As a pastor, I am increasingly conscious of how patriarchal norms affect my own leadership norms. I have experienced pastors who charmed with charisma that bled into emotional manipulation, that feigned a lack of hierarchy until any call for accountability would cause him – it’s always a him – to suddenly pull rank as the ordained holy man. Is this the best a pastor can be?
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2019/02/featured-gillette.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-02-18 06:41:242019-02-18 12:40:52The Best a Pastor Can Be
Without being accusatory, it seemed like those earlier moments that I struggled with were actually examples of white silence and the white solidarity that it promotes. Both of which, as you know Robin DiAngelo discusses in White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. But I also wonder if it’s me or did you also notice a shift in our co-leadership once we read White Fragility along with the fuller NEXT Church strategy team?
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2019/02/featured-co-chairs.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-02-13 06:14:012019-02-14 17:10:08You, Me, and White Fragility: Open Letters from the NEXT Church Co-Chairs
My copy of this book will be full of underlining and coffee stains as I return over and over to see what Ken has to say about the text I’m preaching on. His words often say what I intuit, but am not yet able to articulate.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2019/02/featured-irrational-david.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-02-11 06:58:122019-02-05 20:40:56Scripture, Poetry, and the "Irrational David"
The Jesus that I’ve come to know is not a Jesus of comfort and convenience but rather a Jesus who inconveniently and nonsensically disrupts the status quo theologically, historically, politically, socially, racially, and personally. This Jesus is the Jesus we were always meant to follow.
Reading in and beyond one’s field is important to offering good leadership. And secondly, passing on what has been worthwhile is also a mark of good leadership. NEXT Church is committed to developing leaders and to continual growth and learning in the context of community. We hope this month of blog posts will offer some good food for thought as we put reading/learning back on the front burner.
https://next.myworshiptimes31.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2019/01/featured-books.jpg200398Linda Kurtz/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/2016/01/NEXT-Logo-FINAL-Horizontal_lato-1030x229.pngLinda Kurtz2019-02-04 06:34:142019-02-04 12:58:25Reading as Good Leadership
Black congregational instability is only one issue that is facing Black Presbyterians, and in 2018, I dare say that it is not the most significant. The challenge of being Black in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is not about decline. It is about racism.
The Best a Pastor Can Be
/0 Comments/in Book Reviews, Leadership, Resources /by Linda KurtzAs a pastor, I am increasingly conscious of how patriarchal norms affect my own leadership norms. I have experienced pastors who charmed with charisma that bled into emotional manipulation, that feigned a lack of hierarchy until any call for accountability would cause him – it’s always a him – to suddenly pull rank as the ordained holy man. Is this the best a pastor can be?
You, Me, and White Fragility: Open Letters from the NEXT Church Co-Chairs
/0 Comments/in Book Reviews, Leadership, Resources /by Linda KurtzWithout being accusatory, it seemed like those earlier moments that I struggled with were actually examples of white silence and the white solidarity that it promotes. Both of which, as you know Robin DiAngelo discusses in White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. But I also wonder if it’s me or did you also notice a shift in our co-leadership once we read White Fragility along with the fuller NEXT Church strategy team?
Scripture, Poetry, and the “Irrational David”
/0 Comments/in Book Reviews, Leadership, Resources /by Linda KurtzMy copy of this book will be full of underlining and coffee stains as I return over and over to see what Ken has to say about the text I’m preaching on. His words often say what I intuit, but am not yet able to articulate.
Radical Reconciliation Reimagined
/0 Comments/in Book Reviews, Leadership, Resources /by Linda KurtzThe Jesus that I’ve come to know is not a Jesus of comfort and convenience but rather a Jesus who inconveniently and nonsensically disrupts the status quo theologically, historically, politically, socially, racially, and personally. This Jesus is the Jesus we were always meant to follow.
Reading as Good Leadership
/0 Comments/in Book Reviews, Leadership, Resources /by Linda KurtzReading in and beyond one’s field is important to offering good leadership. And secondly, passing on what has been worthwhile is also a mark of good leadership. NEXT Church is committed to developing leaders and to continual growth and learning in the context of community. We hope this month of blog posts will offer some good food for thought as we put reading/learning back on the front burner.
Black Congregations Matter
/in Contemporary Culture, Leadership, Presbyterian Church USA /by Linda KurtzThe African American experience can be seen through the lens of five ‘Ps’: property, problems, performers, purchasers, and paranoia.
Our Challenge is Not Decline. It’s Racism.
/3 Comments/in Contemporary Culture, Leadership, Presbyterian Church USA, Theological Reflections /by Linda KurtzBlack congregational instability is only one issue that is facing Black Presbyterians, and in 2018, I dare say that it is not the most significant. The challenge of being Black in the Presbyterian Church (USA) is not about decline. It is about racism.