I can’t quite remember how the idea for this issue on leadership and service arose. It just seemed like a
natural, and now that it’s come together, this issue feels to me like a little jewel. It’s full of the
voices and insights of people I admire unabashedly. Sara Miles writes about the utterly blessed food pantry she started two and a half years ago; Rick Fabian’s wit
and erudition urge a renewed Episcopalian diaconate; Karen Soleau tells how she
has created a profoundly meaningful ritual for adolescent youth; and Karl Stockbridge
distills a tremendous amount of wisdom and experience into an essay on leadership’s
spiritual aspects. Furthermore, Betsy Porter’s serene and graceful icons
adorn these pages and Maria Schell has wonderfully captured the feel of St. Gregory’s food pantry in her audio piece—a God’s Friends first—in our online edition. This is a
great issue.
This issue marks my last as editor of God’s Friends, my last as leader. In the year and a half I held
the post, I have thought a lot about what it is to lead and serve others. Good leaders channel our longing to be of use
to one another, to be integral parts of our communities. They see our worth as well as our abilities, and their trust
in us carries our trust in ourselves (and in each other) through some rough patches. They give us the space to create
our communities. This is their service to us. A lot goes into it—more than a whole business school library could
adequately describe. But here’s what it looks like on the outside: Sara Miles says, “Show up and
we’ll give you an apron and put you to work,” people do, and a food pantry thrives, feeding all kinds of
people in all kinds of ways. It is sometimes messy and sometimes hard, and it’s very beautiful.
—Clancy Drake