Archive for February, 2009
Monday, February 23rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Conference Lay Leaders Meet in Sacramento
Greetings from sunny and cool Katy, Texas! I am so glad to have a few minutes to share with you some of the things I learned this past weekend at the annual meeting of the Association of Conference Lay Leaders. As the name says, Conference Lay Leaders from all over the United States gathered in Sacramento for three days of training, sharing and fellowship. While all the Annual Conferences are different, we are all speaking the same language — the Four Focus Areas, the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Three Simple Rules … and we are all working toward the same vision … “transforming lives and reshaping futures for the Glory of God!”
In many Conferences, the Board of Laity works as a group that broadcasts and disseminates the mission and vision of the Conference to the local churches and brings to the Conference the issues being discussed in local churches and in the districts. Part of the work that the District Lay Leaders and I have been doing is so that we can fulfill that role.
Most conferences within our Jurisdiction (the South Central Jurisdiction) have offices or groups dedicated to new church starts. Many of them were interested to hear about our Church Transformation project which is having much success in revitalizing existing congregations. We had a lot of fun sharing notes about what we do at our Laity sessions at Annual Conference. Some of the other conferences do some innovative things which you may see in the next couple years when we gather!
Finally, we spent a considerable amount of time discussing all of the legislation we will have to vote on in May at Annual Conference. There are 32 Constitutional Amendments so we will all have to spend considerable time in study before we gather at The Woodlands. You will hear more from your District Superintendents about when events to prepare for Annual Conference will be held in your area, but you can get a head start by looking at all of the amendments at www.umc.org and look for Constitutional Amendments.
The meeting closed on Saturday night with dinner, entertainment and worship at Centennial UMC. The membership of the church is truly multi-cultural. We were served Tongan delicacies that were different from anything I’ve had but were delicious. Spicy meats, vegetables that I couldn’t identify but were scrumptious, and dessert that was delicately flavored but I can’t tell you what it was. We were entertained by Hawaiian and Tongan dances — the dancers were senior women in their seventies and eighties and young teenagers in native costumes. It is amazing to me that there are people from almost every culture who share my beliefs and identity as United Methodists!
I hope all is well with you and that you’ll share your thoughts and stories with me (tayleah@comcast.net).
Showers of blessings!
Leah Taylor
Creating a Web of Communication
Thursday, February 12th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Wednesday, February 11
Last Thursday, February 5, Bishop Huie and Dr. Richard Burnham finished their tour of all nine districts, talking with clergy and laity about how appointments are being made. Although I didn’t make it to all nine meetings, I was able to be present for five of them. In each of the meetings I attended, there was a good crowd that included many lay people.
One thing that the District Administrative Assistants did during the meetings was to gather email addresses for all lay folks in attendance. A universal concern in making the Mission and Vision of the Annual Conference come alive and real has been communicating it to all United Methodists in all our local churches. To “equip congregations” to do ministry that transforms lives and reshapes futures, the Annual Conference and Districts have to make sure that churches have the tools to do the work. By building email address books, I hope that more tools will be made available more quickly to more people.
Because our pastors and District Superintendents have more information coming in than they can possibly share, it makes sense to me that we find additional and alternate routes to share information. As you find the place where you are passionate about doing God’s work, I hope that we will find a way to empower you to do that work. And, good communications can be a place to start.
So, I hope that you will join me in creating a web of communication — not just for our clergy, but also for our laity. If you weren’t at an Appointment Making Meeting, send me your email and I’ll add you to our list (tayleah@comcast.net). Or catch up with me on Facebook!
There was so much good discussion at the district meetings. One area I want to highlight is how we in the local churches need to be using the clergy evaluation forms which are filled out each year. These documents are not designed or intended solely for use by the District Superintendents during appointment discussions. They are great tools that our Staff or Pastor Parish Relations Committees should be using in conversation with our pastors. We can use them to encourage the good things which are happening as well as opening dialogues on ways to improve and develop our pastors so that they continue to grow — as individuals and leaders!
The Board of Laity is working on a similar document to be used in evaluating our churches. I’ll let you know more as the process continues.
Hoping to hear from you soon!
Leah Taylor
Quadrennial Training in Jacksonville, Florida
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
February 3, 2009
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Quadrennial Training event in Jacksonville, Florida, with 1200 of my closest Methodist friends! The event, called “Living the United Methodist Way: Turning Worlds Upside Down,” was centered around the idea of looking at everything we do as a church and a denomination from a completely different perspective — hence the idea of being “Upside Down.”
In the opening session Thursday evening, Bishop Janice Riggle Huie challenged us to, once again, become a movement. To make that happen, Bishop Huie told us that we will need Capacity, Desire and Courage. Capacity she described as the skills — spiritual gifts turned into skills which enable leadership — both clergy and lay. The Desire is a desire so profound to be in love with God, with Christ, that we are moved by the Holy Spirit to respond with a great clarity of purpose. And, Courage, well that may sound familiar to you… it is the willingness to engage in ministry in the midst of conflict — risk taking ministry with the willingness to fail. Bishop Huie tied her challenge to us to Luke’s account of the beginning of the church as set out in Acts 17. It was a great beginning to the time in Jacksonville. I think we may all be hearing more about this in the months to come.
During the plenary sessions we heard some gifted speakers talk about the Four Areas of Focus which grew out of a conversation between the Council of Bishops, the Connectional Table, Annual Conferences and local churches. Our Centers of Excellence address the four areas, but they are:
* Developing principled Christian leaders for the Church and the world
* New places for new people and renewing existing congregations
* Engaging in ministry with the poor
* Stamping out killer diseases of poverty by improving health globally
In smaller discussion sessions, the focus areas were considered in some detail and provided the opportunity for me to hear how other Annual Conferences are doing “Church.” It is always good to see folks who are deeply committed to the United Methodist Church and to hear their ideas as well as their successes and failures, both of which provided learnings for all of us. In events like this one, we begin to speak a common language throughout the denomination. You will be proud to know that the work we are doing here in the Texas Annual Conference is, in most instances, way out in front of what many of our colleagues are experiencing. Lest we be too prideful, though, it is good to remember that many eyes are on us!
More soon!
Leah Taylor