LEAD THE. SEMINAR A workbook. February 16-17, 2018 Delaware-Maryland Synod

Transcription

1 THE LEAD SEMINAR A workbook February 16-17, 2018 Delaware-Maryland Synod Building a strong team to listen to God in scripture and prayer, in the congregation, and in the neighborhood.

2 Permission to Reproduce This guide may be reproduced for use in the Delaware-Maryland Synod with covenanted congregations that are part of the LEAD Journey. All other reproduction is a violation of LEAD s intellectual property. 2

3 THE LEAD Learning Seminar A February 16-17, 2018 Welcome to the LEAD Journey Learning Seminar. This seminar will include time with your congregational team, your cohort, and the whole community. We are looking forward to three cohorts meeting together. Time Cohort 1, Seminar D Cohort 2, Seminar B Cohort 3, Seminar A Friday 5:30p Welcome & Intros Welcome & Intros Welcome & Intros 6:00 Dinner Together Dinner Together Dinner Together 6:45 1. Three R s of Leadership 1. Three R s of Leadership 1. Three R s of Leadership 7:45 Break Break Break 8:00 2. Learning Together 2. Learning Together 2. Intro to The Tune In Process 9:00 Spiritual Pilgrims Spiritual Pilgrims Spiritual Pilgrims 9:15 Network, Relax, Rest Network, Relax, Rest Network, Relax, Rest Saturday 9:00a Spiritual Pilgrims Spiritual Pilgrims Spiritual Pilgrims 9:30 3. Three Types of Core Values 3. Spiritual Types 3. Tune In, Steps 1-4 Break 10:45 4. Purpose, Goals, Alignment 4. Tuning in, Steps Becoming a Storyteller 12:00p Lunch Lunch Lunch 1:15 5. Making an Action Plan 5. Meeting the Neighbors 5. Team Dynamics 1:45 6. Trouble Shooting Action Plan 6. Going Viral 6. Commitments & Expectations Break Break Break 2:30 Making a Plan including staff and council Making a Plan get out of the church, 3 weeks, Making a Plan get out of the church, 3 weeks, 3:00 Spiritual Pilgrims Spiritual Pilgrims Spiritual Pilgrims 3:30 Buen Camino Buen Camino Buen Camino 3

4 LEAD Learning Seminar Scripture Reading Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8: Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go over to this chariot and join it. 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, Do you understand what you are reading? 31 He replied, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. 34 The eunuch asked Philip, About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized? 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Peter and Cornelius Acts 10:1-36 In Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian Cohort, as it was called. 2 He was a devout man who feared God with all his household; he gave alms generously to the people and prayed constantly to God. 3 One afternoon at about three o clock he had a vision in which he clearly saw an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius. 4 He stared at him in terror and said, What is it, Lord? He answered, Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa for a certain Simon who is called Peter; 6 he is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside. 7 When the angel who spoke to him had left, he called two of his slaves and a devout soldier from the ranks of those who served him, 8 and after telling them everything, he sent them to Joppa. 9 About noon the next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat; and while it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw the heaven opened 4

5 and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 Then he heard a voice saying, Get up, Peter; kill and eat. 14 But Peter said, By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean. 15 The voice said to him again, a second time, What God has made clean, you must not call profane. 16 This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven. 17 Now while Peter was greatly puzzled about what to make of the vision that he had seen, suddenly the men sent by Cornelius appeared. They were asking for Simon s house and were standing by the gate. 18 They called out to ask whether Simon, who was called Peter, was staying there. 19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, Look, three men are searching for you. 20 Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them. 21 So Peter went down to the men and said, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for your coming? not call anyone profane or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. Now may I ask why you sent for me? 30 Cornelius replied, Four days ago at this very hour, at three o clock, I was praying in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling clothes stood before me. 31 He said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. 32 Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter; he is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. 33 Therefore I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. So now all of us are here in the presence of God to listen to all that the Lord has commanded you to say. 34 Then Peter began to speak to them: I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ he is Lord of all. 22 They answered, Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say. 23 So Peter invited them in and gave them lodging. Copied from Bible Gateway, NRSV The next day he got up and went with them, and some of the believers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 The following day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 On Peter s arrival Cornelius met him, and falling at his feet, worshiped him. 26 But Peter made him get up, saying, Stand up; I am only a mortal. 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found that many had assembled; 28 and he said to them, You yourselves know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or to visit a Gentile; but God has shown me that I should 5

