Leadership as a Call to Service

The book you are about to read provides a new paradigm for understanding the ministry of a twelfth-century cloistered Benedictine nun, St Hildegard of Bingen, the fourth woman doctor of the Church in light of twenty-first century servant leadership. Christine Cameron reveals to us the role of the servant leader as defined by Larry C. Spears (1998). She demonstrates how St Hildegard embodies each of the ten characteristics presented by Spears: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualisation, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. By examining the saint's life and writings, Cameron places Hildegard in the company of twenty-first century religious, educational and corporate leaders who shape and guide our own journeys. She then compares St Hildegard's servant leadership to that of the other three women doctors of the Church: St Teresa of Ávila, St Catherine of Siena and St Thérèse of Lisieux, whose theological teachings were deemed to have lasting value for all time, not just for the times in which they lived. - From the Foreword, Linn Maxwell Keller