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"You see me but it's not me:" The Interplay of Religious Authority and Lay Empowerment in Congregation-Based Community Organizing
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Lara Rusch ~ 17
become a caretaker of the family.” In this worldview, each leader for a ministry or
committee must lead the smaller group and understand their role within the bigger
mission of the congregation.
If you’re presiding over a meeting, never sit in the middle of the table. You sit at the head of the table. And if too many people are around the table, get you a seat on another little table and set off at the head. Now, you ain’t never seen a bus driver driving a bus from the middle of the bus. He’s always at the front of the bus. […] So, I teach leadership. Know your place.
Barlow uses the phrase “knowing one’s place” to convey that any person, leader
included, must act in particular ways in order to fulfill his role. The church’s multiple
ministries provide ample opportunity for participation, and those opportunities also
provide multiple ladders to greater influence in the church community. From the pastor’s
perspective, knowing one’s role prevents conflict from dividing the church. Lay leaders
who understand this fill a need for authoritative decision-making in an environment
where power is dispersed and multilayered. Barlow further illustrates the point with an
example from his own development, reflecting his understanding of how he should act as
the pastor.
Now, I didn’t get that automatically. God gave me that through memberships. Through people. One lady I’ll name – she’s gone on – Florence Campbell, give me the backbone to build leadership. I […] asked three of my choirs to go on a visitation with me on Wednesday night, three of them turned me down. Well, we can’t go for one reason or other. Finally, an old woman, 80-years-old, said, “Brother Pastor, the senior choir will go with you Wednesday night.” The next Monday, Miss Campbell called me to her house, 3738 Annabelle, and said to me, “If my children were here, I wouldn’t say this. But since none of them are here, […] Sit down, let me tell you something.” She said, “You are not an asker, you’re a teller. When you get ready for choir, you don’t ask no two or three choirs, you get up and announce, I want the pastor’s chorus to go with me on this visitation and fellowship.” And she said, “Out of thirty-some people, God left folks in there to follow their pastor. And if you don’t have but six people show up, that’s your choir.” She said, “Now don’t you ever let me hear you asking. You’re a teller. You’re up here in the pulpit. We’re down here. You tell us, we don’t tell you.” God has just blessed me to have some good folks around me.
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Lara Rusch ~ 17
become a caretaker of the family.” In this worldview, each leader for a ministry or
committee must lead the smaller group and understand their role within the bigger
mission of the congregation.
If you’re presiding over a meeting, never sit in the middle of the table. You sit at
the head of the table. And if too many people are around the table, get you a seat
on another little table and set off at the head. Now, you ain’t never seen a bus
driver driving a bus from the middle of the bus. He’s always at the front of the
bus. […] So, I teach leadership. Know your place.
Barlow uses the phrase “knowing one’s place” to convey that any person, leader
included, must act in particular ways in order to fulfill his role. The church’s multiple
ministries provide ample opportunity for participation, and those opportunities also
provide multiple ladders to greater influence in the church community. From the pastor’s
perspective, knowing one’s role prevents conflict from dividing the church. Lay leaders
who understand this fill a need for authoritative decision-making in an environment
where power is dispersed and multilayered. Barlow further illustrates the point with an
example from his own development, reflecting his understanding of how he should act as
the pastor.
Now, I didn’t get that automatically. God gave me that through memberships.
Through people. One lady I’ll name – she’s gone on – Florence Campbell, give
me the backbone to build leadership. I […] asked three of my choirs to go on a
visitation with me on Wednesday night, three of them turned me down. Well, we
can’t go for one reason or other. Finally, an old woman, 80-years-old, said,
“Brother Pastor, the senior choir will go with you Wednesday night.” The next
Monday, Miss Campbell called me to her house, 3738 Annabelle, and said to me,
“If my children were here, I wouldn’t say this. But since none of them are here,
[…] Sit down, let me tell you something.” She said, “You are not an asker, you’re
a teller. When you get ready for choir, you don’t ask no two or three choirs, you
get up and announce, I want the pastor’s chorus to go with me on this visitation
and fellowship.” And she said, “Out of thirty-some people, God left folks in there
to follow their pastor. And if you don’t have but six people show up, that’s your
choir.” She said, “Now don’t you ever let me hear you asking. You’re a teller.
You’re up here in the pulpit. We’re down here. You tell us, we don’t tell you.”
God has just blessed me to have some good folks around me.
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