Introduction to Web leadership

The next book I am reading for this portion of my internship on leadership is called The Web of Women’s Leadership: Recasting Congregational Ministry by Susan Willhauck and Jacqulyn Thorpe. This book is focused on the leadership style that women often take and how this may be calling to reform the way congregational ministry looks. Honestly, it is refreshing to know that there is a book that acknowledges that females will naturally be different types of leaders then men. There have been many times in my course of seminary that I have seen women compared to men in ways that are unfair.

The main idea that the book is introducing is the idea of leadership as a web instead of leadership as a hierarchy. The idea is that a women would often prefer to be at the center of an organization then at the top. The authors make the following statement: “There is little sense of ownership for those who are not among the few in power in the chain of command. You wait to be led instead of leading.” I have found this to be true among one past ministry experience in particular. While there were a lot of people who had power, there was a hierarchy that was set in place, the people toward the bottom of the “ladder” lost their drive and walked away because they did not feel they had any power.


Another point that is made is that the web design helps to bridge the gap between clergy and laity. It appears to me that the web allows for leaders to help raise other leaders instead of constantly keeping people at the bottom of things (what seems like oppression to me). While I have not read much of this book (the introduction) I have gotten a taste of what the authors have to offer, and I must say, I am intrigued.