A Church Leadership Idea

In the Acts 16:5 Initiative, we often speak about developing church leaders.  One simple way we develop leaders in the church I serve is through a one-hour, monthly meeting we call, “Council.”  On the first Tuesday of every month our elders, deacons, ministry team leaders, and staff gather in the same room.  The Council agenda each month has two parts.

For the first 30 minutes, we talk about leadership.  The discussion may come from a book excerpt, a magazine piece I give them, a You Tube video I show them, or a leadership-related question I pose to them.  For 30 minutes we talk about leadership as it applies to our role as leaders in our congregation. 

These conversations are always engaging and fruitful. 

For the second 30 minutes, I work through a list of current church topics I want our leaders to know about or about which I want to receive their feedback.  This list might include everything from a review of the Christmas Eve services; to information about an upcoming sermon series; a monthly update on youth ministry; or a reminder to get their annual team goals submitted by the end of the month.  In other words, it’s a time to keep us all on the “same page” of church life.

Just this month, I included a new piece to our Council meeting.  Last Tuesday, with about ten minutes left in the hour-long meeting, I directed them to the back page of the agenda on which I had printed about 25 church-related items for prayer.  I then asked them to spread out in the room in groups of two or three and spend the final few minutes in prayer for our congregation using the listed topics as a guide.  It was moving to participate in and listen to the many prayers of our leaders being lifted up in those final minutes of Council. 

So moving, we’ll do it again next month!

By the way, I encourage our ministry teams to meet the same night as Council.  So, Council meets from 7-8 pm, and then, ministry teams meet from 8-9 pm.  In this model, then, our leaders come out one night for two meetings.  They (and I!) appreciate this more efficient use of time.  Our monthly meeting schedule also allows me to easily touch-in with all of our teams on a regular basis.  I rotate from team meeting to team meeting from 8-9 pm offering support and input.

A Council meeting night like I just described will take some time to introduce and become part of the fabric of church life.  But after many years of practicing this simple monthly pattern of meeting with our leaders, it has become the best ongoing opportunity I have to encourage their growth in church leadership.   

With joy,

Steve Ebling

We Are Chosen, And...

The other day I was going through my morning devotion and one of the texts for reading and prayer was John 15:12-17.  This chapter of the Gospel of John contains Jesus’ commandment to love one another.  Verse 16 jumped out at me, and with this being a new year, I thought it would be a good memory verse to undergird the year.

You did not choose me but I chose you.

And I appointed you to go and bear fruit,

fruit that will last,

so that the Father will give you

whatever you ask in my name.

We are chosen and loved.  The love is of God.  Because we know God first loved us, we are invited to be in relationship with God in Christ and also with the human race.  In relationship we are called to bear fruit that is not the throw away kind that our society often espouses.  It is fruit that will match the deep and abiding love of God.  On top of that, when we pray for fruit that will last, God will give it graciously in Jesus’ name.

The fact that we are chosen is only the beginning.  It’s the part about the relationships and tasks to which we are asked to engage that the going gets harder.  Jesus says we will never be alone when we have to love the unlovely and when we are asked to endure something difficult for his sake.

I am going to be more intentional this year about praying to God so that the fruit I bear, by God’s grace, will be of the lasting kind.  Perhaps you could join me in that endeavor.  Someone once told me that when you meditate on a verse like this and say it slowly in your mind, it drops like pearls into your deepest being.  May it be so for you and for me.

In Christ,

Anne Clifton H

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bert

Sunday Morning "Serving"

I recently spoke with some of our church leaders about how we might serve the family of God on Sunday mornings.  In other words, we talked about how we can be an encouragement to others before, during and after worship each week.  We came up with a lengthy list of ideas.  Here’s a sampling:

• Arrive a few minutes early (even as few as five minutes) for the purpose of greeting others before worship.

• If you see people coming into the building who look like they don’t know where to go, help them find their way.

• Pray during worship—for those sitting around you and for those leading up front.

• Make it a point to speak to people you don’t know.  Aim to meet one new person or family a week.

• Learn the names of our children and young people so that you can greet them by name on Sunday.

• Sing joyfully!

• Thank those who serve us on Sundays, e.g., nursery workers, church school teachers, ushers, and musicians. 

Of course, our primary purpose on Sunday morning is to worship Jesus Christ.  But as we come each week to re-center ourselves in Him, through the simple ways listed above, we can encourage others to encounter Christ, too.  What a wonderful gift!

With joy,

Steve Ebling

A Transformational Defining Vision, Part One

A few years ago, the church where I serve adopted our church vision: Worship God, Prepare Disciples, Serve the World.  It is similar to the Acts 16:5 Initiative focus of glorifying God, making disciples, and meeting human need.  Since most of us in churches are starting a new program year, I thought it would be helpful to revisit the vision and see how it is playing out in three areas: our personal lives, our ministry teams/groups, and in our congregations.  In three blog entries, I’m going to ask a series of questions that I invite you to pray about and to act upon from the standpoint of where your congregation is.  In this article, I invite you to reflect on these questions in regard to your personal life.

In Personal Lives:

            1) Are you taking time to glorify God in your own life?  Are you attending worship

                        services on a regular basis?  Are you taking time to worship God daily?

                        Are you reading the Bible and spending time with God?  Are you inviting

                        others to worship with you or to attend a worship service with you?   What

                        worship service in the last six months really got your heart pumping in

                        God’s holy presence?

