Finding Effective Leaders

By Rob Renfroe

Recently I had a conversation with a friend who is grateful for the Global Methodist Church but who is concerned for its future. Not because of anything that is presently occurring but because “we’re all human and we all have a tendency to drift from our good intentions and commitments.” He wondered how we can ensure that the GMC will remain committed to the Bible, to making disciples and to refusing to conform to the world. He is wise enough to understand the GMC may not be in danger of losing its way anytime soon, but now is the time to put in place policies and structures which will encourage, if not guarantee, that future generations are true to the vision of the church’s founders.

After a good conversation about structures that will make bishops and pastors accountable to the church unlike what we’ve seen in my lifetime, I told my friend what may be an overstatement, but I believe it. “Just about any system can work if you have the right people in place. No system will work if the wrong people are in charge.”

That’s a clumsy way of stating what I know to be true, as leadership expert John Maxwell says: “Everything rises and falls with leadership.” Great corporations, great schools, great governments, great churches have great leaders. They have leaders who cast vision, inspire people, equip others to be effective, raise up and empower additional leaders, keep the organization faithful to its purpose and remove those who would subvert its mission.

The role of bishops within the GMC is still being determined. There are differing ideas concerning how much authority they should possess and whether they will serve primarily as teachers and exhorters or whether they will also be deeply involved in the administrative affairs of an annual conference. I have my preference, but this is one where good people can differ.

Either way, it is critical that we elect people who are right for the role of leadership. In my past denomination, persons were often chosen for the episcopacy because he or she had been a district superintendent, the bishop’s executive officer, or had served the church on a national board. Others were elected because they were genuinely likeable and could work with all kinds of people. Some rose to the top because they represented a faction within a conference that wanted to promote a particular agenda. In other words – position, personality, politics. An organization that chooses its leadership using those criteria will over time drift from its mission, decline in numbers and likely implode because of competing visions.

At the upcoming General Conference in San Jose the GMC may for the first time elect six interim bishops who will serve for two years and who may be re-elected for a longer term at the following General Conference in 2026. If we should not elect our episcopal leaders based on past positions, personality or politics, what then should we use as criteria? Competence, compassion and character.

Competence: Has the person been effective in ministry? Ministry is a broad term. It encompasses everything from hospital visits to setting budgets to delivering a sermon. Are we looking for persons who capable jacks-of-all-trades? No. We are looking for people who have a proven track record of making disciples of Jesus Christ. We need men and women who have inspired and equipped others to live holy, godly lives; who know what it takes and can teach others how “to grow a church;” and who have led congregations that have impacted their communities through ministries of caring for the poor and the dispossessed.

I once served under a bishop I admired in many ways, though our theologies differed a bit. She loved Jesus and wanted the church to grow. To her credit she brought a respected church growth expert to our conference who spoke about the need to plant new churches. She followed his presentation with her vision of starting many new congregations and stated her commitment to support the pastors who were willing to answer the call. Many did. It was exciting to witness. At the next meeting she presented these pastors to us so we might pray for them. Then she asked those who would be mentoring and leading these mainly young pastors in their new ministries to stand. They were the twelve district superintendents of our conference. One of the twelve had started a church. Practically none had ever grown a church. They were expected to teach what they had never done and what they had shown no capacity to be able to do. Sad to say, we heard very little about this new initiative in the following months and years. Why? Because the wrong persons had been chosen to lead.

The GMC needs bishops who are more than good guys and nice gals with fine intentions and a desire to serve. We need leaders who have done the work and who can teach the rest of us how to do our work in a better, more effective way.

Compassion. We need leaders who are committed to the truth of the Gospel and the authority of the Scriptures. Here there can be no compromise. At the same time, I believe the philosopher-theologian Francis Schaeffer was correct when he wrote: “There is nothing more ugly than an orthodoxy without understanding or without compassion.” Jesus was effective because he came with “grace and truth.” Not one without the other. Not one more than the other but both together.

One reason those referred to as “the sinners” in Jesus’ day listened to him when he told them to “repent because the Kingdom of God is at hand” was because they believed he cared for them. Unlike the Pharisees who also told them to repent, when “sinners” heard Jesus say those words, they felt his love for them. They understood that his intention was to lift them up to an abundant life not put them down because of the life they had lived.

We need bishops who love people – lost people, hurting people, sinful people, angry people, people who are difficult to love. Why? Because that’s our mission. The GMC was not brought into existence to create a church where you and I are comfortable, or where there’s no liberal influence, or where the doctrine is just right. The GMC exists to change the world. Our mission is to “make disciples” – that means reaching people who are lost and hurting and sinful and being used by God to transform their lives. We do not reach people if we do not love them. They will not care what we know until they know we care for them. We need bishops who know that we exist for others, not for ourselves, and who will compel us to be in mission because he or she loves people the way Jesus did.

Character. For a person to lead, he or she must have followers. For people to follow you, they must trust you. To trust you, people must believe you will do what’s right – not what’s easy, not what’s popular, not what’s best for you, not what creates the least disruption or controversy – but what’s right for the mission.

Leadership is never easy. Leaders must do difficult things, and they often must act when they are uncertain what is best. People will forgive mistakes in judgment. But they will never trust or follow a person who is lacking in integrity. Our bishops must be persons who have no personal agendas, no desire to be praised, no reticence to do what is difficult even if it is unpopular. People do not expect perfection. But they must be able to say to themselves, “I don’t know why he did that. But I know who he is, so I will trust him. I don’t understand her decision. But I am certain she believed it was best for achieving our mission together.” Little inspires people more than a person of character who is strong and true under pressure. And nothing destroys leadership as quickly as a lack of integrity. So, our bishops must not simply be good people. They must be persons who are strong and courageous and who live for an audience of One.

How can we guarantee the future of the GMC? Good policies and structures, along with real accountability, will certainly help. But ultimately, it will come down to leadership. Leadership that is characterized by competence, compassion, and character.

Please be in prayer for the delegates to the upcoming General Conference this September. They have important work to accomplish. But nothing will be more important than choosing who will  lead us into the new future that God has graciously provided for us.

Rob Renfroe is a Global Methodist clergyperson and president and publisher of Good News. Photo: United Methodist church leaders confer during a business session of their 2024 General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. From left are the Rev. Gary Graves, secretary of the conference, and Bishops Bruce Ough and Carlo A. Rapanut. Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.