Francis of Assisi, Movement Maker: The Unconventional Leadership of a Simple Saint by Howard Snyder
Dr. Howard Snyder is a missionary, author, and professor specializing in the history and theology of mission. He serves as an International Representative for the Manchester Wesley Research Centre and is a valued member of the Word Made Flesh Advisory Council. The books authored by Dr. Snyder include: Models of the Kingdom, The Radical Wesley, and Salvation Means Creation Healed.
Dr. Snyder recently published a book on the life and legacy of St. Francis of Assisi (c. 1181 – 1226), who is a significant inspiration for the life and vision of Word Made Flesh. The book highlights St. Francis’ss profound impact on Christianity, emphasizing his devotion to poverty, care for the marginalized, and reverence for creation. David Chronic (Director of Operations, WMF) sat down with Dr. Snyder to discuss the new book “Francis of Assisi, Movement Maker: The Unconventional Leadership of a Simple Saint.”
A Conversation with Howard Snyder about His New Book: Francis of Assisi – A Movement Maker
Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi are important to Word Made Flesh as we look to them as models for mission and deep streams of our church tradition in which we want to swim. What is the context for St. Francis’s life for those unfamiliar with the lives of these saints?
St. Francis grew up in Assisi, about 100 miles from Rome. His father was a well-to-do merchant, prospering partly because of trade with crusaders who were going back and forth from the Holy Land. Francis’ father wanted him to take on the family business and grow in wealth. Instead, Francis had what I outline in the book as three crises and conversions (an encounter with a leper, an encounter with the Lord in the San Damiano chapel, and…). He always maintained a sense of servanthood. When he later formed his order, he called it the “lesser brothers.” I pick up on that theme of lesser in the book and the last chapter of the book I call lessons in “lesser-ness,” which really turns so many of today’s values upside down. It was all about being a servant, being lesser. Francis embodied this.
Francis definitely had an encounter with Jesus, which was very evangelical. They even used the term “evangelical poverty” – though it didn’t have any relation to what we call “evangelicals” today except it relates to what evangelicalism was originally supposed to be: following the “evangel,” following Jesus, and walking in his way. It was a call to serve God and a call to poverty: taking the monastic vows of poverty, obedience, and celibacy.
Francis’ life was so fascinating that young men from the village of Assisi wanted to follow him. So, Francis asked, “What should we do?” They decided to see what the Bible says. In a chapel, they opened the Scriptures three times and each reading said, “Go and give up all you have and follow me.” Beginning with an original group of twelve, a movement of followers grew up around Francis. Although pressured to adopt the Benedictine monastic rule, they refused because they desired something simpler. Francis wrote a rule, which was eventually approved by the Pope.
St. Clare (1194 – 1253) saw everything happening in Assisi and wanted to join Francis. Because she was a woman, she could not follow the mendicant friars. Still, she ran away from home and was received by Francis, joined a monastery, and later began the cloistered order of sisters of the franciscan order. Although this meant conflict with Clare’s family as well, her mother and two sisters would later join the order.
Can you give an overview of your book?
The book is structured in three parts. The first is about St. Francis and Clare and the beginning of the movement. The second part is about the next 300 years of the Franciscan movement. The final third is about implications for the church and for us as individuals today.
Can you talk about this idea that you call radical discipleship?
Yes, first of all it is taking Jesus and the Gospels with utter seriousness. What Jesus said, he meant. We are called out to follow Jesus just as fully and literally as Francis did. This means Jesus comes first in everything including in our material existence and in the world. We should live out the life of Jesus in every area of our life. For Francis this included a deep sense of the work of God in the created order. He wrote the famous Canticle of the Creatures, which celebrates the sun, the moon, the water, the stars, and animals like the birds.
Francis knew the Scriptures better than I had thought, undermining some of the stereotypes about the ignorance of the Bible at that time. Radical discipleship also has to mean that we take as seriously as Francis did the importance Scripture gives to the created order and particularly to the earth. There is a major implication therefore for discipleship and our engagement with the earth. We can’t really follow radical discipleship if we only think of that in spiritual terms, if we don’t think of that in terms of the birds and flowers and questions of energy, pollution, and recycling. All of those things that have become major issues in the news today. The church is 30 or 40 years behind in waking up to this. But it is in the Bible and Francis saw it.
Can you speak to how Francis understood poverty?
