Leadership Matters!
Like it or not, both the substance and style, personality and professional demeanor, of a religious leader influence both the public perception and actual institutional character of the organization led.
As a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1980 to 1984, I watched a dramatic change of leadership in that giant evangelical body. As individuals steeped in and committed to the historic Baptist tradition were pushed aside by political-theological fundamentalists using fear, innuendo, and personal attacks to pave their way to power, virtually everything about that historic convention changed.
A commitment to cooperation was replaced by a demand for conformity with the doctrines, social policies, and visions of the leaders. Theological education to equip ministers for ministry gave way to theological indoctrination to assure ideological orthodoxy among all graduates. Corporate compassion faded in the shadow of heavy-handed judgment. A political agenda was baptized as a criterion for determining authentic spirituality. Gone were the passion for freedom, respect for the priesthood of every believer, and an unwavering commitment to the separation of church and state that were non-negotiable convictions among historic Baptists. Leadership matters!
Rank and file members of a religious organization are somewhat at the mercy of the personalities and priorities of their national leaders. From the executive offices of religious organizations come decisions about financial priorities, theological emphases, strategies for missions and ministries, cooperative efforts or initiatives in isolation, and the substance of press releases on a variety of issues.
Every segment of a religious organization is impacted directly by the styles, personalities, priorities, and beliefs of the organization’s leaders.
By
Welton Gaddy
|
January 30, 2008; 6:39 AM ET
Share This:
Technorati
| Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook
Previous: Only One True Leader |
Next: When Leaders Fail Us
Posted by: Anonymous | January 31, 2008 11:48 PM
Report Offensive Comment
DECIST Order:
WHAT?:
Bgone:
Att: hoax? aka
WHAT? aka
BGONE aka
HOMO SEXUAL,
http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul
ATT: BGONE ; You are Going To Be Investigated by the I.R.S. for Commiting Internet Fraud & bilking unsuspecting Donors to your Fraudulant Site!
Stop Or you will will Perish!
Posted by: Anonymous | January 31, 2008 8:12 PM
Report Offensive Comment
UUUUHHHH?
Posted by: Terra Gazelle | January 31, 2008 1:48 PM
Report Offensive Comment
there was a movie where a ship was minimized to be able to flow in the veins of a body, the body was in life-care unit artificially kept alive and the blue-additive was to be found to be decoded.
www.sundance.org Brokeback Mountain Dead
Sundance Ecnadius, Ecnadin is a city in Phalestine Jerusalem, of the first war with Byzantine and Crusaders that comes till Eyyubis of Benazir, Eyyubis of Hasankeyf, and later to Ottomans. Prophet Ahmet had been poisoned and who had been against Him but later accepted were governors and commanders.
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 31, 2008 8:51 AM
Report Offensive Comment
it is less than an operation daily in the stock market, but i am praying for my daily bread.
it is less than an operation daily in the stock market, but it has been 2332 prayers, 333 weeks.
http://www.timeanddate.com/date/durationresult.html?d1=11&m1=9&y1=2001&d2=29&m2=1&y2=2008&ti=on
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 31, 2008 7:41 AM
Report Offensive Comment
where is the gold that is worth 160 Billions of USD in the basement of World Trade Towers? have i been able to courier them to you in these seven years?
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 31, 2008 7:27 AM
Report Offensive Comment
thank you.
Daddy, i shall visit Claire Hoffman for Under Unther Unser God, euer ihr Ihr also.
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 31, 2008 3:17 AM
Report Offensive Comment
candidate Mitt Romney
could you ask Chinese Government about the Varyag Plane War Ship towed from Ukrania Chernobyl through Boshphorus Istanbul to China, announced to be employed as Ship for Amusement?
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 31, 2008 3:13 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Williams George Bush, had your Genius Boy studied these cases? how much had you rubbed him to heat to give scents, virtues and light around? how much gold did you give to him for his papers?
gold, from copper(+h) to gold, from relics of World Trade Twin Towers to gold.
if any Bill raises axes reaches my desk, ubuntu vista or swiss zagor, i shall call the files of the widows in the stock exchange market misled.
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 31, 2008 3:06 AM
Report Offensive Comment
for Anatolian Literature lecturers, Fuzuli is not "Unneccessary", it is from "Nufuz-u Liyakat",
as you are a lecturer of Anatolian Literature it is unnecessary to explain wider. the first "u" has two dots on it.
also it is from "fazil", from the root of the word fuzuli "the gifts granted from virtues and attainments of man"
to colour a door, to call your fragrance, here is from Tobias, of RAphael. it seems to be simulation or some kind of a fragrance from "Chry Rhymes On" Circle of "Chry On" Kryon Group of Mt Shasta I AM Foundation, but who has natural perfume nowadays from the thymuse gland?
http://spiritlibrary.com/crimson-circle/quantum-leap-series/shoud-4-the-ten-commitments-from-spirit
Mike Huckabee is diabetes.
