DRAFT

In a perfect world all lay people would be generous stewards .. giving freely because it is what the Lord asks of us and we Laity would give for their own spiritual benefit -- not because it is required by a decision of a Clergy-Laity Congress. (emphasis added) They would give without demanding financial transparency and accountability on the part of Church leaders. (BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT NEED TO?) In a perfect world Church leaders would be loving and caring stewards of the resources entrusted to them. They would be skilled in dispute resolution. They would lead by personal example: by persuasion and consent rather than by command and force. The problem of leadership in our present circumstances and in the American age we live in is that Church leaders need to understand that they cannot be effective by themselves… (emphasis added) they are useless without followers. (emphasis added) They need to learn a new style of leadership.. just as the Laity must develop a new quality of followership. Church leaders in America must be responsive to the people and the people must be active and informed participants in the process.

- from "The Meaning of a Hierarchical Church" - by George Karcazes

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