Apple Tree Leadership!

When we moved into our house in Twickenham for the first time, we discovered the garden had a lovely apple tree at its centre. The tree was loaded with apples, but it had clearly been neglected for quite some time: it was completely covered in Ivy, some of its branches had died, and it was surrounded by rotting apples... A real shame! Eventually, once I made enough progress unboxing, I decided to set this tree free! First, I got rid of the Ivy (that alone filled a wheelie bin!), then I cut off the dead branches and pruned the ones that needed some cutting back. But then I was left with the question of what to do with all those apples! What was the most noble use for all that fruitfulness?

After some thinking, one option stood out as the most exciting! So, I did some research and found a cidery in Surrey that would trade apples for cider! So, I started collecting the ripe apples and after gathering 17kg I visited the cidery, learnt many cool things about their organic process and the history behind their small business, tasted their products and came back with 4 bottles - happy man! I also ended up making some apple sauce and put the best-looking apples in our fruit bowl.

In all this, that little tree has been a real inspiration around church leadership, a reminder that growth and fruitfulness in God's kingdom isn't something leaders are called to "manufacture" - after all, apple trees will make apples! As Jesus put it "I will build my Church." As such, our role is to not get in the way of said spontaneous growth, support it to maximise its yield and put it to good use! Sadly, there are far too many churches that, like my little apple tree, have potential for growth and fruitfulness but are however suffocated by various choke-points - controlling leaders, clunky traditions, painful history, poor management etc. Others may still pump much of their resources into "branches" that, for one reason or another, have lost their ability to produce results and are now simply dead. Others still, are experiencing growth but not supporting it adequately - ultimately seeing as many people going out the back door as they come in through the front door!

But, worst of all, many are led by people who don't have the vision to see that you can make cider with apples!