New Website A Key Element of Faith Initiative
One of the key elements of the new Leadership Education at Duke Divinity program is the promise that it would take knowledge from scholars and make it available for use by clergy and lay leaders. And Divinity Dean Greg Jones says at the heart of that effort is the program's website.
Updated daily, the website includes features with religious leaders, articles on timely church-related topics and multimedia material. Resources such as reading lists will help make it a go-to place for clergy looking for leadership information. And blogs, polls and opinion pieces will help build a community of discussion about the most vital issues of the day, Jones said.
The site also features a staff of its own writers, including a seminary president, two pastors and a sociologist who studies national trends in religion.
Jones says the broad reach of thought and expertise would attract users interested in finding unexpected connections.
"I saw it as a place where one could come and hear from the first African-American women bishop in the AME church and then right next to it have a video on ethical leadership from Coach K or an explanation from [the Fuqua School's] Cam Harvey on the financial crisis," Jones said.
"There's not many places where you can find people like that side by side," Jones said, "and where you can find reflective articles that look at ordinary topics such as leadership but with a fresh slant."
One example posted last week is an article written by Jones on Nelson Mandela on the theme of "leadership as loving enemies."
"Some of these stories are well known, some aren't," Jones said. "In a time of polarization, to turn to someone like Mandela to think how leadership relates to what Jesus says about loving enemies becomes an imaginative opportunity to connect and learn. The theme of Faith and Leadership ‘reflect, connect and learn.' I hope people using the website will find all three of those elements to be exciting and surprising.
"If you go to the website and leave it thinking, ‘well I already knew all that,' then that would be a real disappointment. We hope it will stir people's imaginations and offer wisdom that cultivates new conversations and insights for Christian leaders."