{"id":2489,"date":"2014-09-19T04:16:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T04:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=2489"},"modified":"2014-09-19T04:16:00","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T04:16:00","slug":"a-school-district-a-church-and-a-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/a-school-district-a-church-and-a-team\/","title":{"rendered":"A School District, a Church and a Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some years ago I worked as a program coordinator with at risk youth for a public school district.\u00a0 I purchased Jim Collins book, Good to Great <\/em>not because it was something I was required to do, but because I wanted to learn. The School District Superintendent at the time had chosen this book and the mantra, \u201cGood to Great\u201d as representative of what our school district was, good with the potential of what it could be, \u201cgreat.\u201d A complex community school districts are comprised of varying school personalities and cultures.<\/p>\n

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The stumbling part may have come early on in our Superintendent\u2019s efforts, Good to Great <\/em>the book has as a central focus sustained and demonstrated profitability. What is the focus, the goal upon which to measure success in a school district? Is it the number of nationally certified teachers? The results from ever increasing tests? Is it the graduation rate? How do you collectively determine what the focus will be? For whatever the varied reasons our school district has remained good but it is not great. Perhaps the leadership team failed to adequately identify the inputs and subsequently the outputs necessary to move from good to great. Certainly Collins companion piece, Good to Great and the Social Sectors<\/em> is a valuable tool, one that was not yet a companion when our district looked at the task.<\/p>\n

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Notes are written on the margins that reflect my thinking at the time about different areas \u2013 the after-school programs, what I hoped to develop in the way of a non-profit and the possibilities latent in my then church context.\u00a0 While the book had a familiar feel I realized I saw things differently this time around. What have I gleaned over the years? What were my shortcomings then? Where do I see myself now?<\/p>\n

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What does \u201cgood to great\u201d look like within the Christian Church? What are we good at and what are we not good at? This might lead us to look more honestly at the brutal facts (whatever they might be). It may cause us to look more closely at who we turn to for leadership and the results we expect.<\/p>\n

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I know two Level 5 leaders in a challenging church environment that work not only within the existing culture but are creating a culture that reflects a collective desire to be a church for the city. I am referring to two pastors, Simon Carey Holt and Carolyn Francis. The church is Collins Street Baptist Church[1]<\/a> located within the Central Business District in Melbourne, Australia. Perhaps it was the fact that I was a foreigner in a very distinctive post-Christian culture that made me pay attention, but it is more likely that I saw how they were leading their congregation, working with those present to develop an inclusive culture, one that does not back away from distractors or distractions. Perhaps most stunning I saw people cared for by these leaders, people that were not discarded or thrown off the bus, but cared for even when in Collins language they may not have even made it on the bus. Yet perhaps that is also the best part of what I saw and know of these leaders and those they have brought alongside. There is diversity in age, persuasion, and experience. There are political conservatives reading Marcus Borg, wrestling with questions of faith, the old serve the poor and tea if offered to everyone. Holt and Francis embody well the knowledge that having the right person on the bus \u201chas more to do with character traits and innate capabilities than with specific knowledge, background or skills.\u201d[2]<\/a> Significantly they have shifted and redefined their output that turns a focus toward the kingdom of God rather than an end all of seeing people saved. It is the shift in output that brings so much tension within the Church.<\/p>\n

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Although I do want to talk about the Church, its problems, possibilities and potential I have another example of good to great that is hard to ignore (at least where I live). Truthfully this example may not fit all of Collins criteria. It definitely does not on the length of time but the culture that has been created did not happen from an empty void. I am thinking of the National Football League Seattle Seahawks. After almost forty years they achieved the goal of winning the Super Bowl last February. The team has a rich legacy, but there are some other characteristics that fit so well with markers referenced in Good to Great.<\/em><\/p>\n