“The difficulties facing the Church create heavy daily burdens and dilemmas for those whose task it is to lead the Church. There is a cost associated with the confusion and uncertainty that exists.
One of the reasons I believe the Church of England needs to develop a strategic rather than merely tactical response to its challenges is that it would improve the lives of its leaders immeasurably.
Many priests are struggling to understand what their changing role means or how to do it. For many a more strategic leadership role is hard to grasp: it is easier and more congenial to immerse oneself in the doing. The clergy need to be equipped for to lead the Church in a way which is realistic about the way the role of stipendiary ministry is developing in the modern Church of England.”
This is a quote from my recently published Creating the Future of the Church. I explored this theme recently with a group of clergy from the midlands, of diverse churchmanship. The common complaint was not that they had to provide leadership – they realised that the role now and probably always comes with the job. What they were less happy with was the failure of their training to equip them for the role as it is in actual modern practice.
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