Manifested Competencies 

When reflecting on the things I’ve learned over my time here at Gonzaga, and how that has helped in my restructuring of Kid’s Church, I find myself going back to the beginning. Looking back at ORGL 500, we learned about Risk Leadership and Social change leadership. Primarily, this entailed examining what specifically propelled us into our current position; this project quite literally fell into my lap, as it was a person-driven revolt due to the perceived incompetencies of the person entrusted with leading our group before we stepped in. Just before my wife and I were asked to take over leadership, members of the team were either stepping down or coming to us for guidance because we were perceived as DeFacto-leaders in the wake of chaos. My wife and I went through the sages of preparing for the revolt (though there wasn’t truly a revolt, just a transition of authority) as we prepared mentally for what would take place. Followed by the actual transition (revolt), and now we exist in the rebuilding phase. Being in the rebuilding phase has allowed us to move into a more Social Change form of leadership where there’s cooperation, power sharing and empowerment, creating a truly great and collaborative team environment.  

Because this project was done in a church setting, there wasn’t the option to (nor would we have wanted to increase individual isolation by doing so) kick anyone out or fire anyone. We had to utilize the four pillars of heroic leadership every step of the way. In beginning to make changes, I had to constantly be self-aware, so we didn’t get pulled into any emotionally charged conversations. We had to have ingenuity, and think outside the box, and be flexible at all times. We had to, and still do, always strive to work from a place of personal excellence, because those who we are serving are our most important assets. But, the most important factor in going through this type of transition was maintaining the ability to lead in love. It was just as important to engage the remnant of our team with love, as well as those who had stepped back from their roles; acting in a way that allowed those who had stepped away feel that they were still valued and loved was crucial to the integrity of our leadership.  

Understanding the nature and complexities of diversity also helped through this process. Age played a big role as the age gap was expansive between leadership and volunteers, and integral to navigate with care. The previous leader is 27, I’m 33 and my wife is 28, and two of our main volunteers are in their mid 60’s. Under previous leadership, both older volunteers expressed feeling belittled, and frustrated by the lack of organization. Understanding age-gap theory and being able to navigate that type of diversity helped quite a bit. It’s not easy to lead people who could be your parents, but it is possible to do so in a compassionate and loving way.  

When looking back at the different theories I’ve learned and how organizations can operate, it’s helped to form how I desire this ministry to function. Understanding the need for systems to be in place, functioning smoothly, and guiding our processes keeps a level sense of professionalism in a realm that is so quick to be riddled with personal emotion. Because I know that happy people are good and consistent volunteers, I know the need and desire to always invest in those who are a part of our team. Having a team that loves and cares for each other will produce a healthy environment and avoid tragedies. In a healthy environment, we know that kids will have the best chance at learning and growing in their faith – which is the ultimate goal, one that had previously been convoluted and lost along the way. It has been my duty, in using my skills and knowledge acquired, to  advocate and be a good steward of this goal.