“The first and most important choice a leader makes is the choice to serve, without which one’s capacity to lead is severely limited.”
Those are the words of Robert K. Greenleaf, a Hoosier and the founder of the modern Servant Leadership movement.
In a time when leadership, as evidenced by this nation’s leader for one example, is for some a very self-centered experience. Greenleaf’s words are more salient than ever.
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Urban Servant Leadership Unconference at Martin University. The event was hosted by Unite For Change, an initiative led by Pastor John Girton, Jr. of Christ Missionary Baptist Church. The day-long gathering featured powerful speakers and drew hundreds of people desiring to learn what it takes to truly meet the needs of those they’re serving.
It was my first time attending the conference and I had no idea what to expect, but I left inspired and hopeful. In the room were servant leaders of different ethnicities, ages and backgrounds all representing various important causes like homelessness, racial equity, food access, education, economic empowerment, resources for the elderly and many others.
These people, up early on a rainy Saturday, gathered together to be better stewards of their time, talents and treasures, in turn making their communities stronger.
When the event was over, I spent some time meditating on the things that I’d heard.
In a session led by Ashley Gurvitz, community development manager for the ROCK Initiative, she taught us about how much more impactful movements can be when those involved work on one accord as opposed to scattering off, haphazardly in many directions. It seems like a simple enough concept, but when you look at the state of things locally and nationally, it’s clear that unity can oftentimes be an unattainable goal.
At another point in the program, Pastor Girton surprised two servant leaders with awards for their work. One was minister Lydia Davis of Faith, Hope and Love, a missional food pantry. The other pastor was Mark Brown of New Wineskin Ministries. Over the past three years, Brown’s church, located in the International Marketplace neighborhood, has fed hundreds of thousands of people and the church regularly provides outreach services to our immigrant brothers and sisters.
What Davis and Brown have in common, beyond the desire to make sure people are fed, is a commitment to sacrifice and dedication. It is not easy doing the work of serving people day in and day out. Anyone who has taken servant leadership seriously will tell you it comes with equal parts joy and heartache. There are sleepless nights, long days and hardly ever enough money to get everything done. The men and women present on Saturday, and the many other servant leaders in our community who were probably busy working or resting up after a hard week and unable to come, represent the best of us — those who are willing to give their all to help someone else.
Though I’m sure many of them will tell you it’s not about the recognition, it’s important that we all let the servant leaders around us know that they are appreciated and that their work isn’t thankless … it’s necessary.
