Leadership - The Charge

St. Augustine of Hippo, that great First Century African Bishop, wrote, “No one can be a good bishop if he loves his title and not his task.” I find this quotation to be fitting on this day set aside for the Installation of Officers.

Augustine lifts up two aspects of leadership: title and task. A title is the appellation or name that is associated with the particular leader--Pastor, Deacon, Deaconess, Committee Chair, etc. With title comes status and perceived privilege. Whereas a task is the assignment, the charge, the work that a particular leader undertakes. It is what the leader has been set apart to do. And I am inclined to agree with St. Augustine of Hippo that, “No one can be a good bishop if he loves his title and not his task.”

What Augustine was getting at is this notion that if a leader is only invested in or concerned about his or her title, that they will not be an effective leader In God’s church. We do not install leaders in God’s church for the sake of the status of those individual leaders. Leaders are not set apart to boost their own ego. Leaders are not set apart for the purposes of being called by a title, rather church leaders are prayerfully set apart to the glory of God and the edification, or growth, of God’s people.

To the leaders who are being installed today, I would encourage you to take some time this week in prayer to reflect on the task ahead and ask God to help you undertake the task with uncompromising faithfulness. My prayer for you is that you lead with your tasks, rather than your title, so that the works that you do will speak for you.

Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah