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A word from the Chair of MODEM on 101 Great Ideas for Growing Healthy Churches

ELIZABETH WELCH

101 Great Ideas marks a development from MODEM’s previous books on leadership and management in that it offers short and focused pieces that will be easily accessible for a quick look in the face of particular issues that come up in a church’s life.

It has a great wealth and variety of contributors. Some write from their ‘hands on’ experience of grappling with leadership issues within the church over many years. Others are regional and national church leaders. Some have extensive academic experience in writing and speaking on leadership and management, both in Britain and internationally. Others have a background in business or the voluntary sector. One of the advantages of this book is that the contributors represent a range of different Christian traditions. This brings about a mix of different approaches and a variety of insights which can be helpful across a spectrum of different situations.

Approaches to leadership and management in the churches arise out of a variety of different theological perspectives, balancing between more personal and more conciliar approaches. Each approach is shaped by a deep sense of the Trinitarian God who calls us into being and, in Christ, calls us to share in the work of his kingdom in the world. Attentiveness to God’s world and the insights gained from a wide range of thinking about the way in which organizations are shaped and developed, is also helpful in shaping the present-day organizational realities of church life.

Undergirding this lies an openness to the Holy Spirit and a willingness to be led in new directions, building on the way in which the Spirit has led God’s people over many centuries. Churches have not always modelled best practice in terms of either attentiveness to the Spirit or to the human needs and concerns revealed in different generations. This book is a contribution to the development of healthy churches. It offers snapshots of good practice and a range of thoughts and practical suggestions to aid the Christian people in a local community to develop and grow their life.

The Church in Western Europe has seen many challenges in the post-Enlightenment period. The social and philosophical emphasis on human autonomy, with the rise of the focus on the individual, has led to a diminishment of the authority of many traditional institutions. The positive aspect of this has been a greater sense of personal freedom and a growing challenge to corrupt and abusive practices within any institution. At the same time, this has brought about a challenge to traditional patterns of organizational life and a diminishment of the sense of shared responsibility. Women and men involved in leadership and management need to wrestle more vigorously with both the external pressures on an organization and the internal practices which help the organization to be healthy and to grow. This book offers snippets of support to help leaders and managers to be more visionary and effective.

I am grateful to the three editors of this book, John Nelson, Anton Müller and Michael Lofthouse, for the time, effort and creative energy they have put into bringing this book into being. MODEM as an organization is committed to developing new thinking in the areas of leadership and management and to drawing together networks of practitioners who are seeking to share insights as part of a learning community.

I pray that this book will offer a contribution to the ferment of ideas and practices that abound with regard to leadership and management, in a way that offers practical application in the setting of the local church, helping churches to be healthy and faith-filled organizations, to the glory of God.