The Sky is Falling?!?
Just been reading this book by Alan Roxburgh as background for my next college assignment (here's the essay title: "Can an inherited church become an emerging church?"- good eh?).
The subtitle of the book is "Leaders Lost in Transition", and I found it's good stuff. He argues that the radical change merchants (he calls them emergents) and the established leaders facing changing times (he calls them liminals) need each other to face the missional challenges of our day.
Here's a couple of quotes:
"Emergence cannot be imposed form above; it is cultivated by participation. Leaders must let go of the belief that more information or more data or some new program can reestablish control and result in a desired future" (p89-90).
That in itself is so helpful - change must be about more than the leaders "selling the vision". I think that also has huge implications for youth ministry and the church, in terms of vision and participation.

Here's another, a definition of the role of leadership, especially apostolic leadership:
"The role of leaders is to cultivate environments that release the missional imagination of the people of God".

My only gripe is that I had to order it from the USA, but the Allelon shop was very efficient!