Real life example - some years ago the Guardian published an AAP story that senior Qantas managers were sent packing and a new breed bought in and the comment by top dog Allan Joyce was: “This new executive team will lead this work forward to deliver for our customers, shareholders and employees according to the strategy we have laid out.”
Qantas interests us all as the national airline carrier and its reputation for safety is second to none. We like the idea of Qantas being successful and most of us who have travelled internationally have at some time flown with Qantas.
In a huge corporate company such as Qantas such changes bring national attention. Reasons for such changes are spelt out, the market place has its say in the share price and the nation gives a collective sigh of relief when the company's financial well-being is retained.
There is much at stake. Every politician gets an earful (as it were) from concerned constituents should the Qantas name be placed in jeopardy. To change senior management therefore in a company such as Qantas not only brings national attention but the reasons get examined and the replacement personnel are examined with the third degree (as it were).
Macro Church scene
Qantas is an example of the corporate world on a grand scale. But what of the church. There are two different scenarios here that need examining.
The first is that of international church positions such as when a Pope is elected or the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Russian Orthodox Primate, The Southern Baptists, the world's Salvation Army leader, the Lutheran Church's international leader and such like.
We might add to this list of luminary positions, the person who replaced South Africa's Archbishop TuTu, Sydney's Wesley Mission along with international Christian aid agencies such as World Vision and the Billy Graham Crusade's welfare arms. These are all very public roles and the world's media pays them close attention for they all reflect huge Christian constituencies.
These people have at their finger tips a vast array of expenditure and in some sense they are as much corporate figures in finance as they are showing direction to the lives of millions of people through their religious and theological reflections. When the Pope speaks the world's attention is singular 101.
The social issues become of paramount interest such as homosexuality, same sex marriage, international aid, medical transborder issues such as Ebola, malaria, bird flu, hunger, disease, caronavirus, pestilence ..... Our global religious leaders get quoted and huge campaigns are undertaken to alleviate such things with their stroke of a pen.
To change these leaders therefore is of no small moment, there is enormous interest, and any change may reflect different policy emphasis or direction. The classic example is the Archbishop of Canterbury where a split in the world Anglican communion has been on the cards for some time now over the same sex issue.
Micro Church scene
Each local (parish) church is likewise in the mix but without the international interest. I have witnessed numerous times where a replacement minister with the old adage of a round post into a square hole reflected the situation exactly. It did not work.
Getting this right is the aim, and can be fraught with danger. Good research is paramount. It is not all plain sailing. The reasons for appointment may be directly related to the situation whereby the previous minister moved on. Quite possibly a healing period in the midst of the congregation is required and someone with those skills needs to come in and set the scene aright.
Bishops, Superintendents, Moderators ….. call them what you like, play an incredibly important role in these dynamics.
In the free church, the non-conformist scene, it is more than often that key influential families or key laity leaders make or break a ministry. Get on their bad side and the ministry is over red rover (as it were). Knowing where the bodies are (an expression meaning thorough local knowledge) becomes ever more important. Therefore church polity plays an important part in the life of any local church governance.
In recent Church / Mission life where fresh expressions of missionary endeavours are initiated (church or mission), the founder's philosophy, even years down the track will be difficult to change. What is happening increasingly is that fresh leaders initiate their own church / mission with their philosophy. I recently spoke of this in my article on church growth.
I was reminded of this at a recent NSW Government Associations Incorporations community Public Officer's information meeting and the question of dispute was raised. The spokesman said their department was not equipped to handle disputes, the best advice is that as there are over 27,000 such associations, 27,001 will make no difference.
The Paul and Barnabas solution which has been held in good stead for two thousand years – in business, corporate and the Christian church.
Dr Mark Tronson - a 4 min video
Chairman – Well-Being Australia
Baptist Minister 45 years
- 1984 - Australian cricket team chaplain 17 years (Ret)
- 2001 - Life After Cricket (18 years Ret)
- 2009 - Olympic Ministry Medal – presented by Carl Lewis
- 2019 - The Gutenberg - (ARPA Christian Media premier award)
Gutenberg video - 2min 14sec
Married to Delma for 45 years with 4 children and 6 grand children
