Dear friends,
Over the past several months, I’ve had the privilege to attend some events that have been both affirming and challenging for me in regards to the ministry that we are doing at CUCCNM. First it was Phyllis Trible and Diana Butler-Bas talking about the Emergent Church at Eden Seminary’s Spring Convocation. Then it was Steve Sterner from the office of Local Church Ministries from the National UCC office in Cleveland talking more about the Emergent Church and the Center for Progressive Renewal (CPR) of the United Church of Christ and the Southeast Conference. And now, it’s the New Church Leadership Institute of CPR in Decatur, Georgia.
My hope is to drop you a little note each day with some reflections on what I’ve seen and heard. Even if you don’t soak up all the words, I hope you will be touched by the enthusiasm and excitement that are under them. I hope you will keep me in your prayers as my soul is nurtured through worship and interaction with people who love the church and are passionate about renewing the church and the United Church of Christ. And, I hope you will at least skip down to the end of each day’s notes and read about the fun and light-hearted parts of my time in Georgia.
The morning started with worship – a valuable experience for me anytime I have the opportunity to be a participant and not a leader. Although I love leading worship, I hunger for those occasions where I can sit in the pew and be fed.
We’ve had the first two of seven secrets of vital, progressive, transformational church leadership revealed to us. The Rev. Dwight D. Andrews of the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Atlanta spoke to us about Understanding our Assets (Secret #1). It sounds pretty dull but when he started off by playing “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” on his saxophone, we knew we were in for a treat. As a musician, he spoke about improvisation and understanding why we do what we do – why are we here? what’s our purpose? He stressed (more than once!) that if we (the church) are here for any other reason to be the church, we are here for the wrong reason.
We were challenged to be creative – like a musician who improvises. The musician might only have two notes to play but when done creatively, soulful music is the result.
We were challenged to bring all our skills to a new opportunity – make music that hasn’t been played yet - put our background to creative new use - use all that we’ve got, knowing that God has given us a creative spirit to create something new for this new day.
We were challenged to think about our future like the folks who walked (and marched) this country through the civil rights movement (an appropriate illustration for the Atlanta area), who did not have a manual to follow. They took all that they had and put it forth in a creative process to move this amazing country forth in righteousness and justice.
And we were reminded that God continues to call us to be more than what we have been.
Then we heard from Rev. Amanda McCullough, Pastor of the Church Without Walls in Wilmington, North Carolina and an Appreciative Inquiry practitioner. Although Rev. McCullough was very knowledgeable and passionate about this topic, I can’t say that I have a lot of notes and inspiration to share with you. She was a bit difficult to follow but I’ve jotted down the websites that she referenced and hope to do some side reading on her topic.
The second secret was revealed to us as “Strategic Vision.” Rev. Steve Sterner (mentioned above) and Rev. Cameron Trimble, Executive Director of CPR spoke to us. Rev. Sterner captivated us with several examples of ways that the church is in a state of rapid and dramatic change. Some of that change is welcome some is fiercely resisted. He shared information from a report that he made to the Board of Local Church Ministries, reflecting on two types of churches: existing churches and emerging churches and how they are each moving through that change. He was very clear to point out that both the existing churches and the emerging churches have their place on the continuum of change and both have their flaws as well as their strengths. He lifted up 6 areas that are affected: (1) Vision – the existing church perpetuates where it’s at or where its memory is while the emerging church is interested in moving towards its vision; (2) Membership – the existing church has members and not many requirements while the emerging church has disciples and has expectations for those disciples; (3) Values – the existing church places values on historical ties, covenants and creeds while the emerging church places values on relationships; (4) Worship – the existing church worship takes place at a set time and place and is at the center of the life of the church while the emerging church worship takes place wherever and when ever it meets (on mission trips, educational events, in restaurants, etc.) and is also at the center of the life of the church; (5) Leadership – the existing church requires excellent managerial leadership based on a corporate model while the emerging church requires excellent entrepreneurial leadership; (6) Technology – the existing church uses technology while the emerging church is technology. I see us falling clearly into some areas of the existing church as well as the emerging church - which was right in line with what Rev. Sterner said when he reminded us at the end of his presentation that all churches fall somewhere on the continuum of change.
Rev. Trimble’s presentation challenged us to begin with “Why” and then develop a strategic plan from there through the How and What. She based most of her presentation off the book “Holy Conversation” by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann. If that title sounds familiar to some of you, it should. We used a lot of the information from it to lay the ground work for our restructuring process. (yes – that was a very affirming moment!)
I attended three workshops today. (Yes, it’s been a very full day!) They all reinforced many of the things that were mentioned in the keynote presentations: Spiritual Grounding, Asset Mapping and Ministry Coaching – all of which were helpful and from which I’ll be bringing home some ideas for practical application but I’m running out of space!
The light-hearted stuff: A conference would not be a conference without things to buy. United Church Resources has a booth full of books and UCC identity items. I now have a bright red “God is Still Speaking” luggage tag; a “Clergy” window decal to put in my car window so when I park in the clergy spots at the hospital I won’t get quite as many glares; and (this is my favorite) two new shirts (one a t-shirt and one a hooded sweat-shirt) that have the Still Speaking comma on the front and “since 1957” (or just “57”) on the back. There will be a bag of M&M’s for someone who can email me ( HYPERLINK "mailto:pastor@cuccnm.org" pastor@cuccnm.org) with the two reasons why I’m excited about the reference to 1957. (I’ll draw the lucky winner’s name from all who reply and reveal it this Sunday.)
Well, I had intended to send you two pages and I’ve gone a bit over. I thank you for your prayers and this amazing opportunity to grow in ministry. I look forward to sharing with you further the many insights and growth that I hope to gain down in Georgia. Installment # 2 to come tomorrow with Secrets 3 & 4.
Grace and Peace to you all,
Lynne