The Leader's Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation

This book is really amazing. If I had to pick one thing that I learned from this book (there are too many to count), I would say it was understanding the concept of anxiety. Anxiety exists in every imaginable home, church, business, and community. In this book, I learned how to better identify and treat it.

I wish I had a nickel for all the "ah-ha" moments I had while reading "The Leader's Journey."Using simple terms and real-life stories, the authors describe the (often overlooked) connection between our personal lives and our role as leaders in a congregation. At a time when we are too often tempted to go through life on auto-pilot (doing things the way they've always been done, acting according to everyone else's expectations, staying trapped in handed-down family patterns), this book comes to us with a message of freedom: By God's grace, you can define who you are and choose to live (and lead) from that place of authenticity.This book invited me to see common patterns in my behavior (at home, at work, at church), and then it outlined for me the skills I need to respond in new ways. With each new page, I found myself saying, "that makes so much sense!" The authors apply tried-and-true realities of family life to everyday church situations. And in the end, we are reminded that we cannot expect to change another person (or a family, or a church) until we do the hard work of changing ourselves.I have already purchased several copies of this book to send to friends in Christian leadership throughout the country. It is an absolute 'must' for men and women in ministry. And strongly recommended for lay church leaders. Read it slowly (don't miss out on the excellent questions at the end of each chapter!) and allow God to work through the pages as you read.

I was honored to do some editing work on this book. The book is primarily an application of Bowen family systems theory to the Christian life. Its target audience is Christian leaders in that the anecdotal evidence is drawn from leaders' lives and the results are applied to congregational settings. One important message for leaders is that the important elements of Bowen family systems theory --seeing systems instead of merely looking for simple cause and effect, identifying one's own habitual responses to anxiety and conflict, disciplining one's self to be a present, calm, loving influence in the midst of conflict, etc.-- are essential components of the leaders toolkit. I believe that done properly, as acts of surrendering control to Christ and choosing to love others unconditionally, the material in this book comprises some new spiritual disciplines.I believe that this book is important for several reasons:* It is one of the most articulate, secular or Christian, explanations of Bowen family systems theory* It explains the theory in the context of Scripture and Christ; frankly, it is only in Christ that we can have the hope of truly being free to love and free from the influence of our anxious world* It recognizes that all the church growth how-to books in the world are worthless if the leader lives life reacting to others and being an anxious presence in the life of the church* It calls the leader to take responsibility for his/her own behavior, recognizing that learning to love others will result in them learning to love, tooLeader, is their a cold war of silence going on between you and one or more of your immediate family or between you and one or more of your church leaders or parishioners? Are you engaged in a power struggle with somebody else in your family or church? You need to read this book. It will help you to take responsibility for your part and to develop a capacity for choosing to love others even in the midst of conflict.While the target audience is Christian leaders, this book will benefit anyone, particularly any Christian. For we all lead in some way, whether that is just in a family setting or some responsibility in our jobs. And we all our leaders regardless of position if we will obey Jesus' instructions to lead by serving.