Leadership on the Front Foot

 

Leadership on the Front Foot by Zachary Veron--cover Leadership on the Front Foot

Zachary Veron

Anglican Press Australia, Sydney, 2009. 204pp.

Pragmatism is always dangerous: passages like 2 Corinthians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 2:3-6 and 2 Timothy 4:3-4 warn against certain methods that seem to get results and gain listeners for your message. But pragmatism is also commended: passages like Matthew 10:16 (in the context of a gospel preaching mission) and Luke 16:8 (in the context of using money to make friends for eternity) recommend ‘shrewdness’, rather than stupidity, in ministry dealings.

I was challenged recently when I put Zachary Veron’s new book Leadership on the Front Foot into the category of principled pragmatism. Some suggest the word implies overtones foreign to the New Testament (perhaps from business), and that the practice of pragmatism should be dropped altogether. They are right if we mean pragmatism as a philosophy where “truth and conduct are to be judged by practical consequences”.1 But I think I’m right if we stick with pragmatism’s primary meaning: “character or conduct which emphasises practical values or attention to facts; practicality”.2

Indeed, Veron says he wrote the book so people could hear from “effective practitioners”, not just academic theologians (p. 9). Over the course of a decade, Veron led a parish in gospel growth: new congregations were planted, attendance increased sevenfold and offertories, tenfold. This occurred, not in a middle class Bible-belt, but in a multicultural area of Sydney where the number of nominal Anglicans was falling fast! The publisher’s blurb explains,

This new book by Youthworks CEO, Zac Veron, outlines 23 principles to inspire and encourage church leaders. Practical guidance is offered for all aspects of parish ministry with application guides at the end of each chapter for further reflection, planning and decision making.3

Veron especially talks to new ministers of the gospel. In brief, he wants ministers to plan and operate in effective ways. So his book moves from the personal, through the day-to-day operational and tactical, to the strategic big picture.

Here lies the book’s appeal and its danger. Ministers with a good theological education and a Bible-based conservative evangelicalism like Veron’s will benefit from his wealth of practical ideas. But his book could have a dangerous effect when read by people who do not have those theological convictions, or who fail to filter what he says through the grid of Scripture.

Highlights

Here are some of the books highlights. I liked the way each chapter stated the principle up front and then immediately followed it with a corresponding error to avoid—a bit like the antithetic parallelism so common in Proverbs! Stating the negative often clarified the positive.

I also liked the intentional focus on gospel growth, rather than transfer growth. It helped me see that numerical growth matters because individuals matter:

[E]ach number represents a soul rescued from hell. Numbers at church are very important. Each number represents a person who will spend eternity in only one of two places. (p. 75)

A second area of focus is leadership in the area of finances. Five of Veron’s 23 principles give attention to the matter of raising money for ministry. Pastors must teach about money (as Veron clearly demonstrates from Scripture), model generosity, take advantage of electronic funds trans­fer, budget to expand, and so on. This area of Veron’s book will attract more than its share of disagreement. However, even someone who disagrees at points like I did will benefit from thinking about financial leadership. It cannot be left to lay church officers, and a wise leader can grasp the essence of Veron’s insights, even if Veron’s particular application does not commend itself.

Another strength of the book is Veron’s advice about developing a church staff team—how to recruit, mistakes to avoid, and the need to look for staffing diversity (not clones) while ensuring compatibility in ministry mindset. Don’t put candidates into a job description straitjacket, but don’t just settle for Mr Near Enough either.

Critically, this staffing advice does not come at the cost of lay ministry. Veron does not want to professionalize ministry, and stresses the importance of developing a converted and effective lay leadership team. As such, his book talks about how to gather, appoint (rather than elect!), and train leaders. A particularly important principle is involving leadership in vision development, rather than doing it alone. The minister who is a control freak will stifle growth.

One last strength is the application guide written by Ken Noakes, which appears immediately after each chapter. The guide provides further biblical and practical input, with questions for reflection and application. Sometimes there was a theological perspective that, if not added in the application guide, would have left important matters unsaid. For example, in chapter 12 on training lay leaders, it was only in the application guide that the importance of theological convictions and godly character was made explicit. Often it was the application guide that drove us into the Scriptures relevant to the topic. So we should thank Veron for having Ken work with him on this book.

Weaknesses

What of the book’s weaknesses? Firstly, Veron stresses the importance of application, and often provides a number of helpful tips for implementing particular principles. This means it’s a little frustrating that, for other principles, either little was said of an explanatory nature (some chapters are less than two pages) or else the practicalities were quite underdone.

For example, Veron rightly says that we must train lay people for their ministries and that this will mean delegation. But he says next to nothing about how to delegate effectively. (The application guide admits “Delegation is a hard principle to teach”—p. 99).