There was an idea in the early church of “apostolic poverty,” which is not necessarily historically true, but held that Jesus and his apostles were poor and didn’t own anything. After Constantine and after millions came into the church without actually being converted, the church spoke of the “counsels of perfection” (chastity, poverty, and obedience). They thought that not all could be expected to follow Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and other teachings but only a few could. I think what is radical about Francis is that he says, no, this is a calling for all of us.
While we can’t expect that the whole church is going to fully follow the way of Jesus today, we see the need for groups, orders, and covenant communities that will live this out very literally and in mutually supportive ways. This has at least two significant effects. One, it’s praise to God. Second, it is prophetic to the larger church. Nominal Christians see the radical communities and will respond and reproduce other radical communities.
There was a great influx of all sorts of people that wanted to follow Francis in a very radical and costly way. Do we see a movement like this today, is there something that’s missing, or was this just a charisma of the time?
My argument is that down through history, the church has grown and been more and become effective primarily through renewal movements. After Francis, there were subsequent waves in the Franciscan movement that would grow up and split off. A group would rediscover what the early Franciscans said and would start a new branch, like a new branch growing on a vine.
The question then for us is where are we right now in our context. It can be answered by groups of Christians getting together and saying: we are going to follow Jesus and what does that mean for us now in this group? This needs to happen in a group. Where two or three gathered together in Christ’s name and really begin to live out his teachings, and discern their particular charism. For Francis, this meant discerning whether they were to be a cloistered community and live in one place or whether they would go out and travel and preach. God showed Francis that they were to spread all over the world. It’s amazing that within 100 years the Franciscans were in many countries in Europe and beyond.
His book was just released in which he explores the life and legacy of St. Francis of Assisi, reflecting on St. Francis’ life and mission. It covers his deep relationship with St. Clare , his compassionate encounters with the poor, and his steadfast commitment to evangelical poverty and humility. The narrative also highlights St. Francis’s profound impact on Christianity, emphasizing his devotion to poverty, care for the marginalized, and reverence for creation. It explores how these ideals shaped the Franciscan movement, influencing generations and resonating with contemporary issues such as environmental stewardship.
You spoke a little bit about the servant nature of Francis and this idea of the “lesser.” How does that relate to or reshape ideas of leadership?
The movement was growing so rapidly all across Europe. Because of the wide geographic area, different cultures, and the many languages (as Latin was fading as the common language) of the Franciscans, it was impossible for one person to lead. Not all fully followed the way Francis wanted, making compromises on the issue of poverty. It wasn’t very long before he resigned, turning leadership over to another brother. There were leadership struggles, but Francis led by example and by prayer. He did not try to control the group, but rather left it in the Lord’s hands.
There was ongoing controversy with regard to the Franciscan rule and the commitment to poverty. I think that the first key to leadership though is character development based on the ethos or the charism of the group. However, there is now way you can control this in subsequent generations of leadership. You can model it, and you can create basic structures to help maintain the vitality. I touch on this in the book. The Franciscans, although mendicant, set up hermitages, held to their rule, and prayed the liturgy of the hours. The structures provided direction, not based on curriculum like we do today, but on practices.
You have been on the Advisory Council of Word Made Flesh. Looking at Francis and Clare, what can we learn about missional community or holistic mission? What would they say to Word Made Flesh communities?
As I’ve read about Word Made Flesh in the Cry articles, I felt good about your commitment to the poor, a sense of community, and a sense of doing good. I think the question for any movement is how to maintain it over a period of time. Where do you need to trust the Spirit? Where do you need to create structures? Word Made Flesh was a youth movement, but youth gradually become older adults. I think you should consider the idea of elders who maintain their commitment and ethos, showing that it is sustainable over time and showing this to other generations. You need to wrestle with issues of maintaining consistency and connection in all the places Word Made Flesh is serving.
What are other implications for today from St. Francis’ life?
I try very hard in the book to be historically accurate and to not to lift up Francis beyond what I think he should be lifted up but also not to compromise at all on the radical commitment that he was making, which is certainly relevant to me. He and Clare are certainly relevant today. The constant thread, the basis is really their total 100% commitment to Jesus and the following of his ways. We must recognize that we have this life because of him. We recognize also that we fall short in many ways and so have a constant need of God’s grace. Also, we have a constant need of brothers and sisters to help us on the way, and we have a constant need for spiritual disciplines. One thing to add, which Francis understood, includes how we treat the earth and the creatures. The things that we see modeled by Francis translate directly to issues of environmental stewardship and creation care today.
Thank you, Dr. Snyder, for speaking with me about your new book, for your commitment to the mission of the church over the years, and for your involvement with Word Made Flesh.
