Urban Leadership Styles

Four Ways of Mobilizing a City

 The Celebration: In Christchurch, the redemptive gift of the city is "to be a City of God".  It was founded as such by a group of high church Anglicans.  Integral in this was the idea of celebration.  Could it be that an event-oriented celebration approach could lead the unified but relatively static church into effective capturing of this city for it's God-given purpose?

The Pastor: In Phoenix, Hal Sacks has quietly over 15 years come alongside the other pastors, one by one, befriending, serving, counseling, taking away on retreats.   In the process has come the right to lead, the unity for Leadership and the growth of the city Leadership dynamics.

The Evangelist: Ed Silvoso builds his concept of mobilizing a city around a model of what has happened in the city of Resistencia in Argentina in a three year leadup to an evangelistic crusade.  This has grown out of the long history in Latin America of city-wide crusades.  To this history, Ed has brought a clear insight into the role of prayer evangelism as the foundational component.

The Builder: The Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation has been used by God to spawn numerous institutions that are transforming major sectors of the city  and its society. 

Which Leadership style is appropriate for your city?  Perhaps it depends on the redemptive gift of the city, on God's purposes for your city, or on the nature of the leaders in your city.

Intuitive Urban Leadership

Effective Christian city leaders tend to be highly developed in intuitive responses to needs and issues. This is perhaps because the very context of the diversity and fluidity of cities requires constantly changing Leadership strategies and styles. Cities are monsters with multiple faces, or put the other way are diamonds that sparkle with a multi-varied hue.

Ineffective Urban Leadership Styles

During the 1970's in the Western world, what Jacques Ellul calls  "technique" began to take over in Western management theory, with schools of thought related to "management by objectives" that are based on unbiblical cultural values  emerging from the industrial revolution. These change the basis of managerial relationships from the biblical view of man in the creative image of God, to man as a production machine.  Executives become interchangeable cogs in sustaining the machinery of organizations.  Standardization and mass production of people become goals, as against the development of the uniqueness and gifting of each individual. Time increasingly ceases to be considered in the Biblical manner as being directional yet seasonal and becomes linear, able to be squeezed.

 While all Leadership has some degree of the programmatic, ministries based on a high degree of structural and linear thinking inherent in a "management by objectives" approach to the city appear marginally effective.  A master strategy for a city, based on management by objectives and timelines, probably will not be significantly productive.  As I write I can think of three AD2000 strategies for cities that have been published that are beautiful on paper but so programmatic that they failed to accomplish significant results.

This should not come as a surprise. Jesus, while having a clear vision and goal ("I have accomplished my work" (John 17:4)), developed his ministry by response to constantly changing needs around him.   He modeled the intuitive, servant, need-oriented approach that most of us are familiar with. 

On the other hand a networking and consultative strategy for a city based on encouraging the development of intuitive abilities through relationship and story, probably will release enormous amounts of energy towards the same goals.  This could be the reason why Pentecostal growth of churches in cities is so rapid, as their apprenticeship training structures and theology based on listening to the Holy Spirit, both highlight the development of intuitive abilities.

 Doug Hall of the Emmanual Gospel Centre in Boston has seen significant church growth across his city.  It has not been through a large scale program but rather the bringing together of various networks of ethnic and other Leadership in the city for 2-3 day seminars etc. As people meet, tell their stories and reflect on each others' problems, strategic issues and unmet needs begin to surface and are grappled with by these groups of leaders. 

Listening, Reflecting, Releasing Leadership

Reflection on how God exercises power among his people lead to a similar conclusion towards a servant, listening model of Leadership and away from centralized controls.   He is in control and constantly releasing energy and his plans at the grass roots.  He does not appoint someone to exercise his control over the city.  Rather he uses those who listen to those grass roots leaders and are able to integrate and perceive the wider vision and reflect it back to the city leaders. 

On the other hand, there is a place for clear management by objectives.  Harnessing the intuitive leaders into effective teamwork  requires some degree of clear goal-setting, pressure to meet timelines, and the normal moulding, limiting, stretching, or utilizing of each other that occurs when  you are striving to accomplish a goal as a team.  Acceptance of these team pressures is part of the price of city Leadership  for leaders and  wives.

Creating Roles for Prophets, Evangelists and Apostles

The giftings of prophet or evangelist are connector ministries.  They are inter-church people usually and these ministries are mobile often.  This does not always go well with the duties of pastor. Yet in most denominations there is no acceptable slot for the prophet, the evangelist or the apostolic leader.  So men and women with such a ministry must become pastors. 

Sometimes our pastorally-designed structures hinder the emergence of such men and women rather than encourage them.  Sometimes as a result of their giftings they of necessity have to form structures outside of the local congregation.  These are wrongly and unbiblically called "para-church".  If the denominational structures had roles for them, this would be ideal, as this is a structure external to the local congregations that has more legitimacy, despite an obvious inconsistency theologically. 

The Role of the Prophet in the Church

The prophets to the city may not be well accepted.  Ezekiel 22:1 for example is a command from the Lord to Ezekiel: 

"Son of man, will you judge her? Will you judge this city of bloodshed?  Then confront her with all her detestable practices and say: "This is what the sovereign Lord says....Therefore I will make you an object of scorn...."

 Such prophesy will not give a person acceptance in Leadership in a city.  Pastors are aghast at such judgmental speeches for part of their pastoral role is to seek harmony in the body.  Those seeking to create a movement dynamic find it difficult to do so based on a vision of judgment.  A vision of renewal, revival, will draw the people.   But judgment? 

I laughed with a friend who has been much used by God in mobilizing Jesus Marches, an integrating popular series of events as he shared how he had begun to see the poor of the city and the oppressed and speak of them increasingly.  Suddenly he had found himself moving from a popular center to a prophetic edge.  From a movement dynamic to the 2% edge.   And it is cold out there on the edge.

For this reason, the pastors need to seek out and identify the prophets and enmesh them into the Leadership, protecting them, listening to them.

John Dawson in his book, "Healing America's Wounds" is perhaps one of the most significant prophetic voice in the American scene today.  As you read his works you sense a fine balance of both the judgment and mercy of God in his writings.  There is a call to revival based on an understanding of God's judgment and ways.   Yet John senses as a spokesman a great need for the wisdom of God in his speech.   This is very much after the pattern of Isaiah, preaching both judgment and God's unfailing mercy, yet with much grace.