LEADERSHIP TRAINING

 Leadership training stems from the Vatican I “the decree on the laity” #28. It has to be seen as fostering the gift of the Spirit in the community. Also to help the people become aware of their various gifts. Also help the people to put these gifts at the service of others or community.

Church leaders make a community of diversity in unity. They have a duty to see everybody as leader at least in one aspect or another. It can best be seen by looking at the Triune God: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, unity of persons and difference in roles. That is why we cannot say Church of Kenya etc, but the church in for it is a church in unity but diverse in role.

There is distinguished quality between leadership and authority. Before any distinction, leadership and authority go hand in hand, i.e. they are two aspects of one reality. The reality is to be able to direct the people behave in certain manner at certain time and certain circumstances.

Authority without leadership creates an atmosphere of dictatorship where as if we have leadership without authority we end up in confusion, chaos and lack of direction. People without authority will not have the grip qualities they need to persuade the people to behave in certain way and hence their directives will have to be enforced.

(Mk 10:41-45) applies to effective authority in service to others. All these have power to make leadership and authority possible (Eph 4:7-13, Rom 12:3-8; 1 Cor 12:4-11, 1 Cor 12:27-30). The purpose of directed and effective leadership is the preservation of unity in the community. This unity is found in diverse function.

Training of leadership is given taking into consideration the circumstances of the local needs. We act differently in different circumstances and this gives direction to people and things and will give a good result if we see the facts as they are. In our Christian circle the priest has the duty to encourage, sustain and call all to the training of leaders. This leadership training is part of his sacral role as a proclaimer of the good news, God’s Word. In Church affairs the training of the laity is to enable them to carry on their responsible roles in the Church.

The intention of leadership training is to give opportunity to parishioners to acquire enough techniques in administration. We can do so by offering courses like liturgy. They are intended to develop talents which have been dormant. With this the people will be able to live effectively in their community.

The clergy and the laity should be educated to appreciate, see real needs of changes. For things cannot continue to be done as they were done before neither will they be done the same way in the near future.

The question of training must be taken seriously by both for the laity and clergy, if the laity have to fulfill their roles realistically and meaningfully. The participation of the laity in Church leadership is seen under the perspective of the present Ecclesiology for the Church is a community of all the baptized. The difference comes only in degree. Christian leadership is directed towards mutual service in the community. It should be noted that to have theological and sociological theory is a practice of leadership in the Church we should understand.

First that the mode of leadership in the Church is greatly influenced by the mode of leadership in the world. The people who are in the Church are the very people in the world.

Secondly, it is seen that specific executive leadership in the Church need be clerical but as development goes on it should not be necessarily clerical. But this change to effect these must be time to see and study the situation.

Finally, when we have this executive, it is intended for the sake of making orderly the leadership which essentially belong to the whole Christian family. Some texts to help these to exercise their leadership: (1 Thes 5:19, 2 Cor 1:24, 1 Peter 5:3). We are fellow workers with you, never to be dictators… Clerics are not supposed to be the types of leaders indicated in the texts.