ARE WE A PEOPLE AT HALF TIME? - Leadership Network

...using people like them as the heroes and
role models as examples and illustrations
rather than missionaries who died in Africa.
The vision of what people can become
...that is what forms such preaching.
One other observation is that through this
research, I grew in the confidence that the
generations can be reached and all of the
hand wringing we find in the mainline
church is unwarranted. The test is whether
we care enough and dare enough to reinvent
church enough to begin where people
are, rather than where we would like
them to be.
FYI:
The cover story of the August
issue of The Atlantic Monthly,
entitled “Welcome to the Next
Church,” will be of interest to 21st
century leaders.
Set amidst the changing landscape
of the American religious life, it
focuses on the emergence of the large
pastoral church and represents more
than a year of research, interviews
with pastors and church leaders, and
others on the part of the author
Charles Trueheart.
The Atlantic Monthly also can
be accessed via the Internet at
http://www.theAtlantic.com/ or at
The Atlantic Monthly site in the
Newsstand area of America OnLine.
The writer of Ecclesiasties said it well,
“there is a time and a season for everything.”
n 1984, Bob Buford and Fred Smith started off on an adventure that some people then
Idescribed as “two guys and a typewriter.” There was no such thing as Leadership
Network. There was only a dream to be useful to the Kingdom. In the words of the
Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood, they were “on a mission for God.”
What began as a response to a small group of senior ministers of large churches has
gone far beyond what they initially imagined and today Leadership Network has grown
to include a staff of 14 and is involved with major initiatives with large churches,
denominational church champions, lay mobilization, and others who are leading the
21st century church.
A large measure of that growth is due to the leadership and
energy of Fred Smith. For twelve years, he has connected people,
ideas, and resources and done it with a sense of servanthood,
integrity and wit. Now, he has decided that the season of
his life known as Leadership Network is drawing to a close
and he will be leaving September 1.
According to Fred, “It is the right time to end this season
and begin the next. Every healthy enterprise reaches that stage
where it changes from the entrepreneurial venture into a
mature organization that requires strategic planning, management
and a different style of leadership for the next phase of growth. My gifts have been
Fred Smith
to help lead Leadership Network to where it is today but the next stretch of the journey
requires a different kind of leadership.”
A natural question is “What is Fred going to do beyond Leadership Network”
Again, in his words, “I have a genuine sense of calling to be “salt and light” in the community
of Tyler, and I am going to spend more time and energy on that. As well, I want
to continue my work with philanthropy and foundations around the country. Moreover,
I want to continue to be with my family. I do not have to tell you how important time
and attention are to two young daughters and I’ve spent a good portion of the last twelve
years with wonderful and stimulating people ...a thousand miles from home.”
We at Leadership Network talk a lot about transition and change and people being
in “half time.” We just never thought it would hit so close to home. Thank you, Fred,
for being you and for being faithful to the mission.
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