New Film Explores Challenges Faced By Religious Leaders

From NPR-

This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin.

We'll hear what stories caught your ear this week in our Backtalk segment. That's just ahead.

But, first, Faith Matters. That's where we talk about matters of faith and spirituality. And today we want to talk about the people most people rely upon, even in this increasingly secular country to sanctify marriages, welcome children and memorialize those who've passed away. They are faith leaders, members of the clergy. And it's a job that can have them on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

And usually, despite what you may have seen and heard about the various scandals, for pretty modest pay. How do you get there, though? How does it happen that people choose this way of life? A new two-part documentary that premieres on PBS on Monday night tells the story of seven young people, both men and women, and how they found and pursued their calling. It is called "The Calling." It's part of the PBS series "Independent Lens."

Joining us to talk more about it executive producer Daniel Alpert. Also with us is one of the seven people profiled in the film. She is Jeneen Robinson, a newly ordained minister in Los Angeles for the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Thank you both so much for joining us.

Ms. JENEEN ROBINSON (Minister, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Los Angeles): Thank you, Michel.

Mr. DANIEL ALPERT (Executive Producer, "The Calling"): Thanks for having us.

MARTIN: So, Daniel, I have to ask you, first, what drew you to this story?

Mr. ALPERT: Well, I think my history with this project goes back a long, long way. When I was a young man, I did consider becoming a rabbi. I woke up about four months before I was to enter a pre-rabbinical program, sitting up - I don't know if this has ever happened to you before - you actually open your eyes, you're sitting up, realizing that that wasn't the path for me. But it certainly always left me with that what if question.

More here-

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/17/132139277/New-Film-Explores-Challenges-Faced-By-Religious-Leaders

How to build better leaders ... An engineer's recipe

An excellent and thought provoking opinion piece on the essential qualities of a leader. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today. Those of you in The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh may want to filter the current situation through this lens. Worth taking the time.

The world is starting to go through some of the harshest times of the past 75 years. The global economy is sinking, wars are ravaging countries and peoples, climate change is threatening the entire planet, optimism and hope are at very low levels. As the "leader of the free world," the United States is uniquely positioned to drive a multinational effort to overcome all these challenges. Will Barack Obama be capable of taking on this tough leadership role? Can we even say he is a leader at all? For that matter, how can we tell whether any given person is a leader?

Over the years I thought about this problem as I observed the many people I worked with. I came to the conclusion that most so-called leaders were undeserving of the title. I believe that true leadership is about much more than simply having authority or influence.

Now I am not a linguist, so I have difficulty expressing what leadership is in, as my big friend Alberto would say, 25 words or less. On the contrary -- I am a robotics engineer, and I need some kind of tool to "measure" how much of a leader one is.

Several years ago I engineered a "recipe" to forge a leader, consisting of five "ingredients."

Its all here-

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08335/931524-109.stm