Michael Henderson, a member of the Tasmanian Baptists’ Mission and Leadership Development Team, gives insight into some key aspects of leadership.
One of the hardest parts of leadership for me is sustaining passion and perseverance. But they are both essential.
This is the call of leadership; to have both passion and perseverance. If you are to lead, you must have passion for what you do and some level of perseverance as you do it. Grit, in other words, as described in Angela Duckworth’s book “Grit”. (An excellent book by the way.)
Leading must involve your passion. The person with the most passion is usually the leader. This is not the person with the biggest voice or most “charisma”, but with the most passion for the task at hand. Without passion, it is hard to have the energy to keep going.
AND FURTHERMORE . . .
Leadership must also involve your own perseverance. You need to develop perseverance in yourself. Can you see things through, or do you want to give up before we get somewhere? Do your interests change too fast, or can you maintain focus?
You must have both passion and perseverance to be a leader, a pastor.
AND, as a leader/pastor you must develop both passion and perseverance in your church, in the community around you.
Baptists expect the church to join with their pastors in leadership, decision-making and spiritual oversight. This demands, that as leaders, we have a vision of developing passion and perseverance in the leaders around us, and in the congregation who will make decisions with us.
Baptists expect the church to join with their pastors in leadership
IT GOES BEYOND YOU
Don’t just focus on developing your own passion and perseverance. Remember to develop it in your church, your community. Help them see how it all comes together in the vision and mission of your church.
If only the leader or pastor has passion, then this model will ultimately fail. If only the congregation has perseverance to keep going, then our model of church will fail.
It is only when we all have a developed understanding of what our collective passion and perseverance is that we will truly lead together. It is only when this happens that we will ultimately change our communities and world. Anything short of this is just survival.
BEING INTENTIONAL – WITH GRIT
None of this happens by accident, but it can be developed if you are intentional about it.
Download the series of questions to ask, “How gritty are you as leader?” And, “How gritty is your church community that is around you?”
Your answers, and how some leaders around you answer, will reveal a heap about your grit.
If you would like to speak to me about grit, and developing it in yourself or your local church, don’t hesitate to get in touch: michael@tasbaptists.org.au
Grace and Peace,
Michael
Michael Henderson Mission and Leadership Development Team
Tas Baptist’s Mission Director, Stephen Baxter, has had some time out to ponder and reflect from a distance. It’s amazing what a trip beyond Tasmania’s shores can do to shift your perspective!
We are well and truly into 2023. Kids are back at school, church programs get underway, and life returns to its familiar rhythm. Jenny and I have just returned from a time in Spain to be with our daughter, Alice, and son-in-law, AJ, on the birth of their daughter, Koa.
Alice, AJ and Koa, Christmas 2022
Spain, like Australia, is very secular. This got me wondering what God thinks about all these people going about their lives, without giving much thought to the deep and essential questions of life. The question was heightened by the fact that Alice and AJ are in Spain working with others in bring the good news of Jesus to Spaniards.
My thinking has remained with me as I return to Tasmania.
THE CHURCH: From Spain, to Tasmania, to Marrawah!
Last Sunday I was with the Marrawah church as they celebrated their final church service. It was a day of celebration and sadness. As I looked at the pictures of the past, spoke with people, and heard their shared memories, it was clear that over the years God has been at work in special ways.
But times change, and the church as it was, is no longer viable. Marrawah is a little picture of the church in Australia and Spain. It is no longer the centre of our communities like it was. However, that does not mean it is the end of the church. Rather, it is the end of a certain form of church that worked well for a season, and needs to adjust for a changing world.
Because the world keeps changing, the church needs to be constantly renewing itself
Stephen Baxter
God has given everything needed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But because the world keeps changing, the church needs to be constantly renewing itself. As Germain theologian Helmut Thielicke put it,
The gospel must be preached afresh and told in new ways to each generation, since every generation has its own unique questions. The gospel must constantly be forwarded to a new address, because the recipient is repeatedly changing his place of address.
Fresh wind, B L O W
On the day of Pentecost God did a new thing and the church was born. Whenever we celebrate that day, it is a reminder of the need for constant renewal. A quick survey of church history reveals just that. The Holy Spirit is at work renewing the church from age to age, enabling and equipping it to be the church of its particular age. May it be so here in Tasmania.