            2) In what part of your life are you being prepared as a disciple?  Are you in a small

                        group, a study group and/or a church school class?  Are you not only reading the

                        Bible but also studying it?  With what portion of your life are you devoting

                        and developing mature faith in Jesus Christ?  Who are you inviting to walk

                        with you in discipleship?  Who are you discipling in the Christian walk?

            3)  How are you meeting human need?   How do you offer service in Christ’s name to

                        others?  When is the last time you participated in a service ministry of the

                        church or in a community organization?  To what form of mission is God

                        nudging you to pursue?

It might be overwhelming to read all these questions.  You may have answers to some of them and not to others.  I encourage you to pray about these questions and, then, to write answers to them in a journal or record them in the notes section of your smart phone.  Later you can go back and see what movement you have made, with God’s help.  Perhaps the vision doesn’t fit with where you are in your personal life.  You may want to form your own vision.  Whatever your vision is, God gives all of us opportunities to glorify God, make disciples. and meet human need every day.  It’s a vision that offers us a great adventure in faith. 

Vital and energized people create vital and energized churches!  That is what God has called us to be and d0.  May we reflect our love of God in the way we personally live and fulfill God’s vision.

In Christ,

Anne Clifton Hebert

A Prayer for the Journey

In Esther De Waal’s book The Celtic Vision: Prayers and Blessings from the Outer Hebrides, she tells the story of a man named Dugall MacAulay who always recited a journey prayer to himself.  He recited it under his breath, “whenever he went upon a journey ‘however short the distance, however small the matter of his errand.’”  These kinds of prayers are common in the Celtic tradition, asking for God’s blessing and care for every part of a journey.  

De Waal writes, “When anyone set out on a really long journey family and friends would join the traveler in singing the prayer for traveling and in starting the journey with them”  (pp. 143-144).

The Journey Blessing Prayer goes like this:

Bless to me, O God,

The earth beneath my foot,

Bless to me, O God,

The path whereon I go;

Bless to me, O God,

The thing of my desire;

Thou Evermore of evermore,

Bless Thou to me my rest.

Bless to me the thing

Whereon is set my mind,

Bless to me the thing

Whereon is set my love;

Bless to me the thing

Whereon is set my hope;

O Thou King of kings,

Bless Thou to me mine eye!

Amen.

May our prayers be answered as we ask for God’s blessing on our journeys, especially as we travel the exciting, challenging and Spirit-driven Acts 16:5 Initiative.

With Joy - Anne Clifton Hébert

The Pastor & the Nominating Committee

A Process That Brings Transformation

Based on the Acts 16:5 Initiative

6 Months Prior to Election - Pastor meets with Nominating Committee to:

           

           Pray for the process

           Determine how many officers are needed and in what areas of ministry

           Review the qualifications for officers {see Module 6-12.8}

           Stress confidentiality {no one is to approach candidates at this point}

            

           

3 to 4 Months Prior to the Election

          Committee members & the Pastor are contacted by the chair and each is asked to

          prayerfully compose a list of possible candidates for the various offices {one is to

          approach candidates at this point}.

2-3 Months Prior to the Election - Pastor meets with Nominating Committee:   

1. Each person including the Pastor suggests names for the various Boards. {Note that those officers that can serve another term must be included in this process. They should not automatically show up on the final list of nominees.
2. If two people agree on the suggested name, it is placed on a large newsprint tablet or chalkboard. 
3. Each member of the committee {not including the pastor} then lists the suggested names in priority order.  {#1 indicates their first choice, etc.} 
4. The weighted lists are mathematically tabulated to reveal the whole committee's wise selections for each Board.  For example: If you need 5 Elders - at least 10-20 names should end up on your final list...with weighted numbers from 1-20 given to each possible candidate. {Note this final list is absolutely confidential.}
5. With the Nominating Committee's approval the Pastor then takes this list and begins the recruiting process.  The Pastor may take along a member of the Nominating Committee as each candidate is approached.  The pastor should clearly state: "The Nominating Committee has asked me to approach you about serving as  …."       For example:   If 5 elders are needed, the first five names on the list are contacted first. If any of those respond "No" then the Pastor moves down the list to the 6th candidate and so on.

                       

Congregational Meeting and Election

The Chair or a member of the Nominating Committee should make the report and place names in nomination.  A description of the nominating process should be offered noting that the pastor was strictly following the work and instructions of the committee as they worked with each candidate.

In Christ - Linda Jaberg

A Prayer for Japan

Reverend Linda Jaberg asked Jeff Bowman, a nuclear engineer, to give us guidance in Praying for Japan...  

Our Father,

We pray for the people of Japan who are coping with an unimaginable

tragedy.  They mourn thousands of dead and fear the worst for thousands

more who are missing.  The survivors have lost their homes and must

endure a harsh climate without shelter, food, or even drinking water.

Yet in the midst of this suffering, the survivors fear another

impending calamity from the damaged nuclear facility.  We lift up the

50 courageous technicians who are working tirelessly in a dangerous

environment to restore each of the damaged reactors to a safe

condition.  They are faced with unprecedented challenges, well beyond

their training, and with overwhelming consequences for the surrounding

population.  Grant them strength to endure this challenge and grant

them wisdom and innovative minds to successfully restore cooling to

each of the reactors and bring this crisis to an end.  Protect them

 from the radiation surrounding them so that they may survive this

ordeal.

We also pray for the families of the technicians, who are fearful for

the danger faced by their loved ones.  We ask that your spirit be in

the midst of all who are engaged in this battle and grant them success.

Amen