Raising up the Next Generation
Since the inception of our diocese, the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic has had a strong commitment to raising up young leaders to serve the Church. In my workshop at Synod last year, I stated my belief that young leaders are “made, not born.” Regardless of our God-given talents, we learn to lead by leading. That happens best when senior leaders place their confidence and trust in young leaders and give them opportunities to discover and develop their gifts for ministry. Ask any clergy person and they will tell you about the people in their lives who believed in them, opened doors for them, and walked alongside of them as they mastered the difficult skills of leadership. Experience really is the best teacher.
Many leading authors and church planters have written about Jesus’ Paradigm for Leadership, including Dr. Bob Logan, John Maxwell, and Dave Ferguson. Simply stated, it looks like this:
If Jesus had not invested in The Twelve, The 72, and The 120, we would not be here today having this conversation. The church was born because of the first-hand opportunities Jesus gave the first disciples to learn from him how to minister and become leaders. St. Paul was equally concerned about this and provided a great example in the many young leaders he trained. He was emphatic about this with his best known protégé, Timothy, when he said to him, “Pass on what you heard from me…to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others.” (2 Timothy 2:2, MSG) In a similar passage, he exhorts Titus with these words, “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.” (Titus 1:5, ESV). When we take young, emerging leaders under our wing as apprentices, we’re not only providing more laborers for the harvest today, we also ensuring that there will be a harvest tomorrow.
The Anglican Church in North America considers this so important that The Next Generation Leadership Initiative has been established as one of the five primary ministries of the province. In the words of Canon Esau McCaulley, leader of this initiative and our guest speaker at Synod last year, their vision “is to raise up the next generation of leaders for our churches, communities, and cultures.” Concerned about the severe shortage of church leaders that currently exists and promises to worsen in the next decade as a significant number of our existing clergy retire, the Next Generation Leadership Initiative is committed to “discover, develop, and deploy” leaders to serve four specific populations: Communities of Color, Children/Families, Youth, and College Students.
In our own diocese, we have focused on providing summer internships for high school, college, and seminary students. A number of our congregations are now offering these 3-month programs, which provide an environment where interns can gain valuable ministry experience while exploring a possible calling to church ministry. This summer we have eight interns serving with us in a variety of capacities. In addition to the work in their own congregations, the group will also spend time together, getting to know one another and building relationships with each other to see their role in ministry through a wider lens. Under the tutelage of Wes Buckley, Youth Minister at Truro who will facilitate these gatherings, the interns will have time with Bp. John and myself, do some shared reading together, and reflect together on their experiences and futures.
We’re excited to see them responding to God’s call and pray that this summer will be a rich and rewarding one for all of them. Many thanks to the Great Commission Committee for providing matching grants, and especially to the congregations sponsoring interns this year: Christ the King, Ascension, Truro, and Christ Church (Vienna). Without your vision and financial support, these opportunities to “raise up the next generation” would not be possible.