BUTTERWORTH: About 40 BEC and Ministry leaders from the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (NBVM) came together for a fruitful and grace-filled one-day retreat, organised by the NBVM Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) themed Family Alive in Mission on Saturday, August 13.

The retreat was conducted by Fr Julian Leow from College General, Penang. Fr Leow briefed everyone on what to expect from a day of recollection/retreat. He asked all the participants to be silent to reflect on some of the questions that he would pose at the end of each session.

The retreat kicked off with the reading of Jn 13: 1 - 30 on “Christian Leadership”. He spoke at length on the leadership which we, as Christians are called to, which is Servant Leadership. He challenged us with questions like “Do you know how your BEC members are wired up?”, “Do you know why people do not turn up for BEC gatherings?” and yet again, “Do you take up challenges to know your full potential as a leader?” He set Jesus as our role model for leadership.

We need to have a vision, passion, discipline, love, compassion, conscience, humility and service. He rounded off the first session by sharing with us the differences between men and women leadership. An activity was given: Picture yourself in a coffin and visualize the people who would come to pay their respects.

What would they say about you? The next session was on the Principles of Leadership based on John’s gospel — a ‘basin and towel’ attitude with integrity (no compromise for truth or the Word of God) and humility and at the same time recognizing talents and gifts in others. He said that as effective leaders, “You must be willing to challenge the system, ask questions, take risks and be willing to be the change that we want to see in the world.”

We should always try to think strategically and have a bird’s eye view of how the church, the diocese and the parish work together in the plan of God. Leadership is a call within a call and therefore family life is not to be ‘sacrificed’, nor are we to allow power issues and personal agendas to get in the way of God’s Word` and work. Lastly, a leader must groom another leader to take over.

For our reflection, we were asked: “Am I being obedient and faithful to what God has called me to?” We ate our lunch in a reflective mood to allow the Spirit to speak to us. After that, we were given a peek into some of the thoughts in The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis. Here Fr Leow warned us of Satan’s ploys and tricks and to be vigilant at all times. Being leaders, we have to be anchored in prayer and the Word of God so as to remain faithful to God’s will.

For our reflection, Fr Julian asked us to reflect on “What will you do if you know that you are going to die tomorrow? How will you live today?” Many echoed Daisy’s comment that “thinking about death enables us to appreciate and live life more fully.” In the last session, we were exposed to a document released by the World Council of Churches, World Evangelical Alliance and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue on Recommendations for Conduct as a Christian Witness in a multi-religious World.

The purpose of the document is to encourage church leaders to reflect on current practices for witness and mission and how to witness to their faith in Christ by word and deed. Basically, as Christian leaders, we are called to act in God’s love and practice the virtues of charity, humility and compassion in order to overcome arrogance. In the ministries of healing, we are asked not to exploit people in vulnerable situations. Besides this, we are to reject violence in all forms and foster more religious freedom, mutual respect and solidarity with people who work to promote justice, peace and the common good.

Lastly, before we can build inter-religious dialogue, We need to build relationships based on respect and trust with people of different religions so as to facilitate deeper and mutual understanding, reconciliation and cooperation for the common good. The question asked was, “How do I reflect Christ in my ministry? Am I a true witness to the ministry I’ve been called to.”

Mavis Baptist, the PPC chairman, said, “This retreat-cum-formation is different from others in that Fr Leow helped us to look at life situations and leadership styles from a different perspective. It helped us understand others and be non judgmental. It was more positive in outlook.” — By Anne Marie Teh