GOAL
OF THE WORKSHOPS "The
power of all leaders resides in their presence, the
nature of their being, not in their storehouse of
data or armamentarium of technique. The
key to leadership, therefore, is not how a leader
manages others but how a leader manages
her/himself." Edwin
Friedman Family
system concepts offer a way of thinking that affects
every aspect of leadership in ministry and integrates
administration, preaching and counseling through the
concept of self-differentiation. Experience has
shown that this way of thinking cannot be readily learned
from a book or a single seminar.
Since their beginning in 1991, the goal of the Leadership
In Ministry Workshops has been to teach leaders a way of
conceptualizing emotional phenomena rather than merely
teaching techniques for handling specific counseling or
ministry problems.
For example, stress reduction is addressed, not by
learning relaxation techniques, but by learning how to
recognize the emotional triangles of our interlocking
families and how over-functioning within these triangles
sets us up to absorb the anxiety in each system.
From a family systems perspective, stress comes less from
overwork than from trying to handle the problems of
others.