Perhaps I am asking too much of a book that crams 23 stimulating leadership principles into 204 pages. Yet maybe a few more references for further study would have done the trick. Several Matthias Media titles would rate a helpful mention here. For example, the very first principle on being personally prepared could be profitably explored further in Peter Brain’s Going the Distance. In addition, Col Marshall’s Passing the Baton and The Trellis and the Vine develop the whole gospel ministry training mindset Veron promotes.

My other concern is really the one I began with: the book’s strength is also its weakness because it is a book of pragmatism. Don’t hear me wrong; Veron’s theological convictions are clear. He believes in the authority of Scripture, and in “preaching exegetically throughout the Bible”, instead of just topically (pp. 58, 66). He believes in the Bible’s standards of sexual purity (principle 3). He believes in preaching regularly repentance and faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins (pp. 46-47). He believes in the uniqueness and supremacy of Christ and the greats solas we love, like faith alone, Christ alone and Scripture alone (p. 127). Veron also admits up front that his style is black and white. But often his ministry axioms end up sounding like universal truths instead of wise generalizations. Furthermore, sometimes they are offered as assertions without explanation or defence from the Bible—for example, the application of the homogenous unit principle to our church gatherings, the need for a disproportionate focus on youth, and the suggestion that a spouse halves or doubles a minister’s effectiveness.

In addition, in the chapter on training church ‘elders’, he uses a biblical term in an unbiblical way, talking only of financial and property administration, and nothing of what the Bible says an elder’s job is—shared congregational oversight in faithfulness to God’s word. Veron would have done better to refer to deacons or ‘administrative leaders’, rather than ‘elders’, which is a misnomer.

In his introduction, and following Paul, Veron speaks of the need for “theologically-founded, pragmatic principles” (p. 9). But here his theology is more assumed and implicit, rather than explicit and developed. As I said, this will present problems for ministers and young leaders who do not have solid grounding in the Bible. For this reason, I would only recommend giving Leadership on the Front Foot to trainees if they were also encouraged to read something like The Deliberate Church by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, which provides a theologically driven evangelical vision for ministry.

~

Veron never expects his readers to do everything his way. Instead, he seeks to provide lots of food for thought. I was stimulated to think about how I can promote conversion growth in my church, rather than transfer growth. I also plan to explore seriously with our church leadership two of his more radical ideas—phasing out the passing of the offertory plate in favour of electronic giving (at least in some of our congregations) and rejigging Bible study groups every two years. My church ended up purchasing 20 copies for pastoral staff, parish councilors, congregational ministry team leaders and synod representatives.

Fundamentally, this is a book about courage in leadership—courage in bring­ing about thoughtful changes to promote gospel ministry, and doing this in such a way that gives you the best chance of bringing people with you. Let me conclude with some of the application guide’s final words:

Pragmatic principles in church mean nothing if they are not theologically formed, and as such the hope is that you will be a theologically-principled pragmatist. (p. 193).

 

Sandy also provides a detailed review of the principles of this book in a series of blog posts on The Sola Panel: http://solapanel.org/
author/sandygrant/.

  1. The Macquarie Dictionary Online, Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd, Sydney, 2009.
  2. ibid.
  3. http://cep.youthworks.net/Products/171-leadership-on-the-front-foot.aspx.

5 thoughts on “Leadership on the Front Foot

  1. I’m about to start reading Zac’s book, and I’ll be looking forward to your review, Sandy.  I agree Zac ( a friend) will have much to teach us.

    Perhaps you will think I’m pedantic, but I really don’t think we should use the word ‘pragmatism’ to describe the astuteness and shrewdness (note: with innocence!) the NT commends. 

    Pragmatism carries with it concepts that are foreign to the New Testament.  I realise the term has often been qualified by the adjective ‘principled’ but in the current climate of rampant unprincipled pragmatism (see Mark Thompson’s excellent Anglican Church League AGM address) I think we need to abandon this word altogether.

  2. My boss read it and gave it to me. Reading it the second time.
    @ Philip G –

    I agree about what you said re pragmatism – we should drop the word and the practice. (Which Diocese are yin? Did you study at SMBC?)

    Looking forward to your review Sandy.

  3. I’m always drawn to books on leadership because I feel my need for any counsel I can get in this area. I’m looking forward to Sandy Grant’s on-going interaction and review of the book.

    Since I’m so interested in this topic and don’t have ready access to the book here in America, I went over to the Youthworks website where I was able to read a sample chapter that dealt with electronic giving. I was very disappointed. What I found in that one chapter was the kind of pragmatism that harms the church. Does electronic giving work? Evidently it does, but it takes away from a vital dimension of our worship. If we believe giving is an act of worship, then shouldn’t the offering be taken during our corporate worship services? If we can worship by giving online, can we also download a sermon and worship via preaching online? That would be convenient and possible increase the “attendance” at our services.