6 R Resistance Relationships Remarkable Session 1: Three R s of Leadership Resistance, from The War on Art (no page #) by Steven Pressfield Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance. Resistance is the most toxic force on the planet. It is the root of more unhappiness than poverty, disease, and erectile dysfunction. To yield to Resistance, deforms our spirit. It stunts us and makes us less than we are and were born to be. If you believe in God (and I do), you must declare Resistance evil, for it prevents us from achieving the life God intended when God endowed each of us with our own unique genius. Genius is a Latin word; the Romans used it to denote an inner spirit, holy and inviolable, which watches over us, guiding us to our calling. A writer writes with his genius; an artist paints with hers; everyone who creates operates from this sacramental center. It is our soul s seat, the vessel that holds our being-in-potential, our star s beacon and Polaris. There are two ways to deal with resistance, from Linchpin (pp ) by Seth Godin The first approach: seek reassurance. If you are worried about something, indulge the worry by asking people to prove that everything is going to be okay. Check in constantly, measure and repeat. Is everything okay? Reward the anxiety with reassurance and positive feedback. Of course, this just leads to more anxiety, because everyone likes reassurance and positive feedback. The second approach is to sit with the anxiety, don t run from it. Acknowledge it, befriend it. It s there, you re used to it, move on. No rewards for worriers. No water to put out this particular fire. The problem with reassurance is that it creates a cycle that never ends. Reassure me about one issue and you can bet I ll find something else to worry about. Reassurance doesn't address the issue of anxiety; in fact, it exacerbates it. You have an itch and you scratch it. The itch is a bother, the scratch feels good, and so you repeat it forever, until you are bleeding. The idea of sitting with your anxiety appears to be ludicrous, at least at first. To sit with something so uncomfortable isn t natural. The more you sit, the worse it gets. Without water, the fire rages. Throughout, you remain placid. The anxiety is there, it s real, but you merely acknowledge it. You don t flatter it with rationalization or even adrenaline. It just is, and you embrace it, like a hot day at the beach (or a cold day in Minnesota). Then an interesting thing happens. It burns itself out. The anxiety can t sustain itself forever, especially when morning comes and your house hasn't been invaded, when the speech is over and you haven t been laughed at, when the review is complete and you haven t been fired. Reality is the best reassurance of all. Over time the cycle is broken. The resistance knows that the anxiety trick doesn t work anymore, especially if you re friendly to the anxiety. Pretty quickly, the anxiety cycles start to diminish and eventually peters themselves out. Don t ask me to tell you that everything is going to be all right. I have no idea, for starters. And my palliative option actually will make your anxiety worse in the long run. 6

7 Notes and Ref lections: Session 1: Three R s of Leadership 7

8 The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. - Mark 12: NIV LEAD s Four Growth Indicators for Vital Behaviors The Three-Year Journey Each LEAD Journey has a ten-step process that may be accompanied by a professional coach to successfully take on new behaviors for growth in discipleship and to join in God s mission. Loving God with all of our heart calls us to listen The Tune In Process Listen to God in scripture, in prayer, in the congregation, and in the neighborhood Shift from inward to outward focus Launch experiments with new learnings and partners Loving God with all of our soul calls us to center The Wake Up Process Clarify congregational purpose and values Align congregation for mission Articulate congregational identity Loving God with all our mind calls us to explore The Dig Down Process Deepen Christian frame and theology through Bible Study Streamline systems for strategic ministry, includes staffing and governance Increase commitment and generosity Loving God with all of our strength calls us to connect The Work Out Process Create trust to extend hospitality with openness for diversity Expand comfort zone through strong relational connections Tell the congregation s story through effective communication 8

9 Ref lections: Session 2: Introduction to Tune In 9

10 Ref lections from the day: Spiritual Pilgrims 10

11 Session 3: The LEAD Tune In Process Focus on Steps 1-4 Notes and Ref lections: 11

12 Ref lection: (Growing, Becoming, Out of Breath, Stalled) Understanding the LEAD Assessment Report The LEAD Assessment measures what your congregation says about itself regarding the Four Growth Indicators for Vital Behaviors. This 20-question digital assessment may be taken in paper format and entered into the computer by a trusted congregational leader. Resources to promote the assessment are available on your webpage including: Bulletin inserts News release Slide for projection C onnecting this to being loved by a remarkable God: Embracing new operating systems within shifting relational rings Practicing non-dualistic thinking as you move to a higher level of consciousness Leading experiments with a growth mindset LEAD understands this is linked to 4 Growth Indicators: Listening to God in scripture and prayer, in the congregation, and in the neighborhood Centering with a clear purpose, core values, and alignment Exploring systems that hold us, including theology, staffing, governance, and generosity Connecting deepening discipleship and expanding relationships 12

