An Interview with Dr Jon Sharpe
By Jim Henderson

Jon Sharpe is the Director of the Center for Global Urban Leadership. He and I have been friends and colleagues for over 30 years. He is planning a trip to Ireland this fall and I wanted to ask him a few questions about it. He will also be joined by Colonel John Michel, a board member of Off The Map

Where did we first meet? I was at Bellevue Community College near Seattle and had an org. we called Christian World Liberation Front ( we didn’t have any idea what it really meant other than it sounded radical to us) and we talked the college into giving us funds to have concerts. So, we looked for the wildest Christian band we could find to come play in the center of the campus. People told me about “the Justice”, a group that had recently gone Christian (sort of a U2 kind of deal) so we had them come play. They were wild and they were good! Jim Henderson led the group and we became friends… Our next group was Andre Crouch and the Disciples! It must have been about 1970.

You have been a pastor and led several ministries over the past 30 years plus. Tell us about a few of those experiences Well, my brother once said, “you can always tell the leader with spear front and rear.” Actually I keep starting things, groups, gatherings because I get bored with what I see around me. I keep pursuing a gathering or a community that lives out the dream. I think of it this way: We all have a good idea of what Jesus is like. He is our best thought. I think we were created that way. So, we also want to create gatherings and groups that are our best thoughts. I just keep doing that. However, I find that I’m not the best leader and definitely not a command type leader. If anything I’m an influence leader which usually means people don’t follow long but they sure like to steal my ideas! Being an idea guy is closely linked my life with being an opportunist. I see connectedness in just about everything. I started a church and led it through two assimilations of other congregations. I was called the “merger king” for awhile until I realized we actually didn’t assimilate the other groups but we just exchanged our culture for theirs. I learned the hard way that cultures are very strong and real. You need to know the culture of any group if you want to lead it or change it. I also had the task of working with two urban churches that were on their last legs. Tired old people trying to keep their dreams alive and not willing to give up, yet totally out of gas. I actually helped both of them recognize their fatigue and they were able to pass the ministry on to others. It reminded me of when senior citizens are trying to do all that they used to do and do not want to give up even though they have multiple accidents (auto and other). I also pioneered a city-wide effort to catalyze the church with a vision of the serving the city of Seattle. We called that effort Serve Seattle. We held multiple city leadership consultations, ministry summits, and city tours. We had an ad-hoc committee that kept at it for about five years and a lot of connectedness (that word again) happened during that time. In September I left my last “big deal” project which was the development of a global urban ministry school with Ray Bakke. We took a struggling seminary and turned it into a global study tour. It was exhilarating but tiring.

The greatest satisfaction I have after all these years is that people seem to get one message through my life and it is that God loves them through all their pain and stuff. I’m sure I preach that and it oozes out of my life because I need the message so bad.

You lead The Center for Global Urban Leadership. What is a Global Urban Leader? They’re cool! Actually we are attempting to highlight global realities and raise awareness that we need to be global in our thinking and our action. Being global also means that we think and act within the largest urban centers of the world since the world is turning into multiple city-states with over 50% of the population now living in cities. As far as leadership, we are attempting to focus on leaders who bring about radical change (Transformational Leaders) and think Mother Teresa is probably the best model from our century. Most of us do not know what she said, but we do know what she did. When I bore down into the core of transformational leadership, I always get to the root which is incarnation. You have to die, die, die, die, and then die. You got to keep coming back and living the life with the people. If we are going to be transformational (bringing radical change to people, places, and systems) we need to really follow Jesus.

How are they different from the rest of us? They’re cool!

Can people earn degrees through GLU? We actually work on agreements where we teach a few courses in existing degree programs from partner schools. What other seminaries are you affiliated with? At this point we have an agreement with a secular school in their MBA and their MA in Org. Management, and George Fox Seminary in their MDiv program.

You are leading a team to Ireland in September. How did you choose Ireland and what will people experience on this trip? I was having a conversation with a pastor from Belfast one day and he was telling me about his parish in the middle of East Belfast, Crumlin Road Presbyterian Church, and as we chatted the idea began to germinate that we should have a consultation there and look at the Reconciliation issue. As reconciliation is such a key issue for the entire planet we decided to start inviting people. Now, we have John Perkins and Bob Lupton coming and people from Rwanda, India, and other parts of the world. Father Treacy a Roman Catholic Priest from Seattle and a reconciliation leader will also join us. Father Treacy is legendary for his work in our city. This trip will be a feast. Can you imagine touching down in Dublin where you can check out Irish culture, history, and religion (a few pubs too)? Then going to Northern Ireland where they have just signed a peace accord (historical event) and see how that city is going through radical change.

You are teaming with some well known people and some other organizations. Drop some names and tell about the other organizations who are working with you. The lessons learned in Northern Ireland will be awe inspiring in my opinion. Add to the Irish context key leaders like John Perkins, Bob Lupton, and our host organizations The Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland, Crumlin Presbyterian Church, and the Skainos Project. David Porter, Gary Mason, Glenn Jordan, Norman Hamilton, Jack Drennan, and Lynda Gould will be heading up the Northern Ireland team. These folks have been fleshing it out in Belfast for decades.

What other countries will you be visiting in 2008? What are the key take aways from each trip? We plan on going to India and the Netherlands in 2008. India is the other half of Chindia. Only a billion or so people and in rapid, radical change. The caste system that has dominated India for centuries is under fire and the Jesus movement is alive and well. India is the epicenter of world change in my opinion. It is explosive, open, and going to change the way the world operates. The Netherlands and a dip into London will let us look at Youth AT Risk. Amsterdam and London provide a laboratory like no other to see how youth are groping to make sense of life in the postmodern world.

You are also partnering with Off The Map Board member and US Air Force Col. Jon Michel. Tell us about his organization and why you guys are partnering on this Ireland Learning experience? I think Col. John Michel has a unique approach to mission and really believes that a new generation of young people have the potential to move mountains when it comes to reconciliation in the large cities of the world. As Michel interacts with young people in the military and in the educational system, he sees raw, untapped potential for transformation. Michel is an activist and he knows the heart beat of a generation willing to take risk for radical change. They will not be content to talk about issues; they want to do something tangible, fleshing it out, on the streets and in the neighborhood. Our partnership creates synergy for change. I am personally excited about this connection around the Reconciliation Consultation this September! I hope young families and students will join this “hands-on” Reconciliation field experience!

What kinds of changes does the church in the West need to make to if we hope to become Global leaders or participants? We need to become learners and givers. I don’t mean simply giving money but perhaps a greater gift would be giving our time and ourselves to the rest of the world and quit our pre-occupation with self aggrandizement and entertainment.

How can people get more information about the Ireland trip? Go to our website and all the information is front and center at www.globalurbanleaders.org