Leaders often feel pressured to present a public image of perfection, which can foster self-reliance rather than trust in God. Leaders in the Church, whether clergy or laity, are not immune to this temptation. Yet they are called to emulate Christ’s humble witness of self-sacrifice.
In my experience, honesty about my brokenness has been deeply formative in my roles as husband, father, parishioner and diocesan leader. Admitting my need for salvation creates a humble vulnerability before God and neighbor that opens the way to leading with compassion, a listening heart and a willingness to share vision and responsibility.
Sharing responsibility with others does not simply mean delegating or motivating a team; it requires a trust born of discipleship. For laypeople, this discipleship also means taking co-responsibility for the Church’s mission in the world, in collaboration with the clergy.
This vision was central to the foundation of the Knights of Columbus in 1882, and it reflects the faith I learned from my own father and have witnessed in so many of my brother Knights. Inspired by their example, I continue to ask God for the grace to transform impulses for control — at home, at work and in my community — into habits of service and sacrificial love
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DAVID KIMBELL is the chief financial officer for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. A member of Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Council 11125 in Pensacola, Fla., he and his wife, Erin, are expecting their seventh child.








