Ecclesial Leadership as Friendship

Chloe Lynch is Lecturer in Practical Theology at London School of Theology, UK. She has also spent a decade leading a church in West London and worked for a number of years as a City solicitor.

‘In this book Dr Lynch provides an original theological argument for taking the notion of friendship seriously in the context of ecclesial leadership. This is a most welcome study that could influence the theology and practice of leadership in the church significantly. Therefore, I highly recommend this book because it deserves to be read and discussed widely by church leaders, scholars and students.’ – Mark J. Cartledge, Professor of Practical Theology, Regent University School of Divinity, USA‘One of the classic tasks of theology—that somehow has been lost in the blurring transitions of modernity—is to speak of the most central and intimate parts of human existence. Chloe Lynch has offered us an important book that does just this, taking us deeply inside the experience of friendship, showing how God moves in the rhythms of friendship, and how we are most human when we are friends with God and one another. This is an immensely helpful book that will challenge your conception of leadership, and beautifully call you into new theological visions.’ – Andrew Root, The Carrie Olson Baalson Professor of Youth and Family Ministry, Luther Seminary, USA and author of The Pastor in a Secular Age (2019)‘In a time of deep uncertainty and apparently perpetual change the issue of leadership becomes crucial. If the church does not faithfully nurture Christ-like leaders then the beautiful and crucial gift that is the Gospel will be inhibited in its transformative task. Of course God’s work will continue no matter what! The church exists for a purpose: to expand our imagination. When the apostle Paul talks about renewing our minds, at least part of what he pushes us to consider is the reconstruction of our imagination. In this book Chloe offers us a way of thinking and understanding leadership that serves to re-form our imagination in ways that can enable us to re-think and reframe what it means to lead God’s people. That is not a small contribution! This is a fascinating and important book that has huge potential for facilitating creative thinking, and initiating thoughtful change and faithful living.’ – John Swinton, Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, University of Aberdeen, UK

• Introduction Part I: Expressing the Pain 1 Leadership and the Dominant Consciousness 2 Seeking an Alternative Consciousness Part II: A Deep Remembering 3 Memories of Servanthood 4 Memories of Incarnation 5 Memories of the Church Part III: Coding the Discourse 6 Incarnational Ecclesial Leadership and the Eschatological Inbreaking 7 ‘I Have Called You Friends...’ 8 Friendship: Love’s Ideal Part IV: Practising Hope 9 Incarnational Ecclesial Leadership and the Prophetic Imagination 10 Prophetic Hope in a Groaning Creation; Appendix: Imagination’s Starting Points