Forming Faith

For Christian education and nurture leaders.

Passionate leadership

by Andy Brubacher Kaethler

When I was introduced to a wonderful German game called Bohnanza, which is about planting bean fields, I was immediately drawn into the game by the shear excitement of those who taught it to me. They had found something exciting and were keen to share it with others. They sold me on the game before I actually played it.

Bohnanza has helped shape my understanding of leadership and faith formation. The individuals passionate about the game spread this passion to others. And anyone called to leadership in the faith formation of others, young or old, must have a winsomeness about their faith and what they are doing.

Having passion doesn’t mean being on an emotional high. As Stacie Orrico, a 16-year-old pop vocalist, pleads, “There’s gotta be more to life than chasing down every temporary high.” Especially when seeking to form faith in young people, leaders must show there is more to life than the highs our culture offers. But leaders also have to demonstrate there is more to faith than lifeless religion.

In faith formation, these qualities of passionate leadership are important:

1. Passionate leaders distinguish between traditionalism and tradition. They don’t allow traditionalism to hold the church hostage, but instead they draw people into a dynamic, living faith. Still, they are open to lifegiving ideas and practices from the past, such as ancient spiritual disciplines, which are an effective way of grounding young people and the unchurched in faith.

2. Passionate leaders value honesty and vulnerability over being right and being powerful. Integrity is a huge issue in faith formation. Many young people and the unchurched have finelytuned crap detectors. Passionate leaders are persuasive not because they are “right” or “powerful” but because they are boldly honest and vulnerable in living out their faith.

3. Passionate leaders give relationships high priority. They place relationships over roles, people over programs, individuals over institutions, process over product. In nurturing others towards healthy relationships with God, our earthly energy needs to be invested in others. We strengthen our vertical relationship with God by strengthening our horizontal relationships in the community of faith.

4. Passionate leaders are playful. Playfulness, says Kenda Creasy Dean, “is abandoning ourselves for the enjoyment of others.” Playful leadership is not merely entertaining, nor is it trivial or escapist. It is a creative, joyful, and hopeful response to God’s leading and direction in our lives in spite of our human limitations. When Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me,” perhaps he wanted to play with them.

5. Passionate leaders maintain a listening posture. Often people turn to leaders not to get answers, but to find a compassionate and listening ear, for someone to journey with them. Also, what attracts people today is a sense of ownership and shared vision and purpose. Passionate leaders create ownership by actively seeking the opinions of others. Traditionally, the chief in many African villages would hear from everyone around the circle (young or old) before making a decision. This is seldom the most efficient way of leading, but it is the most effective and faithful.

6. Passionate leaders discern when to lead and when to hold back. Richard Dunn, a pastor, writes that leading young people to emotional and spiritual maturity requires knowing when to hang back and go their pace, and when to walk ahead and take the lead (Shaping the Spiritual Life of Students). Passionate leadership knows when to listen and keep their opinions and advice to themselves, and when to take the lead and move ahead.

The good news is, church leaders today need to be authentic, and worry less about being “professional” or “perfect.” The bad news is, today’s church leaders need to be authentic, and worry more about being transparent and held accountable for matching words with actions. Clearly, though, the good news outweighs the bad news.

Andy Brubacher Kaethler, former youth minister for the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada, is the Director of !Explore: A Theological Program for High School Youth at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, IN.