Our District Superintendent

Rev. Dr. John Lee

Superintendent since 2004, Dr. Lee began as a pastor of Zion UMC in Jung-gu, Korea before becoming a professor of christian social ethics at Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul, Korea. Since 1980, he has served churches in Greensboro NC, Ann Arbor and Madison Heights.

From Our District Superintendent

My Thoughts on Change

The church's purpose is to advocate change, God asked the congregation to change internally. However, the church must also make a change in the world at large. All church leaders have a call to change. This includes both the internal and external. Leadership, simply, means to become an instrument for change. According to John Koutter, a Harvard Professor, change is the essential part of leadership. He was also clear that leadership is not management, because leadership requires effective, long lasting change while management is preserving the current business and institution. In other words, management is maintenance, but leadership is transformation. Therefore, leadership is intentionally involved in making transformation and change.
There are eight steps in making change in an institution or organization. The first step is establishing a sense of urgency which means acknowledging the current difficult situation. The second requires the creation of a guiding coalition. The third step in the process is developing a vision and strategy. The fourth step is communicating the change vision. The fifth step is empowering employees for broad basis action. The sixth step is generating short term wins. The seventh step is consolidating gains and producing more change. The last step is anchoring new approaches in the culture.
In this sense, the fulfilling the purpose of leadership means change has occurred successfully. A leader is the professional change maker. Pastors are professional change makers in Christ. There are three responses from change. The first is rapid transformation. There are two different types of rapid transformation. One is a mother-like transformation, and it is centered on emotional change or pathos change. The other is a father-like change produced from a very strong and directive leadership and is popular with those that want a revolutionary change. The second type of response is gradual. Wesleyan Theology belongs in this category. A change like this needs a leader that is patient and intentional. An analogy for this kind of process is a craftsman slowly turning his screwdriver to fasten the nails. Without long waiting and perseverance, this change cannot happen. The last response is recovery. Global warming is now a top priority. How can we recover from climate change and global warming? In a situation like this, a leader, in the face of difficulty, always gives people hope for recovery. Psalm 126:1-6 in the song of the ascend verse 3 and 4 says, “The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev.” The church leader sings a song of recovery as he/she gives hope in any circumstance, because God provides.
A pastor wanted to go Atlanta by airplane. He was in the Dallas airport. He was hungry. He saw a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in the airport. The line was long, but he waited and received his prized chicken. Unfortunately, the plane left without him. So he wondered why did he go to the Dallas airport? Was it not to go to Atlanta? Obviously, his purpose was to arrive in Atlanta, but, because of the delicious fried chicken, he missed his plane. He lost his purpose, because he became distracted.
Why as christian leaders did we become a part of the body of Christ? For fellowship? Social need? For political gain? Why did I become a pastor? Because of my own self-interest and realization and happiness? What is my goal for pastoral leadership? It is for change and transformation. God called us to change and to change this world as his disciples. Pastoral leadership must focus on the transformation of the world. As always, humans are nothing without God. We cannot institute change without his power and grace.