While having one eye on the upcoming events in York at General Synod, I am also fully absorbed with the goings on here in Philadelphia. As I mentioned in my previous post I am attending the conference of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) and this begins in earnest today.

Yesterday we had the pre-conference sessions. Some of these were closed sessions for victims/survivors of cultic groups while the ones I attended were to bring us up to date on, first, the state of research in the area. Secondly I listened to four presentations on the role of education in the battle to protect individuals from the harmful effects of cults. The first of these addressed the importance of critical thinking in evaluating religious and political claims. It was, however, the third talk and discussion that made the most impact on my thinking, particularly in the light of current issues in the Church of England.

The speaker, Gerette Buglion, who runs a retreat centre for recovering victims in Vermont spoke about cultic dynamics in mainstream groups. In particular she was pointing out how styles of leadership in firms, churches and other organizations can be ‘cultic’ without making the whole organization identifiably a cult in itself. In other words, there are methods of exercising leadership that ape extremist groups without anyone necessarily recognising what is going on. She mentioned several examples of this dynamic. A leader in a firm may control a group by awarding special status to certain individuals or making exceptions for them. There may also be subtle ways of pressurising individuals by promising favours or offering threats. One particular technique mentioned which I have suggested is happening right now in the Church is the technique of Divide and Conquer. This involves suggesting to one group that they are favoured while another group is clearly stigmatised as being awkward or a nuisance.

The traits of a healthy leader which would outlaw these ‘cultic’ methods of leadership involve emotional intelligence (EI). An outworking of this quality leads to a personality type that we would welcome in our church leaders. An emotional intelligent leader is one who first of all has insight into their feelings and those of others. When fear, anger and resentment are encountered they are the motivator for inner and organizational growth. Negative emotions are in other words an opportunity to reflect further and grow. The reactions to a situation of possible conflict is first of all to feel, then reflect, digest and then communicate.

The EI leader will be one with a sense of humour. He /She will ensure that the targets of the organization are adhered to and as leader they never indulge in venting their personal preferences, by showing favouritism or playing people off against each other. There will always be a desire to enable the other person to be empowered and grow in skills and insights. Power in other words will never be used for selfish or narcissistic ends.

As we approach General Synod I hope we can witness on the part of some of our leaders some of this emotional intelligence in the way they exercise leadership. As the talk by Gerette pointed out the values of transparency, justice and honesty can be impeded whenever corrupt notions of power have infected an institution. Arguably the situation of whitewash, obstruction of truth and failure of trust has reached our own Church. We need leadership, emotionally intelligent leadership to help us find a new direction into the future.