Leon Shohmelian

Hey everybody! My name is Leon Shohmelian and I graduated from C3 College in 2015, after three of the toughest but best years of my life, with an Advanced Diploma in Christian Ministry and Theology.

Right now I live in Sydney, Australia with my wife, Kristin, and our two kids – my three-and-a-half-year-old son, Joey, and my two-year-old daughter, Sara – with baby number three due to arrive in April 2021.

Kristin and I met at C3 College, and we are currently the location pastors of C3 SYD Parramatta, which we planted with a brilliant team in February 2018.

I also run my legal practice in Sydney with a team of six staff. Being a bi-vocational minister is inherently one of the greatest leadership challenges that I face. Inevitably then, it is also one of the greatest leadership opportunities also!

When God revealed to me that He wanted me to go to C3 College, He also told me to leave the law firm that I was working in at that time and to start my own legal practice while I studied. So I’ve known very clearly that He has set before me a season of bi-vocational ministry.

I recall asking a successful bi-vocational minister a question while I was at C3 College. I asked him how he balances his business and his ministry and leadership world. With a chuckle, he told me, “Leon, there is never really a balance, it is always a juggle”. Those words liberated my thinking.

Delegation is a crucial arrow in the quiver of any leader – whether in church or in the marketplace. Our inability to delegate is a ceiling on our leadership and potential growth.

Equally self-leadership, along with the ability to know ourselves and our own strengths and weaknesses, will determine how we deal with areas of leadership in which we need to grow.

I quickly realised that, in order to lead effectively, particularly as a bi-vocational minister, delegation was going to be a key factor, and that it would have a marked impact on both my business and on our church location. I also realised that delegation was not a leadership trait which necessarily came naturally to me – it is something that I must remind myself to do, and an area in which I need to constantly improve.

In Exodus 18 wise counsel is given to Moses by his father-in-law, Jethro. Moses had taken all manner of governance upon his own shoulders yet this was not good for him. Jethro’s counsel to delegate is critical to the longevity and well-being of Moses’ leadership, as well as the effective workings of the nation of Israel.

Similarly in Act 6, the disciples recognised that they were carrying out work that others could do, and that this was detrimental to their core responsibility to the church, being the ministry of the Word. This passage of scripture says that, after the disciples delegated these peripheral tasks and empowered others with these roles, the Word of God spread and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly.

I’ve learnt that effective delegation encompasses these things:

·       Communicate roles, tasks and expectations with clarity, consistency and brevity.

·       Believe in your people, see the best in them, even when they do not. Call them to a higher level.

·       Create a culture of grace and understanding, let them know that it is ok to make mistakes.

·       Give the requisite scope of authority that is required for the delegated role or task. Let go!

My encouragement to you is to be a self-aware leader – know your strengths and weaknesses – and be committed to growing in your leadership!

Love and blessings,

Leon