Returning home, this is my prayer for Tasmanian Baptists, and I encourage it to be yours too: that God would blow a fresh movement of the Holy Spirit through us, that we might be vibrant churches with a revitalised theology finely attuned by the Holy Spirit to the changing needs of a changing world.
Let me encourage you to join me in praying this prayer.
Stephen Baxter, Senior Pastor
Stephen Baxter Mission Director Tasmanian Baptists
During 2022, the Mission and Leadership Development Team were very busy, supporting Tasmanian Baptist churches.
So … how are Tas Baptists going? Read on to find out.
Click for a MaLD Reflection
Mission Director
STEPHEN BAXTER
On the Front Foot
As I look forward to 2023 it is with great hope and with a deep sense that significant challenging times lie ahead of us. These challenges are reflected in the significant change to the religious landscape of Tasmania over the past 20 years.
The latest Census figures show how those nominating as “Christian” has dropped from 69.9% in 2001 to 38.4% in 2021; and over the same period, those nominating as “no religion/secular belief” has risen from 17.2% to 49.9%.
In the five years between the 2016 and the 2021 Census, those of “no religion/secular belief” overtook “Christian” as the largest religious grouping.
This is such a dramatic change, I’m sure I cannot fully appreciate what it means for our mission and ministry. Nevertheless, I’m convinced God has been preparing us for this moment.
How Tasmanian Baptists are responding
These changes have not caught us by surprise. More than a decade ago we deliberately embarked on transitioning to become a mission-shaped movement. More recently, our focus has been on building a team of new generation pastoral leaders. Although there is still more to do, we are making significant gains.
So, where to from here?
The Tas Baptist Council is currently in the middle of a review. They want to listen to our churches in this moment, and hear from God, to clarify our next steps. It is hoped a report will be ready to present to next year’s Mid-year Assembly in May.
My encouragement to us all is the words God spoke to Joshua, “be bold and courageous”.
Given the changing nature of society, complete with some significant economic challenges thrown in, I suspect the years ahead will be quite demanding and tough. Yet, God is with us, and this turns any threat into an opportunity. We are not caught on the backfoot, but are instead progressing with confidence.
So let us move ahead full of faith, hope and love.
Every year feels big (and small) when thinking about church, community, and leadership.
It’s like thinking about family. There is no winner. Just the time-period of a year spent sustaining a community, growing leaders, deepening relationships, and dealing with setbacks.
I find it simultaneously rewarding, and challenging. As well, it is easy to let the setbacks dominate any discussion, because they are the easiest to remember.
Which is why at the end of every year I focus on what brought me joy.
Tas Baptist Pastors and LEADERS’ Musters
Courage | Presence | Proximity
I loved our March get together in Hobart, and our discussions on Courage. They set me up for the year in so many ways. I particularly loved our end reflections, and conversations I had with many, as we mutually encouraged one and other.
As the year has gone on, our conversations around Presence (Burnie) and Proximity (Launceston) have felt large. It feels like it is a constant conversation at the moment, where we are calling each other into presence and authenticity.
It brings me joy to spend time with you.
How we have carried courage, been present, and responded to our calling is something that gives me great hope as we head into 2023.
Blessings and Grace and Peace to you this Christmas.
There is a deep, quiet, and joyous sense of gratitude in my spirit about our Tasmanian Baptist community and what God is doing among us.
This year I have had the privilege of noticing an increased sense of team among our pastors, and walking alongside people as they courageously choose to follow God and his ways. I have seen an increase in bravery and vulnerability, understanding of self and of God, and a willingness to listen to and follow the promptings of Holy Spirit.
There is a stirring that God is doing something fresh, and we get to participate and co-create. No doubt there will be more challenges ahead, but what a privilege this is!
As we turn to 2023 …
I sense an invitation for us to know God better through the presence of Holy Spirit.
There is an invitation to find guidance for better ways of engaging. To find guidance to better engage with our communities and those around us with hospitable love and transformational grace.
I sense courage (bravery + vulnerability) and deep friendships will be integral to leaning into the kingdom of God, with patience and perseverance. I also sense an invitation to lovingly and prophetically speak into younger generations. To pull down the barriers in ourselves and our faith communities as we learn to know God and each other afresh.
