Church life author, researcher and consultant
Robin J. Trebilcock (Posted June 08)
There are growing numbers of organized religious groups whose membership is made up of people with widely differing backgrounds and beliefs. Open, shared leadership and praxis may be desired outcomes for these groups and sometimes, networks of groups, but these are rarely achieved.
Not only are group members often limited by the expectations and bureaucratic requirements of other organizations, but also are deeply affected by bureaucratic ways of relating to one another. People either try command and control and end up with passive (and sometimes active) resistance, or are so sensitive to difference that only the very lowest common denominator praxis occurs. This tends to kill any hope of effective, open, or gutsy shared leadership and praxis.
A different approach is needed. The kind of organization required cannot rely on ‘the rules of engagement’ for working relationships used by hierarchical organization. Instead it must build effective working relationships from the ground up, taking into consideration the often considerable diversity involved. In this article, I suggest four relational qualities - mutuality, liminality, spirituality and trust - that represent a ‘build’ from initial to deep relationships. Continue reading...