Servant-Hearted Leadership

**‘Leadership was different from what I had expected – more about caring, helping and putting others first than I had realised before.’**

Being a leader at an SU Holiday this summer wasn’t just an opportunity to do something useful for others. It also turned out to be an important way to understand more about myself.

My summer included a week of training and preparation at Basecamp on Arran back in June, before serving as part of a big team of volunteers at Lendrick Muir during week five of the school holidays. The experience of being together at Basecamp with other people who all share the same worldview felt really important. It’s so good to know that you are not alone.

The practical training for young leaders is about servant-hearted leadership and putting other people’s needs before your own. I guess that gave me a different view of leadership, rather than thinking of it as a way of influencing what you want to happen.

For the Bible teaching we were looking through Acts and thinking about people such as Stephen, Paul, and Barnabas— how they were acting by faith, doing what God wanted them to do, even when it was tough.

The group I was helping with at camp were primary aged. As a Trainee Leader, I got to know the young people really well, coming alongside them to support and care for them during the week. I really enjoyed my role and am looking forward to being able to volunteer again next year.

Being with a large group of Trainee Leaders at the event meant that I felt well looked after. We all had mentors who were there to help us through the week. There was a lot of comfort in that and being part of a large group of trainees was definitely a highlight for me.

The final piece of the jigsaw was the Review Weekend at Lendrick Muir at the end of the summer, when trainees from all of the events were able to chat, share, see the wider work of SU Scotland at the Big Celebration, and generally have a great time.

So it was all brilliant.

Attending SU Holidays was important in helping me think about my own Christian faith. I grew up in a Christian family, but it all became real for me several years ago.

This summer was definitely an opportunity to grow my faith and understand more about what it means to lead in the way that Jesus did.

I started to see other people differently and to understand more about what my role might be in different situations. Leadership was different from what I had expected—more about caring, helping and putting others first than I had realised before.

It can feel really challenging to share your Christian faith in a school setting. I know we are called to be light in the darkness. This summer helped me to feel more ready for that challenge.

Zach Coffee