Diocese hears the views of its young leaders
There was quite a buzz at the last night’s Leadership Symposium for 20s & 30s held in Church House, Belfast.
Twenty–six young leaders from around the diocese met with Bishop Harold and the Archdeacons who were keen to hear their views on leadership and the Church. The event was part of the Down and Dromore’s review of leadership development.
Bishop Harold began with some thoughts on 1 Timothy 4:12 (Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity) before the group split into smaller discussion groups to discuss a set of questions:
What is church: To you? To your peers? To the wider community?
Where do you perceive most life in the church?
What sort of church would you like to see the Church of Ireland be in 10 years?
What are key characteristics of leadership that the church needs most? Of these what would be your top 4?
What would encourage you and your generation to further develop as church leaders?
The groups were mixed up throughout the evening so that everyone heard a range of views and experiences. The atmosphere was positive and the feedback honest and challenging.
The diocese will be drawing all the comments together but final thoughts shared with the whole group included comments about: authenticity in leadership; a desire for biblically–based leadership; lay involvement; the challenge of change whilst respecting the past; and acknowledgement of the current leadership in the Church of Ireland with a desire to encourage and support it.
Bishop Harold said that he was ‘humbled’ by what he had heard and looked forward to resuming the conversation in the future.
