Rachel Boehm Van Harmelen
January 2007
“The leadership skills needed to effectively manage a church, its volunteers and look after multitudes of people are in some ways akin to the responsibilities of a corporate CEO,” says Karen Wilk, Pastor of Community Life and Discipleship at The River Community CRC in Edmonton, Alberta. “In other ways, being a church leader is very different—making money is a very different goal than raising up faithful followers of Jesus Christ.” Wilk and a group of her peers in the Edmonton, Alberta, area are now trying to strengthen their leadership skills by regularly calling upon each other to take a “Leadership Challenge.”
“The six of us meet every three weeks for three hours,” explains Wilk. “Each time we meet, someone brings a leadership challenge he or she is facing. We all talk through the challenge, share our own experiences and encourage the person in responding to the challenge. We also take the time to pray for that person and what he or she is facing.”
To supplement this exercise, Wilk and her peers have been exploring different books such as Gil Rendle’s Leading Change in the Congregation: Spiritual and Organizational Tools for Leaders. The group is also viewing and discussing the Willow Creek Leadership Summit 2006 presentations on DVD, and they recently attended a pastors’ retreat sponsored by Christian Reformed Home Missions. The pastors’ goal is to not only study leadership but to become better leaders—supporting, encouraging, and holding each other accountable in their callings.
“Our personalities are a part of it, affecting how we lead,” says Wilk. She and her peers set out to understand how their individual personalities shape how they lead their churches. “We did a personality profile test,” she says. “It was fun. We play with that a little bit every time we meet.”
In 2007, the group hopes to invite some corporate leaders from their region to share insights with the group, and, if funds allow, they hope to organize a day retreat for the spring. They are also attending an all-day intensive leadership workshop with Bill Easum.
“It’s the leadership challenges, though, that have best engaged the group,” says Wilk. “I think the best part of our meetings have been the conversations about our ministries. We’re really sharing from the heart what we’re working on and having the opportunity to get feedback.”
The small size of the group, only six members, makes it easier to share, says Wilk, and it helps that the group has studied together before. Previous peer-learning grants have been used to study preaching and intergenerational ministry. “People are really committed, and we want to do something with what we’re learning. We’re really pushing each other to look at how we do things.”
“I find myself thinking about things we’ve talked about in our group when I’m dealing with situations in the church,” Wilk says. “As a pastor, you can sometimes feel that you’re the only one struggling with certain things, but the group helps you see that you’re not in it alone.”
Wilk can’t imagine not having a peer group – this is the third group she’s participated in in recent years. “I know the most frequent excuse for not participating in a peer learning group is ‘I just don’t have time,’” says Wilk. “But this is really worth your time. It will benefit your ministry. If you don’t take time for yourself you will have less to offer others.”
