Three Kinds of Leadership - LeadershipJournal.net
I have included Mark Discoll's part of an article from Leadership Journal. I find what he has to say about his office at the church that is more like a living room than an office. Why do Pastor's have to stay in the office anyway? I have never gotten that one. Who are you working with there? If you are in a church with a staff I can sort of see it, but even then, why send everyone to a cubby hole just to make the job seem normal when it is anything but normal. Why not be a few feet from your wife or children rather than a few miles from them if what you are doing is working on a sermon or spending time in prayer? Why not invite a counseling session in your living room? Why not visit the family who needs the counsel? Space is a funny thing. We communicate a lot by our use of living space. We take on roles that we would not dream of without the assistance of archetecture to lead us down that path.
Three Kinds of Leadership - LeadershipJournal.net: "Mark Driscoll: Leading Yourself First
Ten years have passed since I founded Mars Hill. The church has grown and we've launched the Acts 29 Church Planting Network.
I'm not just the leader of a church anymore, but a leader of leaders. My advice, my policies, and my example seem even more important when I know others will follow my lead in their own leadership roles.
So I find myself in a place where I give advice, such as, 'Accept that your life is abnormal. Nothing about life as a ministry leader—from its emotional toll to relational demands and constant interruptions—is normal. Accepting that you are a freak with a freakish life will help you not to freak out.'
But I've also been challenged to examine how I model leadership, especially in the area of my family life.
I've learned, for example, that I can't study effectively at the church and that there are many benefits of maintaining a study at home. I've removed the desk and bookshelves from my church office, setting it up more like a living room—with couches and a fridge, conducive to meetings.
Meanwhile, I've moved the books to my home, where I can study in peace and where my family can see me studying and have access to my library. I've also learned to include, rather than hide, my children in ministry. I try to take them with me whenever possible, such as on hospital visits or missions trips.
I hope to train them for ministry by making them my disciples, living at my hip like Jesus' disciples did with him. My children, after all, may be another group of leaders that I've become a leader to.
Mark Driscoll
Mars Hill Church, Seattle, Washington"
Three Kinds of Leadership - LeadershipJournal.net: "Mark Driscoll: Leading Yourself First
Ten years have passed since I founded Mars Hill. The church has grown and we've launched the Acts 29 Church Planting Network.
I'm not just the leader of a church anymore, but a leader of leaders. My advice, my policies, and my example seem even more important when I know others will follow my lead in their own leadership roles.
So I find myself in a place where I give advice, such as, 'Accept that your life is abnormal. Nothing about life as a ministry leader—from its emotional toll to relational demands and constant interruptions—is normal. Accepting that you are a freak with a freakish life will help you not to freak out.'
But I've also been challenged to examine how I model leadership, especially in the area of my family life.
I've learned, for example, that I can't study effectively at the church and that there are many benefits of maintaining a study at home. I've removed the desk and bookshelves from my church office, setting it up more like a living room—with couches and a fridge, conducive to meetings.
Meanwhile, I've moved the books to my home, where I can study in peace and where my family can see me studying and have access to my library. I've also learned to include, rather than hide, my children in ministry. I try to take them with me whenever possible, such as on hospital visits or missions trips.
I hope to train them for ministry by making them my disciples, living at my hip like Jesus' disciples did with him. My children, after all, may be another group of leaders that I've become a leader to.
Mark Driscoll
Mars Hill Church, Seattle, Washington"
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