When I think about it, the moments of learning that had the greatest impact on me came from example and not from instruction. I think about the lessons my family taught me about tenacity and perseverance. I remember lessons from my mentors as I witnessed them act and react to the life of parish ministry. There is an instructive lyric from the musical Into the Woods, careful the things you do, children will listen.
Leadership is a complex art form. It requires the leader to be extraordinarily aware of her surroundings. The leader is called to be simultaneously attentive to those she is leading and cognizant of herself. No one is the perfect leader, but when we accept the work of leadership we accept the work of external and internal awareness.
I have learned to look at the art of leadership with four basic descriptions: Ruler, Warrior, Magician and Lover. These are old words, but they still work. Each of these four epitomes is at play in the interior life of any leader and they are on a spectrum. To lead people in a small group, in a house of Bishops, or a House of Deputies, requires the leadership to keep the balance of all four, and know when to employ one over the other, and where the leader is on the spectrum of emotional balance and health.
When a leader is aware, she leans towards the gilded aspect of these characterizations.
The Ruler empowers, the Warrior makes peace, the Magician acts as an agent of change, and the Lover renovates. When a leader is unaware or stressed she regresses to the shadow side of the description. The Ruler becomes a tyrannical baby, the Warrior a bully, the Magician becomes irresponsible, and the Lover becomes territorial. I have been in leadership in parish ministry for twenty years, and I recognize all these in my history. My current colleagues tease me when they see the tyrannical baby coming. Usually they ask me to eat and go take a nap.
As deputy to General Convention in 2012, I witnessed the convention’s leadership functioning on this spectrum. I watched empowerment and I watched bullies. My notes recall a resolution of shame that would have required a deputy to stand and address the house based on the percentage of his or her diocesan budget that went to the Episcopal Church, e.g. “Miller, Texas, X%.” This resolution did not pass. I remember the work of empowerment as transgendered people spoke to a canon to include those transgendered into the ordination process. This resolution passed. I remember a moment of fiscal responsibility as the House of Deputies took seriously the need to reform the structure of our Church. I remember the territorial side of the house as some deputies voted “No” to consent to then Texas Suffragan Bishop-elect Fisher’s welcome on the floor of the House of Deputies.
As our church gathers in Salt Lake City, her leadership will again be on display. The examples our leaders will offer the church is at a hinge moment. Many of the past social justice legislative battles are in hindsight. Oddly, inclusion now means finding a place for conservative people to have a presence and a voice. We will elect a new presiding bishop called to awareness of himself and his surroundings as he and the President of the House of Deputies leads the church through restructure.
I wonder if deputy’s voices will be empowered or bullied. I wonder if agents of change will be on display in the House of Bishops and House of Deputies. I am concerned we will be territorial with our assets, and even our love. As this convention begins, it is an important time because the next generation of leaders are watching and learning and already preparing for General Convention 2018.
As we are led into the woods of our General Convention what is the type of leader who will lead us out?
The Rev. Patrick J. Miller is a 2000 graduate of the Seminary of the Southwest, and currently serves on its board of trustees. He is rector of St. Mark’s in Houston. He will serve as first alternate clergy deputy to General Convention 2015
