Jim Dittes, in a book several decades old now, reminds pastors that in those troubling moments when the people in the congregation say no, or break their promises, or resist the gospel s claim on their lives the things that cause pastors to doubt their work and wonder about their calling these very moments can help pastors understand their calling. It is precisely because people in congregations do these kinds of things from time to time that they need pastors. Seminaries need presidents because the work is hard, very hard at times. The call to leadership is, at its root, a call to work more energetically and persistently than may seem commensurate to the change that is being sought. Leadership is a calling, I think, and it is a calling because it is taxing, sometimes stressful, but absolutely necessary for theological schools.
Leadership is a function of a community.
Leadership is not a private exercise of gifts for the enjoyment or benefit of others. Leadership is a function of a community, not of individuals. A violist does not need a conductor, an orchestra does. A soloist doesn t need a director, a choir does. A conductor of the symphony or director of the choir is needed because the job to be done requires a community of persons to do it mixing melodies and harmonies and rhythm and silence that create musical art and meaning.