Another Way: Living and Leading Change on Purpose

by Stephen Lewis, Matthew Wesley Williams, Dori Baker

Another Way describes a new way of leadership for the 21st Century, one that inspires people to delve deeply into their own selves and that creates a mysterious relatedness among strangers. When this leadership happens, we remember people are created to experience community, to find joy in one another, and to create a better world out of a deep reservoir where the soul resides. Written by the leaders of the Forum for Theological Exploration, the internationally recognized leadership incubator for emerging Christian leaders, Another Way will shape the way you look at yourself, your leadership, and the communities that hold you accountable to making the world a better place.

Genres: Leadership

208 pages, Paperback

Published January 22, 2020

About the author

Stephen Lewis is an organizational change strategist and facilitator, and a leadership development specialist, focused on helping leaders to discover their purpose, passion and calling in life.

He is the President of the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE), a national leadership incubator that cultivates wise, faithful and courageous leaders who make a difference in the world through the church and academy. In 2017, he founded DO GOOD X, a start-up accelerator for diverse, faith-rooted entrepreneurs creating social good ventures. Stephen has earned degrees from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Duke University.

You can learn more about him and his work at http://www.leadanotherway.com, http://www.fteleaders.org and http://www.dogoodx.org.

Reviews

[Steph · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so woke that I struggled to read it. While the authors had some good points that would generally benefit Christian ministry, the way the book was written focused so much on being "woke" that the gems of wisdom got lost.

Would not recommend. Not worth the read.

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by leaders of the Fund for Theological Education, it shares what was learned as the FTE leadership discerned a new path for the FTE, that would allow it to cultivate a more diverse set of leaders in the Christian community.

The way they discerned is captured in four points -- CARE. These are C-Creating Hospitable Space; A: Asking Self-Awakening Questions; R: Reflecting Theologically Together; E- Enacting the next most faithful step. These steps are explored in depth and offered as a path that might assist the church and other entities move faithfully into a new, more diverse context.

There is a lot to take in here, but much of value.

[Laura Kisthardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for professional development. There were some useful stories in this book. But realistically, I don’t envision myself enacting the CARE model in my ministry. It felt highly academic and not in touch with my experience in a local church.

[Melinda Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a whole, a better work in this genre than others. This book, written by the current president of the Forum for Theological Exploration, the Interim President of the Interdenominational Theological Center, and the series editor for the FTE books outlines a process to break free from doing things the way we have always done them.

C.A.R.E. stands for Create hospitable space, Ask self-awakening questions, Reflect theologically together, and Enact the most faithful step. I believe the book gives helpful examples and notes for the first two. The last two steps are more fuzzy, perhaps because it depends on one's context. The final chapter shared how FTE has adopted these practices and shaped it's new life.

Sometimes I wish books like this would admit that they don't have all the answers instead of trying to explain what worked for them but making it fuzzy enough to adapt to everyone, but it's so fuzzy it's hard to think how to move forward. It may be that one has to enact the first two before understanding how to implement the theological reflection.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of a book club. It is a challenging book personally as it encourages stepping out into the community, speaking with groups of people outside your comfort level, and being creative. These are not traits that everyone has, and thus the challenge of this book. There are some beautiful passages and quotations throughout that I enjoyed. One of these was a quote from our Arundhati Roy “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing”.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book- I have felt for quite a while, there must be “another way” of worship and studying the Bible. Though this book appears to talk to those in leadership roles, the many comments, reflective questions after each chapter, and stories told by the authors provided me with resources needed among the many paths I could follow to find “another way” to worship, learn and grow into a relationship with God.

[Tamice N. Hasty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Pedagogical Treasure

“Theological reflection is not a neutral practice of simply asking ‘Where is God in this story?’ It is always positioned! Unless it looks out for ‘the least of these,’ unless it pricks the conscience of those with power, it keeps us bound to the status quo.”

I think this quote by Dori Baker says it all. Fantastic read for anyway who is interested in the actualization of young adult leadership and social transformation.

[Edward Bellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Organic Re-imaging

Wonderful and thought-provoking book with many layers. Change is a long-term process, and with CARE as a model, this intentional metamorphosis has roots. Well, done!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like design thinking for clergy.

[Jerad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The thrust of the book is a deep dive on CARE, a specific facilitated process similar to many other group processes in form but with emphases on its multicultural origins, illustrations from the lives of the three authors on what makes certain elements of the preparation or execution important, and perhaps the with hope of a broader takeaway for the reader that this process isn't just suited for a specific situation but that of values it employs were allowed to shape more of organizational culture (through continued and broadened deployment of CARE) then our organizations would all be closer to Jesus-oriented beloved communities.

What I most appreciated was that, even though I've been trained in, have delivered training for, and am immersed in facilitated processes which, on the surface, may be indistinguishable from CARE, these are most often employed in what a colleague referred to as "white progressive" spaces and so I've started to take even them with a grain of salt and cynicism. Therefore the fact that two of the book's authors are Black and find cultural validation in how the process is similar to those used in certain African practices is something I will remember the next time my classist mental shorthand makes me resist their deployment.

[Sean Hall · Rating 1 out of 5]

When reading a book of this nature, I like to know what credentials the authors have so I can know what makes them trusted authorities on the subject. Well, the authors tell you themselves in the beginning of the book that they failed to lead change in their respective contexts, quickly burned out, and went to work for a think tank, where they decided they would teach others how to do what they could not.
While they are more than happy to draw inspiration from any and all sources, the authors seem to go out of their way to avoid overtly Christian teachings. As for their "brilliant" insights, they include gems such as: imagine a door frame in front of you that has your better future on the other side; now step through that doorway, look around, and see what is different; now turn around and speak to your past self about how to get where you are. In order to lead change, they advise you to tap into the greatest source of power imaginable. Could it be the timeless wisdom God has revealed in Scripture or the power of the Holy Spirit? Nope. Your own imagination.
If you want to read a book about how to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy while accomplishing little to nothing, this book is for you.