Keywords
contextualisation
stakeholder
complexity
uncertainty
pastor
church
How to Cite
Abstract
All institutions in Europe are facing increasingly complex societies and organisations. The elevated level of complexity has also placed considerable strain on numerous church leaders, who are required to lead their congregations without knowing a likely successful way themselves. To meet this pressure, a paradigm shift in church leadership is necessary. In complex scenarios leaders must rather act as sense makers and facilitators helping people to collectively make sense of their incomprehensible experiences than being top-down leaders and providing answers. Solutions must emerge from the context as the stakeholders are experts for their situation. Stakeholder-centering is a crucial method in the business world today. This concept exhibits notable parallels to the concept of contextualisation within the field of missiology. In missiology, the majority of churches have already undergone a paradigm shift by acknowledging that attempts to address new societal and ethnic spheres without a contextualisation of the gospel is hardly conceivable. To be contextual requires an engagement with the stakeholders. This paper tries to emphasise that a similar paradigm shift in church leadership is necessary because in individualised societies the unfamiliar is usually just around the corner. Stakeholder-centering is the most promising way to deal with an increasing complexity in society. The principles of critical contextualisation could inform the guidelines for a stakeholder-centric approach to church leadership.
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