Commentary: Developing leaders through education
A UMNS Commentary
By Bishops F. Herbert Skeete and Ben Oliphint*
June 26, 2007
Bishop F. Herbert Skeete
|
The United Methodist Church is faced with an unprecedented
opportunity to help develop principled leaders for the church and the
world.
Of all the world’s Christian denominations, The United Methodist
Church alone has the unique resources and depth of knowledge needed to
help guide an emerging and powerful growth in Christian congregations in
a way that can shape the future of communities, regions and nations
across the globe for decades to come.
The church is poised to do this through a bold new initiative called
the Methodist Global Education Fund for Leadership Development. Through
the fund and our unique connectional system, we will both develop
leaders and dramatically strengthen the role of 775 Methodist-affiliated
secondary schools, colleges, universities and theological schools in 69
countries as a force for global stability and progress.
For the first time, the denomination will create an integrated
strategy for leveraging its vast educational resources to promote global
progress and stability. The initial steps are a drive to raise $1.5
million in 2007 and put structures in place in Africa and Latin America
for the fund. Structures for the other three regions—Asia, Europe and
the United States—will follow. The three-pronged partnership approach
calls for the fund to underwrite the costs of technical assistance to
improve and strengthen schools, provide on-site mentoring for
professional development and scholarship support for leadership
development.
This is the right time. Christian congregations are growing rapidly
in countries around the world, and churches are welcoming more than 1.4
billion members. Across the globe, Methodist congregations are also
dramatically expanding, with more than 13 million members worldwide.
Bishop Ben Oliphint
|
These thriving Methodist congregations will foster communities guided by
tolerance, a concern for others and a profound commitment to building
local, valued-based societies and institutions. They will create a
powerful contrast to the conflicts filling much of the world, with
political and social struggles defined by cultural and religious
intolerance and violence.
If we can find a way to help guide these growing Methodist
congregations—these new centers of faith—we also can help guide the
wider social communities in which they are located. We can literally
impact the future of our globe.
A powerful resource
Through the Methodist Global Education Fund for Leadership
Development, we have the opportunity to foster a powerful sense of
global "connectedness" that could allow millions of Methodists worldwide
to share their knowledge, energy and faith. In turn, they can become
the leaders of congregations, communities, businesses and eventually
nations.
These new congregations do not want large financial handouts. They
see themselves as members of a global Methodist family and are firmly
focused on being equal partners, contributing in whatever way they can
to strengthen the church’s impact in the world. The fund will help these
emerging Christian centers flourish with capable leaders, while
expanding their regional education capacities.
The United Methodist Church’s educational institutions are a powerful resource.
For more than 200 years, the church has played a key role in
developing educational institutions around the world and spreading the
Gospel through education. We brought new disciples to Jesus Christ by
founding centers of learning that transformed communities and regions.
The American educational landscape would look much different today
without the hundreds of schools founded by Methodists. In Africa, United
Methodist-founded Africa University has become one of the most dynamic
educational institutions on the continent, graduating more than 2,000
principled leaders in the last 10 years alone.
These centers of learning form a network that can share information
with an impact that will be without parallel, especially if leveraged to
develop leaders who are guided by Christian faith and principles.
Such leaders would bring a unique perspective to any organization
they help to direct, whether church-connected or secular. They would do
so because Methodist-affiliated educational institutions have earned a
reputation not only for high academic quality but also for the values
they encourage. Such values are anchored in service to others, a
commitment to justice supporting equality, and the power of
reconciliation to overcome differences. In today’s conflict-burdened
world, the impact of such leaders will be critical to any effort to
build a better future.
Imagine,
for just a moment, the impact of new leaders in countries around the
world who truly understand the famous dictum of John Wesley, the founder
of Methodism:
Do all the good you can;
In all the ways you can;
In all the places you can;
At all the times you can;
By all the means you can;
To all the people you can;
As long as ever you can.
In today’s world, we desperately need such leaders.
Learning and holiness combine
Wesley believed a child is born biased toward evil. "The bias of
nature is set the wrong way: Education is designed to set it right," he
said. "This by the grace of God, is to turn the bias from self-will,
pride, anger, revenge, and the love of the world, to resignation,
lowliness, meekness, and the love of God." And as his brother Charles
Wesley’s hymn so clearly defines it: "Unite the pair so oft disjoined,
Knowledge and vital piety; Learning and holiness combine …"
This is what makes a Methodist education and Methodist-affiliated
schools so distinctive and different. It is the right time and right
opportunity to improve and strengthen the Methodist educational
infrastructure, reshaping and developing an appropriate leadership
development program by uniting with a common purpose and responsibility,
sharing expertise and combining resources.
If we do that, every Methodist-related educational institution will
serve as a vital instrument supported by the connectional system that
the Methodist Global Education Fund for Leadership Development will
fashion. By linking the enormous reservoir of knowledge available
through Methodist-affiliated schools, colleges, universities and
theological schools, we can create and fortify educational programs
across the globe to train clergy, lay and community leaders whose wisdom
and understanding can be transformational.
Through the fund, we will define an unprecedented model—local impact
with regional direction, linked by a worldwide, interconnection of
knowledge and expertise—that may well set the stage for a new paradigm
of global connectedness with the global United Methodist Church as the
facilitator.
Wanted: visionaries and partners
What is particularly exciting is that the 2004 General Conference
established the Methodist Global Education Fund for Leadership
Development, and it is now designated as a World Service Special Gift.
"By linking the enormous reservoir of
knowledge available through Methodist-affiliated schools, colleges,
universities and theological schools, we can create and fortify
educational programs across the globe to train clergy, lay and community
leaders whose wisdom and understanding can be transformational."
That means each of us, as Methodists and Christians, are free to make
our own decision about this initiative. And that is as it should be.
When God presents an opportunity, it is up to us to recognize its
importance. It is up to us, individually, to take the action necessary
to choose our response and, in doing so, demonstrate our commitment to a
vision that will shape the future of the worldwide Methodist Church.
We can help develop the next generation of Methodist leaders around
the globe, fashioning a better future for the church and the world. The
possibilities are astounding. The opportunity and the knowledge are
there. The support of visionaries like you is all that is missing.
Partnerships are about a shared sense of commitment to reach a goal.
There are congregations and institutions and communities willing to
partner with us in developing principled Christian leaders. All it takes
to make that happen are partners who are willing to commit to this
cause and provide the funding necessary to begin the process.
It is a rare opportunity. We invite you to join us in shaping the
future of the global Methodist church and the leaders who will help
guide its destiny.
*Both retired bishops, Skeete and Oliphint both served tenures as
president of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and
Ministry. Skeete served from 1984-1988, and Oliphint from 1988-1992. The
above commentary was reprinted from Colleague, the newsletter of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Related Articles
Global Education Fund presents opportunity
United Methodist board creates global education fund
Campaign planned for Global Education Fund
Financial pressures force European seminaries to get creative
Delegates vote to fund global education, Africa University
Resources
The Methodist Global Education Fund
United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry
Sharing God’s Gifts |