Servant Leaders in the Church

Throughout my internship experience with a presbyterian church in Atlanta, the leadership of the church presents a very clear example of servant leadership. Servant leaders are those who invest in their followers and their needs, and who place a large emphasis on trust and compassion. The work of the church in an ideal setting would do this — place their congregations needs first and to serve those who follow. Though some churches have ultimately failed at doing this, the church that I have been working with tries very much to focus on the ethics of their work and serving their communities in the best way possible. There are two specific examples of servant leadership from the staff of the church this summer.

The first experience I have observed as servant leadership involves a funeral for a long time church member. Due to the uncertainty from COVID-19, there had not been any memorial services since March. However, this specific church member was highly involved and generous to the church, and the family are very active members as well. The leaders of the church took on the challenge of arranging a funeral with safe social distancing in the sanctuary for only the closest family members, as well as setting up a livestream so that others could honor the memory of this church member from their homes. Over 400 people tuned in for the livestream, and those viewers as well as the family were so grateful to the church leaders for being able to arrange for the service. Their need to honor this church member was entirely served by the creative leaders in the church.

The second example of servant leadership that I have observed is that the leaders of the church have engaged the community at large in assisting their needs. Throughout this time, volunteer work has been very upended and it has been difficult for people to know how to help others while maintaining a safe environment. The leaders of the church partnered with another church to help serve people who are experiencing homelessness. Church members who wish to participate can gather supplies to make easily accessible hygiene kits for those in our community experiencing homelessness. In this way, church leaders are not just serving their own constituents, but also the community at large by addressing their needs and trying to focus on the ethics that guide our church.