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PREFACE
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Dear Reader,
A great deal of work has gone into this volume, which we are extremely proud
to place in your hands. After several years of preparation, the exceptionally
successful Christan Leadership Conference was held in Budapest and some of
the speakers were invited to have their papers included in this volume. The
conference was both a precursor and a vehicle for the volume, insofar as it
provided the forum where the ideas presented could be heard and tested in
the discussions. Ihe authors revised their thoughts based on their experiences
in giving the presentations and the ensuing discussions. There was an oppor¬
tunity for ideas to be matured and clarified. The conference also produced
another volume: Volker Kessler, Angelika Marsch & Hans-Georg Wiinch (eds.):
Leaders between role model and idol. Zurich: LIT, 2025. This volume is a kind
of twin publication, although by different authors.
The conference focused on a comparison and dilemma of two leadership
patterns of leadership theory, idol and role model. This problem is therefore
at the heart of this volume. Idol and role model-based leadership questions the
nature, ethics, and the Christian character of leadership. Christian Leadership
sees Jesus as a role model, a servant leader, and an understanding and inclusive
leader — “... the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve...” (Matthew
20:28) — who sets a moral and spiritual example, but also as a visionary, trans¬
formational leader. These are the questions addressed in our volume.
We have divided the volume into three sections on ethical models: church
organization, business/organizational aspects, and higher education. This book
therefore covers different areas of theology, academia and business leadership.
(1) In the section on church organizational models, the authors describe the
workings of individual congregations, providing positive and negative examples
that may be instructive for a wider audience. Authors such as Ghada Barsoum
and Mark Birinyi are renowned and experienced practitioners. In a synthesis
of theology and psychology, Rosalind Sigamoney offers a holistic and practical
framework for training Christlike leaders who are both spiritually grounded
and emotionally competent. (2) The business or management section focuses
on an ethical approach to management. Susanne Thyroff and Volker Kessler
write about silence as a neglected virtue of Christian leaders, the other authors
in this block address issues such as the impact of the legal environment on
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