Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices - Vestry Papers - Facing Leadership Challenges

May 2015
Facing Leadership Challenges

Leadership from the Pews

Maria Eugenia Giraldo

This article is also available in Spanish here. Este artículo está disponible en español aquí.

"Speak to me, Lord… I want to serve you”

During a big part of my life, I was lost and without communication with God. Then, through my daughters, the Lord inspired me; calling me to serve by sharing experiences, weaknesses, and successes that I have faced throughout my spiritual life.

My parents raised me as a Roman Catholic. This meant going to Mass every Sunday for an hour, leaving as soon as the Mass ended. Our religious life was drab and empty. We never had a relationship with any priest or other parishioners. I went to private school with nuns who made us pray before going to class and before and after eating. They did not speak to us about the Bible or feed us spiritually. I was losing interest in going to Mass. After graduating from high school, I walked away from the Church, which was a big mistake.

A few years later, I was looking for daycare for my daughters. The one we found was run by a church. Although no one invited me to go to Sunday service, I felt the spiritual need to visit the church and to instill respect, faith, hope, service, and love of God in my girls. We began to visit the church more often, but always sat in the back pews, making it easy to be one of the first to leave. I did not feel satisfied just barely going to church. I knew God was calling me and had a plan for me. Gradually, I began to sit closer to the front and stay after the service; I felt the need to put Christ at the center of my life and my world.

I started approaching the day care director to tell her that I would be happy to help her because she was always very busy running around in the kitchen, with the kids, and also helped lead the Mass. After about six months, the priest noticed that I was looking to be a leader. I was given small responsibilities: caring for children during Mass, making coffee, cleaning up after the potlucks, taking inventory of the kitchen, etc. I felt great joy doing anything they asked me. God was opening the doors to service and the priest patiently gave me more responsibilities. I had the determination and perseverance to serve God and my community. With faith, patience, hope, and humility, I could overcome obstacles and give Christ more and more of my life.

After three years in the Church, a new priest came and found in me a thirst to serve. When he had the opportunity to open his own church he invited me to help start a new Hispanic ministry in the community of St. Helen’s Episcopal Church in Burr Ridge, Illinois. I felt obliged to accept Jesus’ invitation through the priest to serve; I knew I had to do anything he asked me and be a positive example for the new ministry.

We started the new service with three families, including the priest’s family. There were only 13 people; my whole family worked with me to get the service started. We did everything: helped at the altar, helped during the collection, read, made coffee, and helped in everything we could; always bearing in mind that being a leader does not mean being the boss. When new people started coming to our church, I offered them the opportunity to be leaders and shared my responsibilities with them. This was creating new leaders and a community of happy collaborators living and working together to serve the Lord.

We have had our second anniversary as a Hispanic ministry and it has been hard work. But with God's grace and personal call to serve, it has also been a great inspiration. Every situation and experience I have lived during the last two years has been a great opportunity to express the love God has for us.

Today, I feel very blessed to be serving as a leader in my church. I am the junior warden of our vestry and am the facilitator for the upcoming Ecumenical Leadership Academy.

God has sent me in order to give you a powerful message: have faith, hope, humility, and charity, which are qualities that give you the ability to be leaders and transform the world. Always grow in your relationship with God, for Christ possessed all the qualities of a leader.

I urge you to be leaders in your churches. Now more than ever I try to identify leaders who may be sitting in the back pew, longing for an opportunity. God is commanding us to find leaders with characteristics that He seeks: ordinary human beings full of humility to do the will of our God, transformed, ready to be spiritual leaders with a heart of a soldier ready to die for the cause of God.

A leader makes ordinary people into extraordinary ones. A leader helps people make a commitment to a mission that allows transcendence and fulfillment. The mission gives meaning to the lives of its followers: a reason to live. Do not stay sitting on the back pew waiting for opportunities to find you. Remember that God has a purpose for you: a constant inspiration.

María Eugenia Giraldo was born in Colombia, South America, immigrated to the United States when she was 15 years old. She has a cosmetology license and went to Truman College. She has been working for Chase Bank for 25 years and lives in Berwyn, Illinois with her partner, two girls, and a puppy.

Try This

I have seen the following characteristics in potential leaders: common but spiritual human beings, full of humility to do the will of our God. People transformed, ready to be spiritual leaders who are wise, kind, gentle, and honest.

When someone is sitting in the back pews longing to help, the signs are obvious. The person seems to want to leave but lingers until everyone has left to be seen from afar. The person sends a messenger (maybe their child) to see if anyone needs help and starts by picking up anything left in the pews and leaves quietly. These are subtle signs we must recognize and then attract our community into leadership. We must notice the silent messages people are sending us from afar. There are many people who are introverts and only need a little push.

Normally, I invite potential leaders to our monthly leadership meeting and I ask them to listen to our leaders and then I will invite each person individually to take on a leadership role.

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