The Leader's Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation

Jim Herrington, Trisha Taylor, and R. Robert Creech. The Leader’s Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2020. 237 pagesThe authors produced the first edition of this book in 2003. Seventeen years later they published this second edition in 2020. They wrote this book for their pastoral colleagues. The conviction of these authors is “…that if we are to lead congregations to change, then profound change must occur in the self-understanding of pastors and congregational leaders, in how we understand our role in the groups , We cannot lead others in transformation unless we are experiencing it ourselves” (pp 1-2). When the authors talk about “living systems” they are generally talking about Bowen Family Systems Theory (BFST). For these authors “Leadership that recognizes an organization or a congregation as a living system requires a different way of thinking” (p 2). The authors organized this book on leadership and living systems in four parts: Part 1 “The Call to Personal Transformation”; Part 2 “Leading Living Systems”; Part 3 “Family Patterns”; and Part 4 “The Spirit and the Journey.” At the end of each chapter, the authors offer questions for self-assessment and reflection.What is different between the first edition and this present edition? They have significantly revised chapters 7, 9, and 10 based on their experience and feedback from readers. The authors added two extra chapters to this new edition. Chapter 6, “Leading in Uncertain Times,” discusses leadership in uncertain times as we are experiencing in the twenty-first century. Chapter 11, “Thinking Systems as a Christian,” responds to readers’ concerns about Christian theology and BFST. The authors revised appendix C, “Bowen-Based Training Programs,” and the bibliography.This book integrates BFST as they write about the church and church professionals. The role of the pastor as leader is key to understanding churches as living systems. As the authors observe in the introduction, “Leadership that recognizes an organization or a congregation as a living system requires a different way of thinking” (p. 2). The authors integrate many case studies as well as biblical stories in this book.The first part of this book is “The Call to Personal Transformation.” In the first chapter, “The Need for Personal Transformation,” they have rewritten it to reflect the church of the twenty-first century. What is different about the church today? We see “. . . the slow but unmistakable death of Christendom and the continuously accelerating pace of change have become almost paralyzing to congregations” (p. 9). Two things are obvious. “First, due to the growing pace of change, congregations of all sizes increasingly face the alternatives of deep change or slow death. Second, providing the effective leadership required to guide a congregation down a path of deep change is more challenging than it has ever been” (p. 10). That personal transformation occurs on the level of pastoral leadership as well as the congregation.Chapter 2, “Following Jesus on the Leadership Journey,” establishes Jesus Christ as the role model for personal transformation. The authors tie self differentiation into this model. Our spiritual formation is significant to a personal transformation. We as clergy need to practice “. . . such spiritual disciplines as prayer, confession, forgiveness, and theological reflection” (p. 29).The second part of this book moves from personal transformation to leadership: “Leading Living Systems.” Chapters three through six integrate the basic eight concepts of BFST into this congregational transformation. The chapters are: Chapter 3, “Understanding the System”; Chapter 4, “Thinking Systems, Watching Process”; Chapter 5, “Becoming a Calm Leader”; Chapter 6, “Leading in Uncertain Times.” These first three chapters focus on the eight concepts of BFST. Chapter 6 focuses on the eighth concept, Emotional Process in Society. The twenty-first century is a time of societal regression. This part of the conversation goes well with Edwin H. Friedman’s posthumous book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (1999, 2007 The Edwin Friedman Trust). This chapter applies societal regression to the church and the importance of leadership.The third part shifts gears from the congregation and leadership to the congregational leader: “Family Patterns.” I would include Appendix A, “Constructing a Family Diagram,” as an important tool for the reader of this section. Chapter 7, “Going Home Again” brings the reader back to their family of origin. The title reminds me of the writing of Monica McGoldrick. Chapter 8 then shifts to “The Nuclear Family.” We as readers need to come to terms with our own families as they interact with our church families.The fourth part of this book talks about the leader’s own spiritual transformation: “The Spirit and the Journey.” The last two chapters are somewhat of a digression from BFST. Chapter 9, “The Spiritual Life and the Path to Transformation,” is a conversation about our personal spiritual disciplines. How do I as spiritual leader integrate spiritual practices into my everyday life and how they relate to differentiation of self. Chapter 10, “Learning to Learn Again” talks about how important learning systems are to our transformation and the transformation of the congregational life.Chapter 11, “Thinking Systems as a Christian” is birthed from the theological worldview of the Southern Baptist Convention and what to do with BFST. BFST offers a scientific worldview which talks about nature and evolution. The authors offer a meaningful conversation about integrating Christian theology and BFST. This chapter alone makes it worthwhile purchasing the book if you are Southern Baptist and also my tribe of Lutherans, The LCMS.This book offers an excellent integration of practical pastoral leadership and BFST. The transitional and settled pastor can learn much from this book for the changing church. Add this book to your reading list.

I bought and read the first edition of The Leader's Journey when it was first published. I used it as a required text in a seminary leadership course I taught. Through that first edition I came to a much deeper appreciation of the personal transformation required to effectively lead congregational transformation. I benefitted greatly from the introduction to Bowen Family Systems. I accepted the invitation to a journey of spiritual transformation that hopefully still continues.When I learned that Herrington, Taylor, and Creech had collaborated on this second edition I eagerly purchased it. There is a great deal of new material. They have significantly revised chapters 7, 9, and 10 based on their experience and feedback from readers. The authors added two extra chapters to this new edition. Chapter 6, “Leading in Uncertain Times,” discusses leadership in uncertain times as we are experiencing in the twenty-first century. Chapter 11, “Thinking Systems as a Christian,” responds to readers’ concerns about Christian theology and BFST. The authors revised appendix C, “Bowen-Based Training Programs,” and the bibliography.Still, the message at the heart of the book remains the same. If one wishes to lead deep change in an organization, especially a congregation, the ability to lead one's self is central. Understanding how living systems operate, seeing one's self in that system, and observing how we react to anxiety allows us to be different. My appreciation for this book and its many insights, now augmented by new and helpful material, is as great as ever. I am especially grateful for the new chapter eleven, with its dialogue between theology and Bowen Family Systems. The reader does not have to agree with all that is expressed there in order to benefit from the wonderful insights.I highly recommend this book to the emerging and the seasoned leader alike.

If you are a leader or pastor in a church, or any organization, you will find this book to be of great help in navigating and managing the rapid societal changes that we are experiencing. The reason why this book can be so helpful is that it focuses not on doing leadership techniques or simply trying harder, but by becoming the kind of person through which real change can take place. The Leader’s Journey is an invitation to take on the work of personal transformation that has the actual power to change the systems and structures of the organization. The authors point to Jesus’ teaching and example as the ultimate source of this personal transformation and provide a number of practices, skills, and ways of thinking that can enable a leader to experience deep change. This personal transformation produces a certain kind of life that can actually impact others in the organization to more naturally do what is good and needed, even in the midst of highly anxious environments. Warning: Reading the book will not transform you, but taking on the hard work that it lays out can. The Leader’s Journey is not about improving your leadership. It is about transforming you as a leader from the inside-out. I highly recommend this book and would encourage those who decide to pick it up to read it with others.

As a pastor transitioning a church, I needed a resource to help me navigate the rampant chronic anxiety that I (and the rest of the pastoral staff and congregation) was experiencing. This book was recommended to me. I ate it up. And then I took the pastoral staff through it. The book gave us language for what we were experiencing and helped us to see our way through it. I believe this is a critical resource for anyone who wants to lead well in the 21st century.One of the things I appreciate most about this book is the study guide that accompanies it. After each chapter, there are questions that will incite thought-provoking discussion. We took that discussion seriously and our team grew so much.