Sponsored by Clergy and Lay Leadership Development
This month’s event Spiritual Kaizen: How to Become a Better Church Leader will be presented by Bishop Grant Hagiya and is based on the book he authored. “Kaizen” is a Japanese word that translates roughly, “to change or correct for the better.” What are the traits, qualities and characteristics of effective clergy? Is it possible to transform an average local church pastor into a highly effective and growth-oriented pastor? Leadership is not defined at birth. All of us can grow and develop into more effective leaders and we can do this at any time during our careers. Spiritual Kaizen works from the best secular and ecclesial models of leadership in order to draw out the best leadership practices available for current and future leaders of the church.
Spiritual Kaizen: How to Become a Better Church Leader available from Amazon for purchase in print or for Kindle.
Grant J. Hagiya is the Resident Bishop of the California-Pacific Annual Conference, which geographically extends to all of Southern California, Hawaii, and Guam; and the Desert Southwest Conference, which geographically extends to Arizona and Southern Nevada.
Education and Leadership:
He graduated with an Educational Doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University in 2012. Abingdon published his book, Leadership Kaizen, based on his dissertation on the Traits, Qualities and Characteristics of Highly Effective UMC Clergy in 2013. He has worked and studied with Ron Heifetz and Marty Linksy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and is a member of the newly formed Adaptive Leadership network. He holds a Professional Coaching Certification (PCC) from the International Coach Federation as a professional certified coach. He is also a Gallup Strengths Finder Certified Coach. He is currently training as a Professional Team Coach with Peter Hawkins in his Systematic Team Coaching Training Program. He is a graduate of the Claremont School of Theology, where he received M.A., M.Div., and D.Min. Degrees. In 2019, he received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Claremont School of Theology. He is an Adjunct Faculty Member at Claremont, where he teaches Religious Leadership and United Methodist Studies.
Ordained Ministry and Superintendency:
Prior to his election to the episcopacy, he served as the Senior Pastor at churches in Berkeley, Gardena, and Los Angeles, California as well as the Los Angeles District Superintendent and Dean of the Appointed Cabinet of the California Pacific Annual Conference.
Episcopacy:
Elected to the Episcopacy in 2008, he served for 8 years in the Greater Northwest Annual Conference, which includes 3 annual conferences: Alaska, Oregon-Idaho, and the Pacific Northwest. He was a member of the Commission on the Way Forward, tasked with forging a strategy on human sexuality for the United Methodist Church. He is the current chair of the Council of Bishop’s Task Force that plans the new Learning Retreats for all active Bishops. He is a former President of the College of Bishops for the Western Jurisdiction. He received an additional assignment in October 2021 to oversee the Desert Southwest Conference.
Family:
Grant is married to Janet, a retired high school librarian, and has three children, Lexie, Jamie, and Trent; and four grandchildren.
Do you enjoy having opportunities to grow as a leader and to learn from other leaders? Do you find it enriching to share leadership ideas, concepts, and inspiration with others?
Opportunities are available to anyone in the Desert Southwest Conference interested in learning through a focused discussion of mixed media leadership resources, such as books, videos, podcasts, webinars, etc. Leadership is explored from various perspectives, including resources that look at leadership from more than one cultural lens.
A number of 1 1/2-hour, virtual evening conversations are offered this year.
The presenters and facilitators of these discussions may include recognized Desert Southwest Conference leaders, authors, and creators of the media being discussed and, as well as members of the CLLD Team. We hope you decide to try out any of the resources we have prepared for you, and join others interested in the same conversations!
Questions about this series may go to Judy Martin at stilljudymartin@gmail.com or Rev. Javier Olivares at jolivares@dscumc.org.
