Kath Henry is a pastor, team leader and mentor in the Vineyard movement in Australia. This is Part 2 of Kath's insights from 25 years of co-leading with her husband.
Part 2 of Kath Henry’s insights about co-leading in the church
Co-leading allows other women the opportunity to imagine leading. Along with co-leading we also encouraged other women to take key leadership roles in the church based on their gifting. We had women on our church board, women leading ministry groups and bible study groups. Men and women co-led our youth and young adults groups. Without a doubt I believe co-leadership as senior pastors allowed both men and women to see that women in leadership roles in the church can work well and is a benefit to all.
Having experienced being a woman in leadership helped both my husband and me to identify potential difficulties for women being raised up into key leadership roles in the church. I have to admit that it wasn’t until I was in a pastoral role in the church that I became aware of the blind spots many of us have in terms of encouraging women in leadership within the church.
Co-leading helps to overcome the dominance of men in senior roles. Our church became one of the very few in our region at the time, to have a woman in a senior pastoral role. It became abundantly clear very quickly that I would often be the only woman in gatherings of pastors. I recall one meeting in particular. Both my husband and I had been invited to a meeting with our local MP (Member of Parliament): as I walked into the room, where the meeting was to be held, I discovered a crowd of men in suits. The MP had invited ministers of all denominations with the aim of seeking religious leader’s insights on matters that would affect his constituents. As the meeting progressed a few men seemed to want to dominate the floor, denominational competitiveness became evident and both my husband and I were very aware of the power some people in the room felt entitled to hold. On several occasions the MP directed the question to me, to hear my opinion first, and in fact I did have a different perspective to the men in the room. However, several men tried to cut me off and at one point I had to ask them to give me the same curtesy I had extended to them and allow me to finish my comment uninterrupted.
I have come to understand that this is something women often experience where church leaders with stereotypical views of men and women’s roles meet. Instead of seeing the opportunity to hear and appreciate different perspectives in a collaborative manner, they work to remove a voice of difference, narrowing the conversation with a single polarized viewpoint.
My background as an Intensive Care Nurse Specialist, Midwife, Educator and Researcher has given me a sense of confidence and ability to work well with both men and women across the health profession. I have been mentored and taught by both men and women in the medical field and have appreciated the input from people with differing gifts. However, when I took on being a senior pastor there were very few women ahead of me to mentor me. Idid find one amazing woman and she remains a mentor to this day. I now mentor other women in key leadership roles in churches and they tell me that crossdenominational mentoring of key church leaders is still predominantly closed to women as groups are formally or informally run by men and women are rarely invited.
Co- leading has meant that we have been able to share the strange transitional space of handing on the baton of leadership and finding God’s next adventure for us together
It is wonderful to hand on leadership of the church you have pastored for 25 years and have the congregation say the transition for them has been seamless. That is of course what we hoped for and worked towards. However, for us as the exiting pastors there has been a lot of unexpected grief. As with most things we are finding our way together, getting the help we need and leaning into God in the unknown.
Co-leading means we have a responsibility to encourage other leaders. Having navigated the experience of co-leadership and seeing the benefits in our own lives and those we have led, we want to encourage others as they seek to co-lead churches and other church organisations. This developing opportunity has become a new season in our lives and we have enjoyed seeing those we are mentoring as they co-lead and flourish in their faith.
I am not sure I can say co-leading stopped us from burning out or becoming disillusioned but it must have helped. We stand as believers and followers of Jesus who are neither burned out nor disillusioned. We also still believe that the church is God’s plan and a place where people can find a spiritual home.