This “The Minister as Leader” paper interacts with my readings and appropriate biblical texts and theological resources. I will address my strengths and weaknesses as a leader. For my weaknesses, I will provide a preliminary plan to address them and strengthen my leadership. Because I write frankly, I ask that you keep this material to yourself.
My strengths are being a pastor, teacher, worship leader, and participating in outreach. My main way of doing the latter at the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence, Colorado is by teaching a reentry-to-society class called Threshold. It hints at Christianity even though it is open to all faiths. I also do the previous three at the prison and I did in the Army for 22 years.
Carrie Nieuwhof’s chapter two is about “Kicking Cynicism in the Teeth,”, which snuffs out hope. I have been warned about cynicism and sarcasm since 1990. He wrote curiosity is the discipline that kills it. The points from Nieuwhof that I need to work on are as follows:
Ask open-ended questions, give fewer answers, and ask why and why not. The older I get the more introverted I am becoming. I agree we need to sometimes ask questions that sometimes do not have yes or no answers. I ask why and why not, but it sometimes irritates my bosses.
Nieuwhof’s chapter four is about “Taking Your Soul off the Market.”. I agree with taking responsibility if I make mistakes and making my talk match my walk with Christ. I have paid for lunch since working at the Federal prison, even though many others do not. The inmates and staff notice. I pray others get closer to Christ because of this. Luke 16:10 states, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much.”
He wrote about putting yourself first regarding growth. Examples of this are professional development in the Army, the Federal prison, school, etc. My thesis is about the Army relationship program I volunteered to get trained in career. I go to church conferences when I can for development, and I attend Zoom conferences on my lunch at work when I can. This includes a monthly Rocky Mountain Family Therapy Network Zoom.
Nieuwhof’s chapter seven is “Change Never Asks Permission.”. When I found out I would not make Major on Active Duty I went to our airfield in Afghanistan, threw rocks, and yelled at God. Looking back, I believe in Providence, as I have been leading worship / preaching to more people at the Federal prison since 2010 than I would have on Active Duty. As you know, several chaplains want to preach every Sunday at Army chapels. We are short chaplains in the prison. I have also led reentry small groups consistently and have counseled since then.
Nieuwhof’s chapter eight is about “Craving Different.”. Change can be difficult for me. I agree I may need to get radical. My interpretation of this is to be prophetic, which I do more at the prison since I do not want to risk my Army Reserve retirement. If I retire by the end of the year from the latter, I will be able to share my thoughts more freely. At the moment I have to be careful what I write and say.
He wrote, “Be a student of culture.” I have studied about fifteen religions in the Federal prison. This includes different cultures as well. I have been to thirty countries. I will discuss this more in my weakness section below.
Nieuwoff suggested I surround myself with younger people. I am 58, so this is somewhat easy. Many of whom I minister to at the Federal prison in Florence, Colorado. I do not have any children, so I mentor those who are younger there.
He advised us to lean into God. I try to go to two services a week and listen to worship CDs on the way to work. I pray, study the Bible and worship daily. I share my faith when I can.
Nieuwoff encouraged rest. I purposefully sleep in on my two days off a week and use the evenings for work. I occasionally use my sick leave at work which I will lose if I do not retire from the prison.
He wrote about comparing ourselves with others, writing: “Your self-worth is determined by your latest performance.” As you know, we have to “walk on water” on Army evaluations to get promoted. I do not want my supervisor’s job at the prison, due to potential lawsuits, etc. But getting good evaluations are important to me, as well as awards. I realize I may have to wait to get my reward in heaven.
I must be careful regarding this quotation by Keller: “When work is your identity, success goes to your head, and failure goes to your heart.” I was very busy with work, school, and the Reserve. If I do not do well with them, it affects me negatively. I realize I was too busy. I'm thankful I retired from the Army and I graduated.
Nieuwhof warned, “You want some say in everything.” Even though I am becoming quieter as I age, I need to listen and try not to interrupt others. This is what I teach my twenty-four inmates in my two reentry-to-society classes weekly.
He wrote about the pride that hardens your heart. He also warned about being superior, judgmental, unaccountable, and isolated. I must be careful about these. A female friend of mine reminds me of when these are evident.
His chapter ten is “Habits of the Humble.” The band I was in during 1990 learned in Youth With A Mission on their Mercy Ship Anastasis the necessity of being humble regarding our musical talents. Once we gave them up to the Lord, He would release us in His time. I gave up the music ministry for three months in Guinea, West Africa, and that is when the Lord opened the door to preaching and teaching more as I showed the Jesus film, and we used a translator for our guests. But I burned out from working too hard, so the Lord sent me to seminary.
