There is no need to be in charge. In fact being in charge may very well not get you what you want.

I lead a church, have done for over 22 years. I also lead the Annual Baptist Pastors Conference. Recently our church hosted the incredibly wonderful ‘Whisper’ conference.

In these three spaces I have needed to be flexible with authority. In my church we allocate responsibility to be matched with authority. If you take the responsibility for an event, the authority to creatively lead in that space is given to you. Not as a right, but a privilege. My young adults pastor organised the Whisper conference. He did a lot of the heavy lifting of organising teams. It was an incredibly well run and functioning event. Around 250 people from over 25 churches attended from all over Perth. It was our vision and our heart. His creativity, passion and skill led the event better than I could have.

If I had exercised my right to be in charge, the event would still have happened but with none of the skill and nuance my young adults pastor brought to it. I assisted him, resourced him, but ultimately let him lead.

With the annual Baptist Pastors Conference I work under the authority of our Denomination and particularly our leader. He gives me a lot of freedom. A benefit of having been involved in the conference for over fifteen years. And having his trust. If there is something he wants tweaked or changed, it is my role to implement this. I am a person under authority.

In our church I am responsible for the key leadership direction and vision. It is not a role I take lightly. There are times I need to make decisions which may not be popular with everyone. But leading is not about giving people what they want, but what they need. Often people cannot see what I can see, they are just not in that space. And that is okay.

Being able to be flexible with authority, understand where you fit in, and what is best for the kingdom, that is the fine line, the radical middle, the balance I try to walk along.

This morning I did something I don’t often do. I came down to my local coffee shop to wait for a friend. While here I did some work on the church website, sent out a circular email and updated our facebook site.

I also had a long macc. I always get disappointed when I don’t have a coffee from here, they make a great coffee.

While sitting here outside on one of their funky hispter benches I have had three seperate people come and chat. People from Church, people from Toddler Jam, people with mutual friends. They all stopped and chatted.

It was a nice experience. Having been a part of this community for over 20 years, I know a lot of people. And a lot of people know me. Serving on the local primary school P and C, running Toddler Jam. You know people, and are known.

I was reflecting on the number one reason people come to and stay at a church. It is not the music, it is not the preaching, and it is actually not only the kids programs, although that is huge.

A number of folk told me this week the number one reason is because someone said hello. Not someone who is part of the structured welcome team, but just a regular person. We are all craving real human contact. We all want to be noticed. We all want community.

This is mine.