Our future leaders need to be equipped to lead through change.

Our future leaders need to be equipped to lead through change.

And more than that: they need to lead our church into the ‘unknown’. Into places for which, at present, there are no road maps or text books, no papers or classes, no star-charts, no GPS, no ipod apps.

And it’s not ‘unknown’ because we’re too lazy to sit down and figure out where we are headed.

The world is changing and changing fast and we’re quickly being left far behind.

There is an understanding in schools that 90% of the jobs for which students are being educated don’t yet exist and that in some degree programmes half of what you learn in your first year will be irrelevant by your third.

At present we are equipping people for a mission field that no longer exists; for a ministry paradigm that is no longer working.

We need resourceful leaders who can develop new ideas and inspire in new and creative ways; leaders who can take risks and think outside the box; leaders who are intuitive, who see opportunities and go for it; leaders who can work with others, to develop and articulate vision; leaders who know how to empower and equip others. And leader’s who’re supported by their communities to do this.

We need leaders who know how to initiate and lead people through change.

Whether these changes are good or bad, society is changing rapidly and our church needs future leaders with the skills to deal with these changes. Existing models of ministry and mission are failing. We can no longer be certain about what the mission field looks like. We need new ways to deal with present and future challenges of the church; we need people to be equipped to do the thinking and engage with these challenges.

This requires a change within theological education from educating to equipping, from specific skills for specific tasks to the ability to acquire, use and apply information in changing contexts.

Exodus 14 has relevance here as we read from verse 11…

14:11-16 [The Israelites] said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians?’ It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today… The Lord will fight for you…”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water…”

Moses and the Israelites had to deal with the major shift from slavery in Egypt to the seemingly uncertain hope of a far off and as yet unrealised Promised Land; and the people still preferred the security of the former to striking out into the unknown.

This space of uncertainty is the place in which young people dwell. They live in a place of change; they naturally question the status quo and desire change and development. They are not shackled to the past and have the ability from their relationship with God to dream bigger and in new ways.

We need leaders who will work with what already exists and help communities as they are to see the need for change and help make those changes happen.

Our hope for these future leaders is that:

• Like Moses, their mission and ministry is based on an encounter with God; that they are called.
• They are equipped to take risks; to journey confidently in faith into the unknown and the uncertain.
• They are aware of their gifts and talents and can work collaboratively with others to staff their weaknesses.

For many of us regardless of the extent, change is hard but necessary. So please equip the future leaders of our church to lead us through change.

Our next section is asking for a foundational change to the way courses are structured at St John’s. Our greatest hope is that St John’s will place a high value on children, young people, and family ministries.

The story you’re about to hear is from a church that had to cope through extreme and ongoing change.  They have handled this in a positive, life-giving way enriching their children, youth and family ministry.