On Monday evening, campus minister Abby Blankenship gave a presentation on leadership within the church at The Well in Room 219 of the Waldron Campus Center.
She was incredibly inspiring and her message is one that is certainly worth sharing.
Abby’s main point in her lecture was that anyone can be a leader in the church, and frankly, everyone should be. For some, this can be a very difficult notion to grasp.
Not everyone thinks they are capable of being a leader. A lot of this comes from comparing ourselves to others whom we believe fit the perfect description of a “church leader.”
For example, it may seem like you need to be a pastor, priest or some other sort of religious official in order to be a leader in the church. Or maybe you view someone with decent public speaking skills who is able to handle talking in front of an audience. Or maybe it is just someone who has read the Bible more than you, so they seem better equipped.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. There are many different types of leadership styles and opportunities; it doesn’t all fit into one specific mold. Of course pursuing religious life is a beautiful thing, and certainly one way to be a leader, but that isn’t the only option.
For instance, anytime you’ve ever invited a friend to church or an event within Campus Ministry, you’ve shown leadership within the church. Anytime you’ve joined in group discussion, sharing your religious beliefs with those around you, you’ve shown leadership.
Another major form of leadership is service. Look at Jesus Christ, for example. I’m sure everyone can agree that he is certainly a leader of the church — the best to ever live — and his life on earth was dedicated to service.
Jesus, as a servant of the Lord, was able to be a powerful leader, many times by simply leading through example. As the way, the truth and the life, we are to live our lives as he has shown us.
We can be leaders in the church by doing the same kind of thing. Simply by living our lives in a way that glorifies the Lord, we are able to be leaders to those around us, those who are observing us and our actions.
Showing kindness and compassion to those around us and offering our help whenever we can is enough to make us leaders.
However, knowing that we are all leaders, we should certainly strive to be the best leaders we can be, and sometimes that requires stepping out of our comfort zone. Again, that does not mean we have to speak to crowds of millions or have the entire Bible memorized.
What it does mean is that we shouldn’t be afraid to try new things in order to grow as leaders. We shouldn’t let the fear of not being good enough stop us from reaching our potential in church leadership.
There are so many opportunities within Campus Ministry here at Gannon that allow growth in leadership.
If you’d like to apply to be a student leader within Campus Minisry, but you’re nervous or don’t think you can for whatever reason, I promise you that you will surprise yourself and you’re capable of far more than you realize.
If you still don’t believe me, trust God instead: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Philippians 4:13.

GRACE DENNIS
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