Who Are Leaders?
By Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

Much time is spent trying to identify the leaders or potential leaders within a group. Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 12, with his analogy of the body with its multiple and different parts, that all are important but not in the same ways or at the same time.

While waiting to speak at an annual conference session of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, I observed something very remarkable take place with no prior planning. The large sanctuary was filled with clergy and laity from many different churches. As with other such denominational events, the layout made clear the positions of leadership and formal authority. There were the bishop and key conference officers surrounding the bishop, a group of regional supervisors known as presiding elders, and others that by virtue of office, esteem, or tradition occupied special roles in the conference deliberations.

It would seem that these persons were the “leaders” and all the others were “followers.” But that was about to change. During the deliberations, a man sitting in the midst of the packed congregation began having a seizure. What took place over the next ten minutes shows the limitations of the conventional wisdom of a fixed system of leaders and followers within groups.

As the seizure began, people sitting near the man made room for him and guarded him against injury as he was slumped to the floor. Others signaled for the ushers to come. As some ushers went toward the man, another went to find health care volunteers in a nearby first aid center while yet another called 911. By now the conference business had stopped as people moved to clear a larger area around the man and a path for expected help to arrive, and they prayed silently. Fans and water were provided to those nearest the man in case they were needed.

As first aid volunteers and then paramedics entered, the very people that had been seated in places of honor, with others available to assist them, were the ones opening doors, moving tables, and clearing any clutter that might jeopardize care for the man in need. The man received the immediate help he needed and was taken away, along with his pastor and a few others, for more treatment. After an appropriate time, the conference resumed with a formal prayer for the man and those serving him.

All of this happened within a relatively short time span and without any announcements, directions, or job descriptions. Leadership is never fixed and static, but is fluid and dynamic. In this crisis the role of leader shifted among many people seamlessly.

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