Mitt Romney is the financee of China 2008 Olimpics. Ahmet prophet, student of Nestorian Varaka bin Nevfel and friend of Ethopian Speakers, had advised to go to China for wisdom and science.
the family who had tortured Grandsons of Ahmet had not gone to China but to Istanbul to conquer the land of Leonardo da Vinci to attain the science in the heart of the lion, the land to study much so much that you happen to be home!
either way, in Istanbul was the Gallatians, where named as Sutluce "milky" and China and Celts are both Dragons, Flying Dragons.
ascendpress. org/ articles/nature/ Nature8.html
ascendpress. org/ articles/nature/ Nature36.htm
home, sweet home.
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 31, 2008 2:43 AM
Report Offensive Comment
with the Dictionary of the Fire Behind the Bush on the Mountain
Archangel RAphael, of Breath, of Sweet and of Inspirations
the language before World Wars shall come back fullfilled
"to walk forty years in desert" means "to have grown wide lungs"
it is to be completely breathful, in connection and his cake has baked.
it is to be strong and wise, "to walk forty years in dessert"
forty is known as the age of prophets and maturity of human.
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 31, 2008 1:48 AM
Report Offensive Comment
DECIST Order:
WHAT?:
Bgone:
Att: hoax? aka
WHAT? aka
BGONE aka
HOMO SEXUAL,
http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul
ATT: BGONE ; You are Going To Be Investigated by the I.R.S. for Commiting Internet Fraud & bilking unsuspecting Donors to your Fraudulant Site!
Stop Or you will will Perish!
Posted by: Anonymous | January 31, 2008 12:00 AM
Report Offensive Comment
As little Use as I have for the Southern Baptist church now or then Mr. Gaddy comes of here as a bit of a sore loser.
Given that the ultimate leader of any Christian church is the one true and living God and that we are Christians are supposed to be considered a nation of priest exactly how much leadership do we require?
Posted by: Garyd | January 30, 2008 10:31 PM
Report Offensive Comment
You don't suppose the Devil made them do that -"As a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1980 to 1984, I watched a dramatic change of leadership in that giant evangelical body. As individuals steeped in and committed to the historic Baptist tradition were pushed aside by political-theological fundamentalists using fear, innuendo, and personal attacks to pave their way to power, virtually everything about that historic convention changed."
http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul says it all doesn't it? They, those evangelicals, "political-theological fundamentalists using fear, innuendo, and personal attacks to pave their way to power" are under the influence of some supernatural being are they not? Which one to influence their actions is more logical God or Devil?
Money buys power which buys money. The big money goes to those who lead the multitudes to hell, "using fear, innuendo, and personal attacks." Has it ever been different?
The one thing we can say without the slightest fear of error, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Is there a better intention than salvation? When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?
Never when the teacher has the story garbled. Isn't power, what money will buy which buys money what causes, "political-theological fundamentalists using fear, innuendo, and personal attacks to pave their way to power"?
Jesus was fathered by the being in the burning bush. Heard the story about the foo bird? The foo has done it and now you must wear it? Nothing is more horrifying than the truth to liars.
Posted by: BGone | January 30, 2008 6:44 PM
Report Offensive Comment
there may be prophets and there shall be
prophets did not end.
it was the family who had tortured grandsons of Ahmet for 12 generations
to be sure that family of Ahmet ended,
it was the family who had announced that prophets ended
and there shall not come any more, the family who invaded Cyprus, Africa, France and Spain.
Archbishop of Cyprus and Prophet of Latter-day Saints Church passed away
as they two passed away, it is freedom to Cyprus and Family of Atlanta.
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 30, 2008 12:37 PM
Report Offensive Comment
"Every segment of a religious organization is impacted directly by the styles, personalities, priorities, and beliefs of the organization’s leaders."
The response by Gaddy to the topic question is well done, and his statement above statement is true of both effective and ineffective leaders. The person in power, the designated leader of any organization will impact the direction and the future of the organization.
Good leaders are important, but what is a good leader? In my judgment it is one who (at least in part) both effectively, humanely, and democratically moves the organization onwardward toward its historic and/or consensus goal.
