Navigating the Leadership Load

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"A leader is a person who must take special responsibility for what's going on inside of himself or herself. . . lest the act of leadership creates more harm than good." --  Parker Palmer

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Apostles and Earrings

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I wonder if this belonged to one of the apostles? Simon the Zealot strikes me as the kind of guy who would wear an earring. I recall the time, when I was graduating from seminary, I received an invitation to start a new congregation in a college town. In the letter, they outlined the vision, the demographics of the community, and their expectations for the pastor. The letter ended with a p.s. -- "and of course, your wife will not be permitted to wear earrings." They forgot say anything about ME wearing earrings. For a while, I was tempted to go ahead, take the position, and get my ear pierced.
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