reverend canon robert edwards
Rector & Head Chaplain, St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
Context
When Rev. Edwards became a chaplain at St. Margaret’s, he wanted to address the problem of how the negative influences of Orange County were impacting the spiritual lives of its students and adults. In an affluent area where success is heavily weighed on the external, Rev. Edwards was motivated to lead the way toward finding life and happiness through a balanced internal life instead. Innovation Rev. Edwards developed a model chaplain program that consists of priests who are integrated into the life of the school. Four priests each teach middle school and high school religion classes and also lead chapels for all divisions, including preschool, lower school, middle school and upper school. They coach middle school football, basketball, cross-country, track and field and wrestling. Each chaplain mentors an advisory group, or smaller group of students from a particular grade. In addition to these duties, they provide pastoral support for all students and faculty and serve during Sunday services. Rev. Edwards also funded a memorial garden with a statue of St. Francis and a labyrinth to provide a space for students to center themselves. Based on the traditional monastic model of schools, the chaplain program has inspired similar programs in other Episcopal schools for the way it promotes a balance between academics and spiritual practice. Impact Rev. Edwards’ impact is evident in how he has empowered so many students and adults to the point that St. Margaret’s is seen as one of the foremost training grounds for recently ordained priests in Los Angeles. All priests who have trained under Rev. Edwards have been hired to lead a church on their own, with a few also leading religious schools. He continues to mentor them in their new positions. When priests talk of Rev. Edwards they express their gratitude and admiration of his leadership and express that they are able to lead similarly. Currently most chaplains want to serve in education as a means to strengthen the Episcopal Church. Lastly, his impact is significant especially in how he has empowered female priests by providing them with every opportunity to learn and grow. One of the first female priests he mentored, the Right Reverend Mary Grey Reeves, eventually became the Bishop of El Camino Real. Skills Rev. Edwards is able to support a strong chaplaincy through key discovery skills. His motivation to innovate is seen in his challenge of the status quo by taking a daily risk to give up control in order to embrace the potential of each moment. Underlining this is his ability to accept failure as necessary for innovation. One example is that he uses the Serenity Prayer to guide his own leadership and to open every service: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Rev. Edwards also exhibits strength in associational thinking. Surprises present new opportunities for learning along with his outside interests in pop culture, international politics, quantum physics, comedy, cooking, fishing and weather. One example is that he observes the behaviors of people around him for sermon ideas. This skill emerged from being inspired by Seinfeld and the popular saying ‘anything that happens in life is in a Seinfeld episode.’ His associational thinking skill is at its strongest when he teaches or preaches because he is able to make the theologically abstract practical. One example is how he creates object lessons for children. He uses a pair of sunglasses, for instance, to talk to children about how our view of the world shapes our experience of it. Using a tube of toothpaste, he talks about the the power of loving or hateful words. Rev. Edwards excels at observing. He intuits the needs of his community by improving its atmosphere with both descriptive and disruptive questions. These types of questions include What does the mood feel like? What needs to be fixed? Why is this part not working? One example is how he describes low or high moods. He encourages making major decisions in a good mood because it helps provide clarity and balance rather than in a low mood, when most problems come to the surface. Rev. Edwards works innovation into the organization by building trust. He entrusts the chaplain team with their work so that they too feel personally responsible to be innovative. Committed to the success of the chaplaincy, Rev. Edwards mentors each chaplain for one hour a week. He also allocates a significant amount for reflection with a competitive salary and benefits. An illustrative example of building trust is what Rev. Edwards calls the Three Silver Bullets. Rev. Edwards encourages collaborative decision making by entrusting the church community to make all major decisions except three, which he commits to making on his own. Seeing failure as an important component of the process, he also asks for feedback from his family and chaplain team when experimenting with new ideas. Also, he gives away all fundraising responsibilities to the vestry because he wants to treat each person equally, regardless of how much they tithe to the church. |
Bio
With over 25 years of pastoral experience, Reverend Canon Robert Edwards has worked at St. Margaret’s School for 13 years as Rector and Head Chaplain. As a successful leader, he serves on the Board of Trustees, mentors the chaplain program and supervises all church ministries. He also funds an off-site English language school for parents and their children called Padres Unidos. |