The Gift of Leadership

by Eloise Boyle

Kirkland Congregational Church UCC

January 10, 2010, Epiphany Sunday

A change of pastors. It is a deceptively simple phrase, only two nouns, really, “change” and “pastor”. But the process of transition is like an iceberg: there is a huge, concrete task looming right in front of a congregation, and there is also so much more under the surface.

When KCC began its transition period I saw immediately what was on the surface: a vacant minister’s office, a need for the lay leadership to bolt into action and keep the church together, the nuts and bolts of forming and charging an interim search committee. But I thought, “We’re a people of faith working together; we’re fine, we’re experienced in leading this church, we are resilient.” There are many fine examples of resilience to inspire us: the Russians in Leningrad during the 900-day siege; the English throughout the Battle of Britain; the black South Africans under the apartheid system, the Cambodian people in the Khmer Rouge years. I thought resilience would be enough to carry us through.

I was wrong.

What I failed to discern at first was all of that iceberg of transition that lay under the surface – the sense of loss at one pastor’s leaving, the uncertainty of many in the congregation as to how we would continue, the very real emotional effects of living through a time of transition. It made people uneasy, touchy, emotional, even resentful. And I admit that I saw little of that because of my day to day involvement in keeping things going. The part of the iceberg you can see is so much easier to deal with than the mass that lies deeply hidden.

I’ve been struggling to find words to express what exactly my epiphany moment was. On the surface it was, of course, “well, we need a pastor, we need a leader, we need someone to guide us.” That seems like more of a no-brainer than an epiphany. And then I looked deeper and this is what I found.

My faith in this congregation, my belief in its resilience was not unfounded, was not misplaced – indeed the love and support shown first to the interim search committee and in recent months to the committee that is working to call the right pastor to us has been nothing short of complete. But what we need – what every congregation needs – is the person to pull us together, to take our individual gifts and merge them into a wondrous, effective whole, a person who will challenge each of us to live our faith and to join our faith lives with the others in this congregation, thereby creating a church. I realized we need the gift of leadership.

And we are doubly blessed.

Our interim search committee brought Ana and Tod Gobledale to us, and their ministry has indeed been a gift. I have told them that they are water on parched earth for us. I do not use this metaphor with them lightly, for I know that their years in Africa showed them just what a gift real water on parched earth is. Ana and Tod have shepherded us through this transition period: they have shaken things up, they have opened long-closed doors (often literally – have you noticed the improvements to the building itself since they’ve been here?), they have led us faithfully, prayerfully and professionally. They have helped us explore the wider world of the UCC and the church’s global missions. Our faith lives are better for their leadership. They have been our first gift.

And soon, possibly very soon, we will receive a second gift of permanent leadership. Here is my second epiphany moment of the search process: I am willing to confess that for me lately the notion of church, of faith, has not been rich in spirituality. With all the day to day concerns — the preparing for Sunday school, the conducting of the board meetings, the real worry of lack of volunteers, our financial situation — the idea of church has meant work and finding solutions, and keeping things going and…and not a whole lot of fulfillment of the soul. So I really had my doubts, I am not afraid to admit, that the search process would be anything other than another bureaucratic task. I worried that maybe God was not really going to be a part of this process. To me it seemed more a personnel matter than an act of faith, and I am so happy to report that again, I was wrong. Some of you know that I am a Christian who likes to keep her feet on the ground, who is most comfortable with the notion of “Christ among us” rather than the “Holy Sprit through us” sort of faith experience. Yet there has been an extra-ordinary element to this search, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in this process cannot be dismissed or discounted. I’ve never before in my life felt so guided by faith. As you know, the committee’s work has been untiring, and we continued on even when we hit setbacks. Seven people working together, creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and dedication to the task at hand. Seven people never losing sight of the spark that lets us know we are calling our pastor to us. I have said more than once to our committee that we seven people, working together right now in this moment, will never again have as profound an effect on Kirkland Congregational Church as we will have very soon. That’s how I know that God has been there with us, and that our gift from God will be our new minister. The 90% of the iceberg that is underwater has not sunk us; it has set our spirit soaring.