In my ministry, I have presided over sweeping cultural change. This post is about the ministerial policy which lay behind it: a) There was no “target audience”, b) there were no favourites (perhaps rather, all were favourites), c) I was scrupulous in treating each person equally, and d) all were equal spiritually. This last is, in my view, the most important -- bearing in mind that in my own tradition it means "ministry by members". I attribute such change to d) above all. OBSERVATION: I consider that cultural change is not in one's own hands. It is not of one's own doing. The Church is not into social engineering. We follow where the Spirit leads. If there is diversity, then it is of the Lord. And it needs to be noted that sweeping cultural change is only possible with broad support, and an accumulation of many and varied votes in that direction.
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NOTE: In view of a special interest in this post, there was a shift from approximately 5% non-European office-bearers to 55% over two decades of my ministry, there typically being 20 to 30 office-bearers at any given time.
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