Power Play

 

Often considered elusive and inaccessible, the leaders of a community can go unreached by the Church. But sociologist D. Michael Lindsay believes engaging community leaders is an important ministry all churches should pursue. Read on to learn how your church can help bring faith into the halls of power.

 

By D. Michael Lindsay

After awakening from a failed suicide attempt, Robert “Bud” McFarlane received an unexpected telephone call.

“Bud,” said the caller, “I heard what you did, and I’m coming to see you.” 

It was February 1987. McFarlane, who now admits he was a chief architect in the Iran-Contra scandal, had attempted to take his life the day he was to testify before Congress about the hostages-for-arms deal. Although he’d served as President Reagan’s national security advisor with distinction, his complicity in the scandal had marred his public record.

Who, then, was the caller who came to visit him at Bethesda Naval Hospital? He was none other than Richard Nixon.

The former president walked into McFarlane’s room and recounted how “the Lord had lifted him up” after his own humiliating departure from the White House. At Nixon’s insistence, the two prayed, and shortly after, Nixon helped McFarlane get involved in a men’s fellowship group. For the last 20 years, that group has met weekly and through it, McFarlane and many other national leaders have put their faith in Christ.

Although leaders like McFarlane may seem formidable, they too need the fellowship and support of other believers. In our culture, community leaders are a disproportionately unchurched group. Over the last five years, I’ve interviewed hundreds of leaders, asking specific questions about their faith journey. Of the 360 men and women I talked to, 30% were not raised in Christian homes—more than double the national average. The numbers alone are reason enough for your church to consider ways to minister to the leaders in your midst, and yet another motivation is the influence these leaders wield within their respective spheres.

Not only can political or business leaders use their skills and abilities to help a church be more effective, they can also bring a fervor and enthusiasm that’s contagious. The spiritual rewards, of course, are powerful as well. More than half the leaders I interviewed said they had a significant spiritual experience after age 17. For many of them, faith in Christ is a new, exciting adventure. Their zeal can energize not only the Church, but also the larger community.

Through insights from these powerful men and women, I discovered what leaders are searching for in a pastor and why many of them, while very involved in parachurch ministry, aren’t connected to a local church. From those who are, the same themes emerged—principles that I believe any church, regardless of size or location, can use to reach the leaders in their unique community and empower them with the good news of the Gospel.

Leaders Reaching Leaders

Of the leaders I interviewed, those who came to faith after leaving home for college did so through the influence of another leader in their lives. Business moguls witnessed to other corporate leaders. Political figures made spiritual commitments through peers willing to share about their own faith. Pastors and church leaders obviously play a role, but I was surprised to see how often fellow leaders were integral to the process.

Repeatedly, my interviews revealed the importance of personal friendships. From former Presidents Carter and Bush to the CEOs of Pepsi and Johnson & Johnson, the leaders I talked with deeply value the friendships they share with other leaders. One executive told me, “I feel targeted and lobbied by everyone around me. I need friends with whom I can let my hair down and just be real.”

For churches, the desire for authentic relationship offers an opportunity to engage leaders in your community by creating fellowship groups where strong friendships among peers can develop. Last year, Robert Emmitt, pastor of Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas (communitybible.com), launched a ministry to CEOs in the city. A core element of the ministry, he says, is small groups where leaders of large companies meet regularly with leaders of other large companies. Those at the helm of medium-size firms meet with CEOs who lead organizations of similar size.

That’s one lesson Emmitt has learned: Create fellowship groups where peers meet with one another.

“You do not put the CEO of a firm with 100,000 employees in a group with small business executives,” he explains. “They face different challenges and different opportunities. To maximize the potential of these groups, they must take place among peers.”

Flex Time

Another important strategy for reaching leaders in your midst: Keep your programs flexible. Leaders’ schedules vary greatly. They travel for business, and their professional lives involve diverse demands. As a result, most of the leaders I interviewed cannot participate in a weekly Bible study that meets at their church. Instead, they study the Bible through weekly or monthly conference calls.

As a seasoned minister to the business elite and head of his ministry called the CEO Forum, David “Mac” McQuiston convenes dozens of small Bible studies over the course of a month. All of the studies, however, take place via telephone. Business leaders dial in from wherever they happen to be at the appointed hour. Although they only meet in person once or twice a year, deep friendships develop through the monthly Bible studies, McQuiston says.

“The Bible talks about sharing not only the Gospel, but our lives as well,” he says. “That’s what these leaders do. They share their struggles and their needs, and it happens in a safe environment. They would never be able to develop these forms of community if we required they meet only in person. It’s just not possible given the kinds of lives they lead.”

E-mails and conference calls build community, but face-to-face interaction remains critical to establishing friendships. Pastors who have successfully engaged the leaders in their community have followed a certain formula. They start the Bible study groups with an overnight retreat at a nearby hotel or conference center. There, participants can get to know one another and put names with faces.

