweas” we encounter?
How might your church leadership begin to make a broader number of voices heard at the decision-making table? How do you avoid “tokenism”, inviting marginalized voices to the table without giving them any power, ownership and stakeholder opportunities?
Are you willing to love and lead like Jesus?
We would love to learn what you are hearing from those on the margins. Please leave a comment below. Thank you.
Bob Jones is the founder of REVwords.com, an author, blogger, and coach with 39 years of pastoral experience. Bob is also an Advance Coach with the ABNWT Resource Centre. You can connect with Bob here.