Questions for you to ponder …
What is God’s invitation to you for 2023?
What does it look like for you to carve out time to dwell in God’s presence?
Who are the safe people that you can increase vulnerability with?
How can you build relationships with people of different generations?
Jenna Blackwell ponders her frustration about mission in Tasmania
A friend once asked me when I first heard about mission or “felt the call”. I fumbled for words, speechless. No recollection, just compounding moments and realisations through teachings, coaching and mentoring.
It made me wonder: Am I a missionary?
Recently, I was sitting in my lounge room on a rainy morning, heater on, cup of tea in hand. I looked out at the blistering wind and thought of the people in my city – those without homes, without food, without heating, without safety, without peace.
Without.
I sat there in my frustration, guilt, and sadness.
Is it as easy as just going out into the streets and filling my lounge with people for a night, so they can get out of the ice and wind? What about the next night? What about the people fleeing domestic violence? What about those who are grieving loss?
There is so much hurt! How can I call myself a follower, while I sit in my comfort? Please, tell me you’ve wrestled with this.
Called to GO
As I reflected, I was reminded of my friend’s question about mission. We often think mission is about being overseas, or just for ‘really special’ people. But aren’t we all missionaries?
My workplaces are mission fields – full of opportunities to show the character of God, and to connect people to the Kingdom. But I so often fail my own expectations. There is still something in me that desires perfection.
While there is a balance needed, and while I cannot do everything, I also cannot excuse my own laziness and selfishness.
We are called to go – to the hurt, to the broken, to the lonely, to the messy. While I know this to be true, it is uncomfortable. So many of our churches are full of middle-class people. Have you wondered why? Have you considered how to change this? Do you even want to?
Recently, Denise Stephenson challenged us to consider “unfiltered” selves, and an unfiltered church. Maybe there’s a connection between this, and our comfortable churches. I like comfort. I like safety.
But God does not call us to be comfortable. He calls us to follow the feet of Jesus, who did life with those who are messy, who others thought were unworthy, and no one wanted to be around.
The hard work of WRESTLING
I am an imperfect missionary.
As I’ve sat in my lounge over the last few weeks, soaking in Luke 10 and contemplating all of this complexity, I have wrestled – with myself and with God.
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. Luke 10:2 (NIV)
It’s been uncomfortable. But I have resolved to not be unattached and ignorant of those most vulnerable in this city. I may not have the right words or actions to understand this fully yet, and it is terrifying! But there is nothing about me that makes this easy or special. Just a hesitant willingness to follow God into the difficult, heartbreaking and vulnerable places.
I don’t know what it is to live and relate without privilege, and I don’t have all the words, or a 12-step plan. But I know following God must mean changes.
My next step is to learn to be in the places my privilege resists, and do it out of an overflow of God’s presence. To be an imperfect missionary.
God’s presence is key
After spending time in Luke 10, it suddenly hit me one day that immediately following Jesus sending the 72 out with power and authority, he told a story about a foreigner/outsider being the one to sacrifice and help someone in humiliating need. (Luke 10:25-37) In so doing, he challenged the one who thought he was right to take that same position of vulnerability and humility.
Jesus then challenged the balance of being and doing. He reinforced that being at his feet was most important. To take the position of a humble learner who spends time and their teachers’ feet is to know the teacher and the ways of the teacher, so much so that everything one does is an overflow.
If life consisted of only being at Jesus’ feet, I think I would be at peace with that. It is my natural reflective state, and I could spend days in God’s presence. The challenge for me is to act, to do. But as I have been challenged to do, God has reminded me that doing is not the goal. Rather, it is about doing as an overflow of being – spending time at the feet of Jesus, in God’s presence, so that my life and actions may be an overflow, an extension, of the One that I live for.
Your call
I am an imperfect missionary, drawn to safety and familiarity. I am someone who, without compounding understanding, would not have called themself a missionary. But we are not on this Earth for ourselves.
We are called to be an extension of the Kingdom of God here on Earth – to spend time at the feet of Jesus so we may be filled to overflowing and transformed by his grace, ready to go about our daily lives, extending transformation to those around us – in our workplaces, in our homes, in our streets, in our cities and towns.
How is God calling you to be an imperfect missionary?
