I recently was discussing my plans for Easter service with the lead pastor. My hope is to try something different. To give some context, the church I attend meets on a campus with four other churches. One of them requested to use the main sanctuary for baptisms on Easter and inquired to see when we might finish our service. That inquiry prompted a thought: is there a better way to celebrate Easter than to celebrate new spiritual life? That pastor and I began to discuss what it might look like for their baptisms to take place as part of a joint worship service. Not wanting to take-over their celebration, we will have that baptism time take place in predominantly Mandarin (their language of choice) with translations happening both through a live translator for parts, and for longer portions (testimonies) just on prepared slides. When I briefed my lead pastor on these discussions, his main concern was a need for me to communicate my hope to the other leaders at our church and to the congregation. The reasoning seemed sound: if people come expecting a \u201cnormal\u201d Easter service and are taken completely by surprise, it might be hard to worship. He was asking me to build anticipation by taking any unexpected uncertainty out.<\/p>\n
Peter Northouse\u2019s book Leadership: Theory and Practice<\/em>, outlines and discusses different aspects of leadership as well as leadership theories. The book reads almost like a manual. I imagine it will be helpful to keep it as resource to be referenced. In his chapter on leadership and culture, he explains that there are dimensions to culture. One of those dimensions, uncertainty avoidance, stuck out me most.<\/p>\n \u201cThis dimension refers to the extent to which a society, an organization, or a group relies on established social norms, rituals, and procedures to avoid uncertainty. Uncertainty avoidance is concerned with the way cultures use rules, structures, and laws to make things more predictable and less uncertain\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n As I chewed on this concept, I realized that Christianity, in the forms that I have been a part of and have observed, has formed its own sort of culture. In the culture of Christianity, there seems to be high uncertainty avoidance. Even in varying forms of liturgy across denominations and individual churches, liturgical practices generally don\u2019t change from week to week at the same church. What seems to be helpful is a general sense of rhythm and cadence in services and weekly programming. I did find it interesting that Northouse notes the United States as having a high tolerance for uncertainty.[2]<\/a> Perhaps the religious element brings a more careful approach.<\/p>\n Simultaneously, the higher tolerance for uncertainty in the United States can be seen in church leadership structures. In one of my master\u2019s level pastoral leadership classes, we were discussing how to share vision, mission, and values. I shared how at the Chinese church I served at, the leadership could come up with a vision and have a sermon series, but the real work of getting everyone onboard would come in small group and individual conversations. My professor thought this was a terrible leadership structure. It seems that maybe he didn\u2019t understand the different dimensions of culture could influence how leadership happens. Making big decisions in Chinese churches is difficult and takes a long time. It also requires \u201ccultivation built on a level of trust and reliability that comes with a long-term commitment.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Peter Northouse Leadership: Theory and Practice<\/em>, (Thousand Oaks : SAGE Publications) 2018, 626.<\/p>\n