Gleanings from the Leadership Workshop at the Church of the Epiphany

A leadership workshop occurred at the Church of the Epiphany on the 12th of  February, 2023. It was conducted by Revd. Timothy Shaw, also the Presbyter in Charge at Free Church, Parliament street, Delhi.

It was an important workshop that started with an exciting trip into the past of the Church, right back to the time when it was built (somewhere way back in 1866). While I did remind the gathering that there was a separate chapel for the Indians in Sadar Bazar Gurgaon, Revd. Shaw went on to recall how the town was almost undeveloped and that a visiting Priest would come all the way from the St. Stephens Church in Fatehpuri, (Old Delhi) having travelled in a tonga all the way from old Delhi having visited various churches including St.Martins in the Cantonment area and another one in Mehrauli. One might also call him a travelling Presbyter.

The more significant part of the workshop, however, was on developing leadership skills and qualities in the lay members of the congregation. Revd. Shaw stressed how leadership had to be built through understanding our roots, and the vision of our predecessors and then transporting an older version of the concept into new leadership styles in accordance with today's trends. Having a vision for a living vibrant congregation, having an active youth fellowship, setting examples, sharing the good news and being in the fellowship were important observations of the workshop.

Stewardship of finances, the delegation of responsibilities, selecting the right candidates for stewardship and then achieving desired goals and targets emerged as important elements of leadership in the church. A reading from the book of Exodus, chapter 18 highlighted how Moses worked on his father-in-law's advice and decided to delegate part of his work to capable people so that he could focus on more demanding matters.

The book of Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 2 was read in order to understand how it is important to have a clear description of our vision and mission for us. Reading, and researching can help us in building a strong, supportive community, a community that nurtures young minds,  a community that works towards creating a sustainable atmosphere of service and empathy. The creation of outreach programs, reaching out to the needy and destitute, and providing them succour would be important points to work on, according to Rev. Timothy Shaw.