The following sermon was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on June 5, 1988. The title is Christian Leadership. 

I want to spend the next few minutes thinking with you about the subject of Christian leadership. Tomorrow evening is the annual meeting of the parish, and the annual meeting of an Episcopal church has as its principal business, usually its only business, the electing of vestry members, men and women who will serve terms of office, usually three years in length. We have this year six folks rotating off and we'll be electing six more to take their places.

And that happens on a staggered basis, so we have a total of 18 members of our vestry. And I would acknowledge to you that a vestry election is the sort of thing that we could easily find our busy schedules crowding out. We could tell ourselves that it isn't all that important.

and I want to challenge that statement head on. I want to say to you that I believe there is nothing more important in the life of a parish than its people coming together to pray and seek the mind and direction of the Lord Jesus and God's wisdom in electing their leaders. The Church Missionary Society in England has had four basic principles at the foundation of its work for the last century and a half or so.

I think one of the finest missionary societies in the history of Christianity. Four basic principles at the foundation of all of its work. Bishop Alfred Stanway, a dear friend of this church, a very close personal friend of mine, went out as missionary bishop to central Tanzania, and he put those same four principles as the foundation of everything that he did in Tanzania for 20 years of missionary leadership, a period during which, by the way, he saw the opening of a new congregation every seven days.

It was the same period of time during which the Episcopal Church USA was losing one member every nine minutes. And he was presiding over the opening of a new congregation every seven days. We called Alf out of retirement to start Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

And he laid down those same principles as the building blocks for that new seminary. And shortly after I came here as rector, we invited Bishop Stanway to come and do a vestry retreat. And once again, he shared those same operating principles with us.

And so I want to remind us of them this morning. I think they bear repetition. We've tried to have them in mind for the last dozen years.

Four principles that would apply to any kind of Christian leadership, any kind of Christian ministry. You might ask yourself, how would these apply as I try to do my business as a Christian? How would these principles apply to my family?

But preeminently this morning, how do they apply to our church? Well, the four principles were these. Number one, begin small.

Begin small. I think we Americans and we American Christians so often make the mistake of thinking you've got to get everybody on board or you can't do it, whatever it might be. Got to get everybody involved and then we'll move.

That's not true. Somewhere I read a little leaven leavens the whole lump. A single grain of mustard seed, properly planted, watered and cared for, is enough to move a mountain.

He who is faithful in a few small things will be put in charge of many larger ones. It only takes a few people to begin. Start small.

Start with those who are ready to start. I have said for 12 years that the shepherding ministry here at Truro is the backbone of everything we do. And yet 12 years later, not everybody is involved in the shepherding ministry.

I wish you were. I wish everybody was active in a shepherd group but we have very full schedules and some folks can't do that and not everybody's priorities are the same so we didn't wait until we got everybody involved we began with those who were ready to begin exactly six people and it's grown and it's grown and I trust it will continue to grow and one of the principles is begin with those who are ready to begin start small and allow God to nurture it That leads right into a second principle, which is this. Trust God for the vision.

Trust God to develop the vision. You don't need to see all the details worked out completely before starting a new ministry or starting a new project. You don't have to have every I dotted and every T crossed.

We're talking about the living God who is able to speak to His people, who is able to guide them as they ask Him to, who is able to correct them if they need to be corrected. How many times have we seen Him do exactly that? Usually, you will not see the end from the beginning.

Usually, you'll have enough light on the path to take the next few steps. And as you take those steps, God in His graciousness gives some more light for the next few steps. So don't wait until you've got every loose end tied up.

Trust God for the vision. He's able to continue to speak and correct and guide as we allow Him to do that. A third principle, put money in a secondary place.

Put money. It's important, but it's not all important. Put it in a secondary place.

The issue is not how in the world are we going to pay for this. The issue is, Lord, what are you calling us to do? Lord, what are you calling us to do?

And we believe that if the Lord is calling us to do it, He's going to enable us to do it. He's going to show us how to provide the resources. He's going to provide for His own work.

Somebody said, the Lord is a gentleman. He pays for what He orders. Bishop Stanway was fond of saying God's people doing God's work in God's way will never lack for God's resources.

God's people doing God's work in God's way, and I might add on God's timetable, will not lack for God's resources. Lord, what are you calling us to do? Looks impossible.

He specializes. in impossibilities. The issue is not, Lord, I don't know how in the world we're going to do it.

The issue is, Lord, we trust you. If you're calling us to do it, you'll show us how. And number four, and I believe this really is the key to all of it, number four, everything, everything under God depends upon the quality of the persons selected for the task.

whatever the task might be whatever it is we're talking about here's the task we're ready to start we are trusting God for the vision we're putting money in a secondary place everything under God depends on the quality of the person or persons selected for the task I'm interested to read about the building of the tabernacle in the Old Testament do you know God spent 15 verses in the book of Exodus giving the Ten Commandments. Then he spent 15 chapters telling them how to build the tabernacle. Evidently it was very important to him.