Nieuwhof suggested I do what I can. I work hard in my life. God sometimes shuts doors and opens others. The Army is competitive and so are evaluations at work and school. Respect is important to me. If we do not have a seat at the table during important meetings, we do not have input. Recently I was told by an executive not to attend meetings twice, even though I was the acting supervisor. Our executive over us said this is wrong, so we will see if this changes. I do what I can.
Another view is that of Tom Rath from Gallup. I was trained in StrengthFinder 2.0 at the Brigade Chaplains’ Course at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. “If your manager primarily focuses on your strengths, the chances of your being actively disengaged are 1%.” In other words, we will do better focusing on our strengths than weaknesses, so we do really well with our strengths.
Concerning weaknesses, I have several of my own that I can work on improving. Patience – I am impressed with our complex warden who listened twice as long to an inmate’s complaints than I would have. I can learn from him. I try to listen, but we are given more tasks than we can complete with our short staffing. Learning from my acting supervisor who has been there longer and from others with more patience is a way to learn.
Working with different faiths – I do not mind opening the chapel, their lockers, and giving natural elements to the inmates, such as firewood, herbs, or juice. What the Native Americans, Pagans, etc. decide to do with them is on them. I pray I am not judged by Christ for doing this. Having appropriate conversations with those of different faiths about Christ may be a way for this to improve. Neither my endorser, the Evangelical Chaplains’ Commission or my denomination, the Vineyard USA seem to support me regarding giving out non-Judeo-Christian literature, contrary to their statements of faith. If I am forced to do this, I will quit.
Dealing with injustice – I am concerned regarding what some would consider hazing by our executive staff and feeding the inmates the minimum they must sometimes. I already had several conversations with executives about my concerns and I will continue to do so.
I filed complaints regarding my previous seminary since they would not let me finish my doctoral thesis even though I did what they asked, and I had a 3.2 Grade Point Average. I transferred Major Commands in the Army Reserve since my last one was not fair regarding my pay. These are some solutions to injustices in my life.
Inefficiency – My previous Federal Bureau of Prisons Supervisory chaplain did not have as much experience as I do there. He recently quit. My supervisor made a 2023 religious events calendar which had many mistakes I had to correct. I am thankful he was willing to let our assistant and me correct them. I will try to advise him privately, so he does not get as defensive regarding my suggestions.
Incompetent leaders – Our medium security warden moved the low-security Outdoor Worship Area to slanted land. I warned him during our big rainstorms it may move. Our previous warden won New Warden of the Year and she did not care about its location. I pray our new executives are more just.
Nieuwhof wrote about burnout. I have gone through this a couple of times. I have learned to set limits and boundaries regarding what I do and do not do. I will elaborate more on this in the next several paragraphs.
He wrote that little things make you disproportionally emotional. I am aware because I was so busy with work, school, and the Reserve I got angry easily. I am doing what I can to prevent this. Neiuwhof wrote, “You’re becoming cynical.”. Something I need to think about is because I am single with no children, is my life all about me or Jesus? I pray I focus on Him while I have self-care.
Nieuwhof suggested I tell someone. He wrote about the demise of genuine conversation. My deep conversations are rare. That is a reason I did Denver Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry in Marriage and Family Counseling program, to get to the roots of people’s problems. I lost a friend I have known since 2002 because of something he and a female friend said to each other. I have been seeing her for five years, so I guess it was worth it.
I confess daily, but do I change? I am improving since I am aging. This program is helping me reflect on areas I need to change.
Nieuwhof’s conclusion is about what self-aware people know that others don’t. This includes their impact on others, , their weaknesses, their strengths, and their limits. My doctoral classes have helped me become more self-aware.
This was “The Minister as Leader” paper that interacted with my readings and appropriate biblical texts and theological resources. I addressed my strengths and weaknesses as a leader. For my weaknesses, I provided a preliminary plan to address them and strengthen my leadership.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cloudfront.net. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://d1h8uvf6sd4tvp.cloudfront.net/wp- content/uploads/20160527184946/Vineyard-Core-Values-Beliefs-RGB.pdf.
Holy Bible: New American Standard Bible. LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 2020.
Nae.org, Accessed February 11, 2023. https://www.nae.org/statement-of-faith/.
Niehwhof, Carey. Didn’t See It Coming. New York: Waterbrook, 2018.
Rath, Tom. StrengthsFinder 2.0. New York: Gallup, 2007.