Then they hold regular meetings—often on a weekly basis—through conference call appointments. Despite their busy schedules, participants commit to being available at the appointed time for the following six months. At the end of that time, the groups gather at another overnight retreat. Once they attend the retreat, new members can join existing groups, and current participants can opt out for the next six months if they can’t commit to a certain number of regular conference calls.

Because friendships need to develop over time, regular interaction among peers is necessary to build trust. So be flexible with how you structure your program—allowing participants to reschedule based on other responsibilities—but also require that participants commit to meeting as regularly as possible so the ministry can flourish. Personal commitment from leaders is essential to the ministry’s success.

The Respect Factor

Surprisingly, among the leaders I interviewed—all committed Christians—only some were actively involved in a ministry at their church. Instead, most turned to other ministry outlets like parachurch ministries and Bible study fellowships for spiritual nourishment and community engagement.

Why are so many community leaders disconnected from the local church? One main reason lies in the fact that many don’t respect their pastor as a leader. As a result, they shy away from church commitments. Moreover, many leaders feel that churches focus on unnecessary minutiae. James Unruh, former chief executive of Unisys, served at one time as an elder at his church. After suffering with mounting frustrations, Unruh has since decided he’ll never serve in the local church again. Like other business leaders I talked with, Unruh was frustrated with the inefficiency and insular nature of church affairs.

“It’s very frustrating to be patient at church and not try to run things because that’s what you’re doing all day in your business,” Unruh says.

Of course, there are notable exceptions. Several pastors were hailed by the leaders I interviewed as exemplary leaders—among them, Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and John Ortberg at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Silicon Valley, Calif.

What distinguished pastors like these? They were described as leaders who built bridges with different kinds of people in the community. High-impact people are especially drawn to pastors who take on big projects that move their churches beyond internal concerns and into the city. Churches that fail to engage leaders in these kinds of projects end up missing out on their valuable members, something Robert Emmitt discovered only after launching his ministry to community CEO’s.

“A lot of leaders really want to pursue more than simply sitting in service, singing some songs, listening to the sermon and dropping a check,” Emmitt says. “These men and women have excellent leadership, organizational and motivational skills. So, to partner with them is a wise decision.”

Today, Community Bible Church has strong ties to business leaders who contribute to the congregation in creative ways. In fact, one successful developer in San Antonio, Texas, began attending the church and is now part of the church staff. Though the church only pays him $1 a year, he has planned and led mission trips to Africa, and stands as an example of what can happen when a business leader is empowered to do ministry.

Says Emmitt, “I hope to challenge leaders in my church to go from success in the business world, to significance in the spiritual world.” 

D. Michael Lindsay is a member of the sociology faculty at Rice University in Houston. For his recent book, Faith in the Halls of Power (Oxford University Press), he traveled to 72 different places and logged 300,000 miles to interview more than 350 leaders about their faith journeys. Lindsay serves on Outreach magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board.

Leaders on Line One

Every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., more than 300 business leaders from all over the country dial in to a conference call—not to discuss the latest news from Dow Jones—but to share their personal and spiritual struggles as Christian leaders in top management positions.

“When I go home at night, I’m constantly trying to figure out what I didn’t get done because people’s financial lives are at stake,” says John Lilley, president of Chesser Financial in Champaign, Ill. “So I really need to find a connection with other like-minded individuals who share the same struggles.”

Enter the Pinnacle Forum. Begun in 1995, the Phoenix, Ariz.-based non-profit organization was founded by a group of community leaders who wanted to provide Christians in leadership a peer support base. Today, the Pinnacle Forum caters to more than 300 “partners” through a series of teleconferences in which participants hear from leading authorities on issues of stewardship, biblical leadership and discovering purpose.

“Our main thrust in the ministry is for CEOs and company presidents to feel inspired to magnify Christ within their spheres of influence,” says Jean Cipra, director of teleforums, marketing and special events at the Pinnacle Forum.

To offer this kind of community to Pinnacle Forum partners, teleforums featuring renowned speakers take place weekly, and cover one of four main topics: spiritual growth; servant leadership; biblical worldview and cultural impact; and discovering ministry passion and calling. For 30 minutes, guest speakers share messages with partners via phone.

After the speakers finish, partners are automatically separated into small groups of 25 to discuss the messages.

For businessman John Lilley, these discussion times tend to prove most valuable.

“They expand my point of view,” he says. “Everybody sees things from their perspective and listening in on these group discussions brings us to a higher level of understanding. This is where the sharing happens.”

The Pinnacle Forum is beginning to grow beyond the teleforums as partners also meet regionally in person.

“We are just trying to inspire them to seek God by saying, ‘He has placed you in a position of influence, and He has put you there for a reason,’ ” says Cipra.

“ ‘God has a plan for you that is bigger than just your job so enact positive influence in your culture for Christ.’ ”

 

-Excerpted from Outreach magazine, "Features," November/December 2007

 

 

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