Tag Archives: Methodist

Spending Time on the Balcony and the Dance Floor

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As a leader there is value in spending time both:

  • On the balcony – getting a big picture perspective removed from day to day responsibilities and
  • On the dance floor – accomplishing day to day tasks to make progress as an organization.

Spending time in either location can be productive, however you cannot spend your time in one place or another.

As I have entered into a new leadership setting – as pastor of First United Methodist Church in El Dorado, KS – I have found that it has been particular important to make sure that I spend some time on the balcony. The day to day responsibilities of transitioning into a new role can overwhelm the time needed to take a breath and reflect on the big picture of life and ministry. As I prepare to begin my fourth month in this appointment, I have been making progress on spending time in both places.

Back to Blogging

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I have started my third month serving as the pastor at First United Methodist Church in El Dorado, Kansas. It has been fantastically busy, fun, exciting and full of opportunities and challenges to have a baby, move to a new home and start serving as the lead pastor at a new congregation in the past three months.

While I am still continue to make the transition to our new home, it is time for me to start blogging again. I know, it has been months. However, I plan to begin with  a few posts a week and see how it goes. While I have a lot of ideas about what to write about on this blog, I want to write what would be most interesting, helpful or intriguing to you. So, what will it be?

What would you like for me to write about on this blog? What would be interesting to you? What would you want to share with others? I am looking forward to beginning this blogging adventure with you again.

Viable or Vital: Which would you choose?

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As far as congregations go:

Vital > Viable > Inviable

I would much rather lead and be part of a vital congregation than one that is simply viable.

I would much rather lead and be part of a viable congregation than one that is inviable and has not yet closed.

I believe that one of my roles as a United Methodist clergy person is to help congregations move from one to the next.

Why Numbers Matter in the UMC – Community (3 of 3)

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Hartzell Memorial United Methodist Church at B...

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Vitality seems to be the talk of The United Methodist Church. From the invitation to be a Vital Congregation to tracking metrics through Vital Signs, there has been a wide variety of response to the movement to increasing the level of reporting of involvement across several areas of local churches.

Let me be clear about where I stand – tracking numbers matters for The United Methodist Church.

I certainly agree with the argument that tracking numbers isn’t the only measure of the good that is happening across the denomination. There is no way to quantify the significance of a bedside hospital visit, joy at a baptism, or life change after a mission trip. While there is no way to qualitatively measure this success in ministry, there is a way to quantitatively measure it.

If one life is changed through a service project – it makes a difference.

However if that one person is the only one that shows up each week at this regular opportunity it is a sign that things could be better. Inviting others to worship, grow, give and serve with you is part of the Christian life. Our faith is not one that only involves a connection between us and God – it is about a community and others joining us on our journey. Having others join us matters.

Why Numbers Matter in the UMC – Naming Reality (1 of 3)

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First United Methodist Church in Montgomery, LA

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Vitality seems to be the talk of The United Methodist Church. From the invitation to be a Vital Congregation to tracking metrics through Vital Signs, there has been a wide variety of response to the movement to increasing the level of reporting of involvement across several areas of local churches.

I have heard a great deal of critique about these additional requirements for local church leaders. Are numbers really important? Are we measuring success or significance? Won’t this be more harm than good?

Let me be clear about where I stand – tracking numbers matters for The United Methodist Church.

This practice, in itself, will not lead to renewal. However, I believe that it can be a helpful tool for our congregations to provide mutual accountability and support. Many people focus on the accountability of tracking and resulting impact on self esteem in the congregation. Whatever the reality of involvement is, tracking doesn’t change it. Tracking shines a light on current reality. If we aren’t honest with ourselves about reality, there is no possibility of effectively moving forward.

Knowing where we are is a prerequisite to go where we want to go – a future of hope and renewal as we seek to spread scriptural holiness across the land.

A Year Ago on Thoughts of Resurrection – September 2010

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Digging through the archives of this blog, I found a few posts from a year ago that I continue to find value in today. I invite you to take a look back with me.

Starting New Churches – An Interesting Story

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Thanks to Tim Stevens for bringing this story to my attention via this post – One Church Becomes Two… Without Splitting.

Beach United Methodist Church, in Jacksonville, Florida will be launching one of their worship venues, Eleven 22, as a new non denominational church in 12 to 18 months. You can read more about it at http://ourchurchconversation.com

I believe that starting new churches is a critical component of The United Methodist Church finding renewal and new life. There are new churches started every year, but there are some things about this start that I find intriguing:

  • A mainline church is launching a non denominational church
  • It seems that the worship service was not originally started with a new church start in mind.
  • This is not the first nor the last new church that Beach UMC will launch.

I hope and pray for all the best for these congregations and the way that they will continue to live out the gospel in Jacksonville. What is your response to this story?

Kansas Leadership Center

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Earlier this week I was part of a team from Resurrection West that started the Leadership and Faith: Transforming Communities program from the Kansas Leadership Center. Here is a summary from the website:

“This unique program is designed for United Methodist congregations in Kansas and is a collaborative effort of the Kansas Health Foundation, United Methodist Church and Kansas Leadership Center.

The objectives of this initiative are:

  • Contribute to the revitalization of the United Methodist Church in Kansas
  • Enhance commitment to community health
  • Develop leadership capacity of church participants

Selected congregations have the opportunity to study leadership competencies and principles that prepare them for active leadership roles in the health of their communities. Congregation teams will participate in seven days of formal training over a seven-month period of time.”

It was a fantastic experience for me and I am looking forward to applying principles and practicing leadership competencies in my role at Resurrection West. I also hope to explore more of the work of the Kansas Leadership Center. I commend them to you.

A Year Ago on Thoughts of Resurrection

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Here are a few posts from a year ago, I hope that you might take a look at two or three and add your comments. Enjoy!

Start and Stop in the Appointive Year

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De Putter, a windpump in the Dutch province of...

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This appointive year I am going to work on starting and stopping things to be more healthy, faithful and balanced.

Start

  • Creating deeper connections with colleagues in the United Methodist Church
  • More regular exercise
  • Gardening
  • Puttering about the house a bit more

Stop

  • Worrying about things that I cannot decide about or avoid
  • Caffeine (This will be a work in progress in the weeks ahead)
  • Checking email before breakfast
What is on your start and stop lists?
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