Organizations (churches, schools, the national government)need good leaders, but good leaders seem to be hard to find (not necessarily in short supply).
Interesgtingly, bad organizations can have good leaders.
I hope that when you (whoever you may be) read this, whether you agree or not, will understand what I am saying better than I am able to understand the first two responses to this strand.
Posted by: Cecil | January 30, 2008 11:14 AM
Report Offensive Comment
The Prophet and the Archbishop were good and gracious men but were they leaders? Leaders educate and both failed in that regard. We "pew sitters" should not need to search for contemporary historic reviews of our religions. This information should appear in our Sunday bulletins, posted on our bulletin boards and discussed from the pulpits.
This is what should have presented but was and is not being promulgated as required by our religious leadership:
A synopsis of the flaws in the founders and foundations of the major religions (for those that have not seen them before or did not take the time to look):
1. Abraham founder/father of three major religions was probably a mythical character as was Moses, the "Tablet-Man" who talked to burning bushes and made much magic in Egypt.
1.5 million Conservative Jews and their rabbis have relegated Abraham to the myth pile along with most if not all the OT.
http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/ConservativeTorah.htm
2. Jesus, the illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter possibly suffering from hallucinations, has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.
The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html
For added "pizzazz", Catholic/Christian theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".
3. Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, lust and greed-driven,warmongering, hallucinating Arab, who also had embellishing/hallucinating/plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels"/"pretty thingies" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.
This agenda continues as shown by the assassination of Bhutto, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino “koranics”.
And who funds these acts of terror? The warmongering, Islamic, Shiite terror and torture theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.
4. Luther, Calvin, Joe Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley et al, founders of Christian-based religions, also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingy talking flying fictional thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).
5. Hinduism (from an online Hindu site) - "Hinduism cannot be described as an organized religion. It is not founded by any individual. Hinduism is God centered and therefore one can call Hinduism as founded by God, because the answer to the question ‘Who is behind the eternal principles and who makes them work?’ will have to be ‘Cosmic power, Divine power, God’."
The caste/laborer system and cow worship are problems when saying a fair and rational God founded Hinduism."
6. Buddhism- "Buddhism began in India about 500 years before the birth of Christ. The people living at that time had become disillusioned with certain beliefs of Hinduism including the caste system, which had grown extremely complex. The number of outcasts (those who did not belong to any particular caste) was continuing to grow."
"However, in Buddhism, like so many other religions, fanciful stories arose concerning events in the life of the founder, Siddhartha Gautama (fifth century B.C.):"
Archaeological discoveries have proved, beyond a doubt, his historical character, but apart from the legends we know very little about the circumstances of his life. e.g. Buddha by one legend was supposedly talking when he came out of his mother's womb.
Bottom line: There are many good ways of living but be aware of the hallucinations, embellishments, lies and myths surrounding the founders and foundations of said rules of life.
Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | January 30, 2008 10:55 AM
Report Offensive Comment
i may talk about Gordon Hinckley for he is president of Latter-day saints church. because his death has a meaning for the church.
i want to talk about what the death of Father George Bush shall mean for the world, especially in Afghanistan and World Trade Center.
Sally Quinn, you have talked about Richard Gere Divine I AM Pulses, what is Time Machine in St Germain expressions?
st Germain does not die, because death is to have fallen from consciousness in world texts. leaving body is different. and St Germain comes many times. taking body is different.
st Germain is known as the Dracula of Romania. this morning on National Geographic channel was Dracula of Romania, broadcasted by the request of Majesty.
what are these games on the computers and internet? what are these games of trucks, of knights, of dead men, of knives.
having left the body, one makes the account of his life with language teachers and transliterators between corporal and magnetic words. this is what we call the Latter Day, after having left the body, for each and every one on Earth in body.
but one learns the language each time in embodiment, sometimes with different texts and life compositions. the main point is there is not a total judgement day, for it is for each and every life time.
and a total judgement day is a dropped version like throwing stones, cutting hands, hanging, rifles and Time MAchine and Lamp of Alaaddin, thymuse gland before World Wars is vital and to be evaluated as the reference point.
Posted by: Levent Alkan | January 30, 2008 10:34 AM
Report Offensive Comment
The comments to this entry are closed.











Who is Mrs. R*O*M*N*E*Y?????
Please see Linko's for:
1) R*O*M*N*E*Y : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney Thanks.
2) Mc*CAiN: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain Thanks
Where is Mrs. McCain????????? where are ye????? Come out come out where ever ye are!