    Vernon also believes electronic giving will make it easier to invite visitors to our services. If no offering is taken, they won’t be uncomfortable having the plate pass in front of them. But that is also problematic. The old Southern Presbyterians used to say that taking the offering was one way God uses to wean us from our covetousness. If people are unwilling to give, the offering plate may become a means of conviction. The fact that their wallet stays in their pocket or purse may be used by God to show them where their priorities lie. If our worship makes people uncomfortable, they will just have to be uncomfortable. Perhaps if visitors saw God’s people giving generously, emptying their wallets into the plate, they would fall down and say, “Surely God is in this place.”

    I realize that Mr. Grant is just getting in to this book, and I hope to follow all of the reviews. Perhaps he will come to the same or similar conclusions regarding this or other aspects of the methods Mr. Veron suggests. When I hear the word “pragmatism,” I become concerned. This sample chapter is a good example of why.

    Rhett Dodson
    http://www.RhettDodson.com

  4. Hi Rhett, thanks for commenting.

    It may interest you to see that Zach Veron’s colleague and successor at his parish, Phil Colgan, and I had a friendly interchange on the area of giving, which you can read here.

    You are quite right that the impact of receiving an offertory or collection during the assembly could plausibly have different impacts on visitors. Some may be impressed. But some may also find it a stumbling block: wrongly perceiving it as their chance to pay God back, or being upset that “the church is always after your money”.

    Certainly it seems Paul – in his new mission areas at least – was very careful to ensure that his gospel-preaching came free of charge to the unconverted and possibly even the newly converted. I think this comes out in 1 Cor 9:12-19 ff. 3 John 7 also seems to commend ministry that goes out without accepting anything from the Gentiles.

    So regardless of how you apply it, I think there is a genuine scriptural concern for ensuring how we handle any monetary collections does not affect visitors and especially unbelievers in a way that inadvertantly undercuts the gospel.

    One other thing. You wrote

    it takes away from a vital dimension of our worship. If we believe giving is an act of worship, then shouldn’t the offering be taken during our corporate worship services?

    Rhett, I think you have assumed the truth of a couple of things here. You have asserted
    (i) that giving is a “vital dimension” of our worship – could you give us some more evidence for that?
    (ii) that it must occur during “corporate” worship services – again where does the Bible mandate that it must occur that way?

    I would agree that the way we use our money and in particular our support for gospel ministry and for the poor is part of our worship, but would suggest that our worship is expressed across all of life and not just in the congregational assembly, and this can be true of giving as much as many other things.

    As regards to congregational assemblies, I would prefer to reserve “vital dimension” for such central matters as hearing the Word read and preached and prayer, as well as the expression of fellowship and love for one another.

  5. Sandy,

    Thanks for your gracious rejoinder. Obviously this isn’t a fundamental of the faith, but I do think the practice of taking an offering in corporate worship is important. I’m going to make just a few brief points in response. You can find a fuller discussion of these points on my blog at http://rhettdodson.com/blog/?p=128.

    1.  It’s common practice in church, at least in the Presbyterian circles I’m in, to fence the Lord’s Table. This explanation lets the unconverted know what’s going on and why they shouldn’t participate. Churches can, and probably should, do something similar with the offering. “We’re going to worship God with our gifts. If you’re a visitor, were not asking you to give. We’re just glad you’re here, but this offering is a way that we express our gratefulness to God, etc.”

    2.  Your point that Paul didn’t receive money from the unconverted or newly converted is right on target. But new mission situations are different from established churches.

    3.  My two “assumptions” are based on what I see to be apostolic practice, especially 1 Cor. 16:1-4, but also Acts 2:42. This practice, I believe, provides warrant for our church practice today.

    4.  I agree that our giving should be spread across all of life and not limited to an offering on Sunday morning, but I don’t believe that takes away from the necessity for a corporate expression of worship via giving.

    5.  You would “prefer to reserve ‘vital dimension’ for such central matters as hearing the Word read and preached and prayer, as well as the expression of fellowship and love for one another,” but in my understanding (again, see the blog for fuller discussion), the offering is a part of fellowship and an expression of love to fellow believers in need and the poor outside the church.

    I look forward to your continuing review of Leadership on the Front Foot. Let me reiterate that I don’t think public offerings are the end-all and be-all of worship, but I believe they’re important. I’m grateful for the leadership that Zac Veron has given and continues to give to the church in Australia. May his tribe increase! But when they increase, I hope they’ll buy some offering plates!

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