FAQ’s – Community of Leaders
- How did the “Community of Leaders” come about?
- So is it just like a leadership team then?
- How can such a large group make decisions?
- Is this Biblical?
- Who decides who is on the Community of Leaders?
- What about accountability?
- Who do I speak to if I want to ask a question?
- What are Hubs?
How did the “Community of Leaders” come about?
We have had a Eldership or “Leadership Team” for a numbers of years, but when David Hewitt started Wellsprings we found ourselves with a small and overworked leadership team. There was a clear sense too, the Leadership Team was not focussing on the most important issues for the community, was involved in too much detail, and others in our community (not on the leadership team) lacked a context for being part of the team and shaping the direction that we moving in.
So, in 2010, we started a discussion about leadership within CCE, seeking to move away from a CEO or business style of leadership, and seeking to find something that represents Jesus’ model of leadership appropriate to us in 21st Century Edinburgh.
A group of 11 people came together to came to talk about how God was leading us, what kind of leadership we wanted and what leadership was there for. As we talked, we sensed an opportunity to do something quite different, but consistent with our story and God’s leading in the past. We saw a group of people, that we began to call a “Community of Leaders”, who came together to follow Jesus together, to be a community, to encourage each other. And in that context to have some big-picture conversations about our community: what we see or would like to see, what God is doing among us, and who we want to become. To ensure that this group doesn’t get bogged down in too much information or detail, and to ensure real empowerment happens in our community, we saw “hubs” emerging separate from but connected to the Community of Leaders. Some permanent, some temporary, some that meet regularly, some more amorphous, that take responsibility for different areas of church life. The hubs are where decisions are made. This is where the details are known and discussed.
The Community of Leaders came into being in the Autumn of 2010.
So is it just like a eldership or leadership team then?
Well, yes and no. Yes, the ‘Community of Leaders’ is the leadership group of the church; we do have responsibility for oversight of the whole church, even if most of the day to day running of the church happens in “hubs”.
But one key difference is in the focus of our time together. For most of us, our experience of Leadership Teams has been a focus on church business, which has squeezed time for heart sharing, prayer, reflection, listening to God. We are using the name “Community of Leaders” deliberately to denote a different balance of relationship & sharing, prayer and listening to God, and key focussed conversations on moving the church forward.
How can such a large group make decisions?
The Community of Leaders isn’t primarily a decision making group. It is a group that is concerned with discerning God’s leading and activity in the church, and as such leaves a lot of decisions to other groups (hubs). In many groups or teams it is often the loudest voice or the most articulate persuaders who win the day. We are seeking to discern God’s voice together, through the holy activity of listening to one another and to God. So a variety of different perspectives and creativity are welcomed as we seek to discern God’s leading.
Where we do have to make decisions, if they important, we seek to find consensus together – whereby it is something that we can all live with, even if it is not what we would do if the decision was solely ours. If the decision isn’t as important then one person might make a decision having canvassed the opinion of others.
Is this Biblical?
We don’t believe the Bible gives one model for leadership that we should therefore be emulating today. There is room for creativity and working out what will work in our day and culture.
However, we do believe there are some principles that the Bible does give us that endure for all time:
- Leadership is always in team – we simply don’t see the lone leader in Scripture.
- Leadership is men and women.
- Leadership is about serving and enabling, not about power or position.
- Leaders are there to equip and enable the rest of the church to do the “stuff”
- Leadership can be seen or less seen in the church – in administration, mission, and buildings, pastoral as well as preaching & leading worship in larger gatherings.
- Leadership is about maintenance and development.
Who decides who is on the Community of Leaders?
In the Bible we don’t see leaders being voted on by others. Leaders are called by God, and recognised by others. So we are looking for people who God has called to be a leader in our community. Recognising that is an inexact science, so conversation with people inevitably plays a part, and we want to know that the community is “on board” with the leaders, so we consult. Ultimately someone has to make a decision about who is part of the Community of Leaders or not, and while he wouldn’t do it without consultation, Colin Symes as team leader, does make the final decision.
We see this as informed by and consistent with the New Testament practice of people such as Paul, calling together others (a team) to work together in the particular mission they were engaged with. When Paul found himself on his own in a place, he worked making tents, waiting for his team to arrive, and when they did that was when they engaged in their preaching and teaching in synagogues and church planting.
There is no “fixed term” for members of the Community of Leaders. Some will stay for a long time, others for a shorter time, some with have a sabbatical and then re-engage.
What about accountability?
This is a question that is often used when people are concerned about power being used abusively or wrongly. In practice, if someone is determined to abuse their power, they will often found ways around ‘accountability’ to do what they want. Godly character and a right understanding of leadership being there to serve and empower are perhaps better deterrents.
However, openness and scrutiny are important to hold people to commitment to lead in the way modelled by Jesus. This kind of accountability exists at a number of different levels:
- There is a mutual accountability to each other among the leaders, to “submit to one another out of reverence to Christ”
- We can only lead to the extent that the community is willing for that to happen, so we are accountable to the church. There are regular “church forums” during the year to facilitate this; in addition we publish a brief resume of our meetings in the members area for anyone to read, with regular updates in our newsletter.
- We also invite in Alan & Lizzie Cox from New Community, Southampton, 2 or 3 times a year, to help with staff reviews & meeting with the leadership, to allow an outside perspective on what we are doing. For more information see our ‘relationships’ page.
- We have a “Reference Group” drawn from the church who meet with the leaders from time to time, to talk through issues in the church. We are in process of changing our constitution, which will mean there are trustees who will supersede the role of the Reference Group.
Who do I speak to if I want to ask a question?
That probably depends on what the question is! If you have a question about an area of the church, then you are best speaking to someone involved in that area (eg. if it finances then speak to Rupert or Andrew, Alpha it is Colin etc). If you don’t know who is involved in the area you are interested in, come and speak any one of us – we will point you in the right direction.
We encourage and ask people to speak directly to people. So if your question is about somebody specific, we would suggest you speak with them directly. For example if you have a question about something that was said on a Sunday morning, we suggest speaking directly with the person who said it.
Anyone on the Community of Leaders will know the best person to speak to. So ask any of us, and we’ll do our best to help you, or put you in touch with someone else who can.
What are “Hubs”?
Hubs are small teams that take responsibility for certain areas of church. For example, there is a student team, or a prayer hub, or a finance team. Each of these teams are mandated to lead that area of the church, consistent with the overall direction and values as agreed by the Community of Leaders.
Some hubs are permanent, others exist only for a season (eg. a team to organise the church Houseparty) while there is a specific focus of activity. The hubs is where the detail and day to day running of the church happens.
Each hub will either have someone from the Community of Leaders as a member of the hub, or a “sponsor” – someone on the Community of Leaders who is aware of the hub, and what they are doing, to support them and represent their focus to the Community of Leaders.
You can find out who is leading different areas of church life on our A-Z of CCE.