13 Session 4: Becoming a Storyteller Faith sharing is a way of describing spiritual transformation. Christian transformation is both initial and ongoing. Our initial transformation or change by Christ is celebrated in Baptism. But that is not the only experience of transformation we have. We experience smaller changes within our life of faith. These smaller changes are often shared through storytelling. From Through To The basic structure of Christian transformation, according to Adrian Van Kaam and Susan Muto, can be understood as FROM THROUGH TO. When we change, we move FROM one way of being in relationship with God and others TO another way of being in relationship with God and others. Finally, we go THROUGH a wide range of experiences as we move FROM the one way of being TO the new way of being. The THROUGH is the main body of a faith story. From Judgmental Depressed Foolish Selfish Empty Gluttonous Entitled Fearful Short-tempered Uncaring To Merciful Joy-filled Wise Generous Fulfilled Temperate Grateful Courageous Patient Compassionate Here are some examples of what a Christian person might change from and change to: There are five essential ingredients to a complete and authentic Christian transformation experience. These ingredients, shown in the diagram below, are expressed in the content of a good faith story. They are ingredients in the soup of Christian transformation as one moves from through and to new life in Christ. 13 Copyright Jim Merhaut, All rights served. Used with permission.

14 Tell your story Session 4: Becoming a Storyteller Think about one significant transformation that has happened in your life. Describe in a single phrase how you transformed FROM one way of being in relationship with God and others TO a new way of being in relationship with God and others. I was transformed FROM TO. As you moved THROUGH the process of transformation How was an experience of love the foundation for your transformation? Who inspired your transformation? Which Gospel stories, sayings, or themes connect with your transformation? How did your experience of community deepen because of your transformation? How has your Christian mission matured or developed because of your transformation? Copyright Jim Merhaut, All rights served. Used with permission. 14

15 Session 5: Team Dynamics Notes and Ref lections: 15

16 Session 6: Commitments & Expectations Our Leadership Culture Commitment and Expectations By Pastor David Hansen The goal is to create an agreement about the commitment and expectations with less focus on specific actions and more intentionality on creating a culture that fosters collaboration and creativity. Why do we need a shared commitment and expectations? What kind of culture do we want to create? Take minutes to brainstorm your answers to these questions by making a list in both columns. Be clear about your needs and expectations of others. Members of this group should be Members of the group should NOT be How does this relate to the 5 Disfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni? 16

17 Our shared values are: Work with the whole team to name shared values that will create a collaborative culture. What is your commitment to do the work necessary for a successful LEAD Journey? How will each of you commit to living out these values / character traits in your work together? 17

18 The LEAD Process Step Notes

19 Team Contact Information Name Cell Phone Address 19

20 Agenda for: (Date/Location) Step / Topic Presenter Action Completion Date Opening faith practice Reflections on what we have learned since the last meeting Action items before next meeting Congregational messaging Next meeting Closing prayer 20

21 Making a Congregational Map Month / Season Already on the Map LEAD Journey Communication 21

22 The Next 15 Weeks Week of Action Plan February 25 March 4 March 11 March 18 March 25 Palm Sunday April 1 Easter April 8 April 15 April 22 April 29 May 6 May 13 May 20 May 26 November 26 22

23 Communication Plan and Timeline Make a Communication Plan Month Core Messages Methods Communicators Resources Needed March April Your Communication Strategy includes as many different delivery systems as possible. Check all that are available for use in your congregation: May June Prayers Monthly council updates July Face to face Sermon Video screens in worship Worship bulletin Newsletter E-newsletter Bulletin boards August Sept. Oct. Temple talks Website Nov. Facebook Other social media Blogs Special meetings Adult forums or classes Other Other Dec. Jan. Feb. March 23

24 Next Steps wit h your LEAD C oach and Notes 24

25 Next Steps wit h your LEAD C oach and Notes 25

26 Next Steps wit h your LEAD C oach and Notes Resources to Check Out: 1. Your LEAD Webpage is located at waytolead.org. Go to the synod tab, click on your synod s name, and use your password to access all the resources from this seminar and other tools to support your leadership. Your password is: demd 2. For your personal devotions, we recommend daily posts from the Center for Action and Contemplation written by Fr. Richard Rohr. 3. For your personal, family, and staff reflection, we recommend using the practice of Dwelling in the Word or Daily Gratitude. 26

27 Learning Scripture Prayer Worship Spirituality of Leadership Personal and Group Reflection Christian leadership is not rooted in management techniques, marketing tools, or administrative skills. Christian leadership is rooted in our faith. As we lead the congregations we serve, we are called to grow in faith tending to the life of our spirit. Are you worshiping regularly? When is the last time you invited someone to worship? How does your leadership team worship together? What are your personal prayer practices? Your family prayer practices? When is the last time you asked someone to help you pray? How does your leadership team pray together? How do you make space for reading, praying, studying the Bible in your life? What would have to shift for you to spend 5 more minutes each day reading the Bible? How does your leadership team engage the Bible together? What have you read recently that has fed your spirit? When is the last time you asked someone to teach you about a topic or skill that you were unsure of? How does your leadership team learn together? 27

28 LEAD Growing leaders with deep, bold, consequential faith in Jesus Christ Empowering Christian Leaders, Transforming Faith Communities, Influencing the World