That great movable center of Jewish life and worship, incredible detail goes into God's plan for how the tabernacle is to be built. And after he's given all of that instruction, he says this to Moses. See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood for work in every craft.

see God picked hand picked somebody to do that very important job and it was an artisan of the very highest caliber a man who had tremendous gifts he could work in any medium he could build he could do carpentry he could plan he was an architect but the Lord says there is something even more important than all of that all of his natural gifts and talents honed to a very high degree of perfection more important than any of that, the first criterion, I have filled him with my spirit. Do you get it? Because nothing is more important in the doing of this job than the quality of the person selected for the task.

And I want somebody who is filled with my spirit and responsive to my spirit who will not rest upon his own understanding alone. When Paul wrote to the Philippians from jail, he said this, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you. I have no one like him who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare.

They all look for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But Timothy's worth you know, how as a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me.

I'm sending you my very best. I have no one like him. I'm sending him to be a messenger boy.

because everything under God depends on the quality of the person selected for the task. I hope He'll bring me news of you. I'm sending my very best to do that.

In the book of Acts, you read about the apostles in the very earliest days of the church when it says God was adding daily such as were being saved. And they were all meeting together in tremendous large potluck supper, kind of situations. And the apostles realized they were going to need help in the simple business of waiting on tables, of serving people their food.

And these are the criteria that they look for in finding folks to be table waiters. Interesting set of criteria. The people that we have come to call the first deacons are described in this way.

Pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty of waiting on table. They need to be people of good character, good repute, full of wisdom, and again, full of the Holy Spirit, because everything under God depends on the quality of the person selected for the task, even that of being a waiter. You stop and think about it, it becomes kind of obvious.

you want a great church school you better find some great church school teachers men and women who are full of the Holy Spirit who know the word of God and who love kids the way Jesus does then you'll have a great church school you want a great choir you not only need people who know how to sing but people who know what it is to sing unto the Lord and who know that they've been given a gift and they're not proud of it nor falsely modest about it. They know it's a gift from God. You can't take credit for a gift, but you offer it back to Him.

And so when it comes to choosing a great vestry, and I think that's one of the keys to having a great parish, this becomes a matter of the highest importance. In talking about Christian leadership, The New Testament uses terms that down through the century we have come to associate with the clergy, the ordained. It talks about bishops and elders or presbyters, from which we get both the word presbyterian and the word priest.

I don't know if you're aware of that. It comes from the word elder. Bishops, priests, and deacons.

and pretty much in today's terminology, we refer those words to the ordained. But I want to remind you, in the days of the New Testament, there was no such distinction as between clergy and lay. That developed much later.

In fact, some of the newer translations simply speak of leaders and helpers. There was no such distinction. There was a priesthood of all believers.

in which all of us, every single one, is called to ministry. Some are called to leadership. All of us are called to ministry.

A wide, diverse variety of kinds of ministry. Some are called to leadership within the church. I'm interested that the leadership was always plural.

Always plural. It was not one person making all the decisions for the church. It was always plural.

a body of elders sharing leadership, and their responsibility included overseeing the temporal affairs of the church, but it was preeminently spiritual in nature. We have come largely to make a distinction. Clergy are responsible for the spiritual things.

Vestry is responsible for the business, the temporal affairs. Totally unbiblical distinction. We share together in a spiritual responsibility which includes the business of the church.

And so it is. Even with the development of ordination, we are still looking for shared leadership on the part of men and women of the highest quality of spirituality who will seek the face of God in overseeing the business of the church. Some of the shepherd groups have been studying this subject the past few weeks, and if you have not been part of one of those study groups, you might want to jot down a couple of notes on your service leaflet.

It would be a good way to spend a few minutes this afternoon to take a look at some of the key passages in the New Testament that address this business of leadership. 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1 and 2, from which we had our epistle reading this morning. 1 Peter 5, Acts chapter 6, those would be among the key passages.

Study them together with your family for a little while. Talk about them. How do they apply to our parish?

How do they apply to tomorrow night's annual meeting? Derek Prime, in a little booklet, The Christian's Guide to Leadership, suggests that there are seven basic questions that will emerge from such a study. Seven questions that we ought to be thinking about when we go to elect a bishop, or call a rector, or choose a vestry, or allow anyone to move into Christian leadership.

Seven questions that come out of that study. Number one, does this person have a good reputation? Will he or she lend credibility to the gospel because of a good reputation?

Is he or she well thought of by outsiders as well as by the church? Number two, is this person's character exemplary? It's not quite the same question.

In a way, that's a stronger word. He's going to be an example. An example, does he model what Jesus Christ and his discipleship is all about?

I'm interested that Paul had no qualms about saying, be imitators of me. He said it all the time. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.

The leader is to be an example to the flock. Number three, is this person's life marked by self-control? I want to read what Prime said about that.

All the things which are declared to be disqualifying factors, quarrelsomeness, covetousness, stubbornness, insincerity, a domineering spirit, drunkenness, violence, quick-temperedness, all of these things spring from a lack of control over either one's ambitions, or one's speech, or one's temperament, or one's body. The qualification is neither asceticism nor complete abstinence from all non-essentials, but rather controlled habits and activities. The prospective leader, for instance, will have to earn money like other people to pay for his way in daily life, but the desire for more should not obsess him.

He will have an opinion of his own to put forward, but he should not be so intent on having his own way always that he passes over everything which other people try to express. An ordered life characterized by courtesy and dignity, besides bringing credit to the Christian gospel, is an essential qualification for Christian leadership. Number four, is this a person of spiritual maturity?

Paul makes it very clear we can begin to see such qualities emerging in the life even of a very recent convert but such a person is not ready to be entrusted with leadership it tends too easily to spiritual pride let him be seasoned a while is this a person of spiritual maturity number five is his or her home life well ordered if you can't make it happen in your own family please don't take on responsibilities for the church number six if married does this person's spouse share his or her commitment to Christ and number seven does this person already give willingly eagerly generously of himself herself to God's people and work interesting questions to ponder aren't they I think you could summarize that at least these three essential characteristics need to be considered when we're looking for leaders in the church our leaders need to be examples to the flock they need to have a servant's spirit and they need also to be able to teach others in some way not necessarily publicly public teaching but in the sense of communicating something of the faith on to others. I've heard of one church where they regularly come to their vestry election, they put all the names of all the members into a pot and draw six of them. I've heard of another church where they consistently nominate people who they are trying to induce to come back to church.

What I'm trying to suggest to you is that a far more thoughtful, prayerful, careful seeking of God's leading is what really is called for. Let me mention a couple of things that this next vestry is going to have to deal with. Over two and a half years ago, the vestry came to the unanimous conviction that it was time to complete the physical plant.

especially to provide for classroom and nursery space that was severely lacking. We made studies, we drew up plans, we took a succession of votes, all of which were unanimous. We had briefings for the parish as a whole, and up until last fall, we were geared up to launch into that project until the Lord said, wait.

And he said it very clearly and very dramatically. I don't know how much longer the waiting is to continue, but I want to tell you I am absolutely convinced that that is unfinished business. If the need was urgent two and a half years ago, it is much more urgent now.

We have folks who would be here filling in this congregation seated among us who are not here because we don't have adequate space in the nursery for their kids. We need to deal with that. I'll give you a personal opinion.

I think that as that project evolved in our minds and in our plannings it snowballed way out of proportion I think we lost sight of God's priorities and I think that's at least part of the reason that he said stop but I believe that we need to reassess that matter and sometime in the next three year term we've got to get back to it we've been living in recent days under a new sense that God is calling us to be a sending church what does that mean who is to go where are they to go how long are they to go for and if that's a priority among us what other things need to be adjusted to accommodate it these are very large questions and the vestry needs to deal with them we've been instrumental in starting trinity christian school and a year from now it will have outgrown our ability to house it on site you could say well that's not our problem it has a separate board that's their problem no it's our problem i have learned personally this year that marrying off my daughter does not mean I'm done with her. We don't want to give birth to a school and orphan it two years later. What does that mean?

I don't know. Vestry business. You may have read in your newsletter that the present Vestry has very graciously granted me some sabbatical time to begin sometime in 1989.

I want to try to coordinate that as carefully as I can with the ongoing needs here and schedule it in a way that will not be detrimental to the life of the parish, but I think it's fair to anticipate that there will be some additional responsibilities for both staff and vestry in my absence, and I think you might want to give consideration to who it is that will move into those responsibilities. So, for all of those reasons, i ask you to make this a matter of very serious prayer and consideration i ask you to come tomorrow evening don't just leave it to the few come come all of us come having sought the mind and and guidance of the lord come having considered the list of nominees that the committee has put forward all of them good men and women who i think are qualified but the question is who among them? Which ones is God calling at this time to this job?

Or maybe some will be nominated from the floor. Maybe you'll come with a nomination. But come and be prepared to participate in this very important business tomorrow evening.

We're going to begin with social time at 6.30 and then the meeting itself at 7.30. I had said earlier that I was going to give a sort of a state of the church address. I'm not going to do that.

I'm not going to address some of these topics in any more detail until after the vestry has had a chance to consider them. Instead of that, we're going to have a kind of a fun thing. There's going to be a brief play put on that was done for our newcomer's dinner, and it was so well received that we thought we would share it with all of you.

It's a lot of fun. So it will be an upbeat evening as well as one of great importance. Come prepared to not only participate, but to share in the inauguration of this new vestry.

Inaugurate them with our prayers and our love as we seek the mind of God, as we seek the will of the Lord Jesus for those entering into this very important responsibility. Lord we thank you for those who have served on successive vestries in generations past because of whose faithfulness we can gather here this morning and worship you and we pray that you will speak to us again at this year's annual meeting you will make your will known to us you will you will raise into this position of trust and leadership those of your own choosing we ask you to guide our thinking and our voting we ask you that in this and in all things the Lord Jesus will be glorified and exalted we pray in his name Amen.