Debra Wallace-Padgett A Guideline for Discerning an Episcopal Nominee from our Annual Conference Developed by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy In light of the need for apostolic leadership for the United Methodist Church and in the spirit of the call for the renewal of the United Methodist Church from all corners of our church, the Southeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy asks that every delegation from the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference prayerfully examine potential Episcopal nominees with the following criteria. At the 2012 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference each nominee will be asked to give tangible evidence of: 1. A life and ministry rooted in Wesleyan theology, spirituality and practice. 2. A proven record of pastoral fruitfulness. (Increase in worship attendance, professions of faith, small groups, etc) 3. A demonstrated spiritual gift of leadership. (Give examples of ministry context where spiritual leaders where enlisted, equipped, and released for a Kingdom task) 4. A demonstrated willingness to be held accountable for results and an ability to hold others accountable, with grace, for their results (staff or volunteers) 5. A track record of doing the right thing in difficult situations 6. An exposure to the Annual, Jurisdictional and General Conference. (Cabinet experience, service on a committee, board or agency, etc) 7. An experience in the global United Methodist Church communion. (Short- term mission teams, UMVIM, UMCOR, etc)
1. A life and ministry rooted in Wesleyan theology, spirituality and practice. I am a 5 th generation Methodist. My father and uncle are both United Methodist elders. My husband is a deacon. My brother is a United Methodist bi- vocational pastor. My mother, other siblings, children, several aunts, an uncle, cousins, nieces and nephews are active lay persons in the United Methodist Church. Several of my grandparents, great- grandparents and great- great- grandparents were Methodists. I have swum in the waters of Wesleyan theology, spirituality and practice since the day I was born. Theology: I had the privilege of studying and receiving degrees from 2 graduate schools grounded in the Wesleyan heritage. The first was my launching pad for ministry in the United Methodist Church: M.A. in Christian Education from Scarritt College and Graduate School. The second came following a M. Div. from a Disciples of Christ seminary and 14 years of ministry in the local church: D. Min. in Spiritual Formation from Asbury Theological Seminary. I am Wesleyan through and through. That outcome is a combination of two influences. 1) I was exposed to the Wesleyan tradition from my earliest days (literally). 2) As in my adulthood I have learned more about other denominations and faiths, I have become increasingly convinced that Wesleyan theology, spirituality and practice is the most balanced and comprehensive expression of Christianity available. We have much in common with other Christians. We also have a distinctive gift to offer the worldwide Christian movement. Some Wesleyan theological themes that I especially value are: 1) our understanding of the prevenient, justifying, sanctifying and glorifying grace of God; 2) the Wesleyan quadrilateral; and 3) the balance in calling for both personal piety and social holiness. Spirituality: The early Methodist way included an emphasis on the methodical observance of spiritual disciplines. Over the years holy habits including Bible study, prayer, worship, serving and giving have become integrated into my life as regularly as eating 3 meals a day and sleeping 7 hours at night. I have discovered that as I intentionally open myself to God s presence through the regular practice of holy habits, my relationship with God grows. The early Methodists also practiced social holiness in working to transform their society. True holiness always includes the social dimension. The church I serve offers me multiple opportunities to express this side of my Wesleyan heritage through a new ministry with immigrants and refugees, hunger ministries, empowerment ministries and more. In addition to that I have frequent opportunities to apply my faith to social issues in my teaching and daily life. Practice: Methodist theology permeates my preaching, teaching and lifestyle. Themes that I hope to embody in my relationships with others and in my leadership in the church include living a grace- filled and ethical life, positively influencing and interacting with
social issues, offering Christ to others, practicing the Sacraments, ministering with the poor and developing the corporate life in the church. 2. A proven record of pastoral fruitfulness (increase in worship attendance, professions of faith, small groups, etc.) Any lasting record of fruitfulness is the direct result of God at work. It also is reflective of present and past pastors, lay persons and staff who have faithfully and prayerfully sown seeds at St. Luke UMC for 35 plus years and Paris First UMC for nearly 2 centuries. Weekly Worship Attendance: The St. Luke UMC average weekly worship attendance has grown 9% in the past 8 years. This has involved turning around after 9 consecutive years of steady decline in worship attendance. With the new multicultural worship service that launched in February, 2012 and a 5th worship service in the works to launch in September, St. Luke's Evangelism leadership projects that the average weekly worship attendance will grow an additional 9% by the end of 2012. The average worship attendance of the Paris First United Methodist Church increased 17% during my 3 years as their pastor (1995-1998). Monthly Worship Attendance: The average number of persons who worship at St. Luke UMC once or more a month has increased by 42% since 2004. We are tracking this metric because of increased mobility in our church and society. Many of our active members are travelling out of state (and in some instances internationally) multiple weekends a year. Professions of Faith: 29% of the new members who have joined St. Luke UMC since 2004 have been received by profession of faith. More than 50% of the new members who joined Paris First UMC from 1995-1998 did so by profession of faith. Church Membership: The St. Luke UMC membership has grown 42% during the past 8 years. This included a merger which resulted in 7% of that growth. The Paris First UMC s membership grew by 7% from 1995-1998. Giving: St. Luke UMC s budget giving has increased by 38% since 2004. Our mission giving has increased by 197%. In addition we have received $2,143,000 in capital funds that have been directed to our Life Center expansion and sanctuary renovation. The Paris UMC s overall giving increased by 40% from 1995-1998.
3. A demonstrated spiritual gift of leadership. (Give examples of ministry context where spiritual leaders were enlisted, equipped, and released for a kingdom task.) I have had the opportunity to grow and practice the spiritual gift of leadership in the past 8 years as lead pastor at St. Luke UMC. Our leaders have developed a leadership model in which a group of between 8 and 12 trusted leaders nominated by the church at large and interviewed and selected by a selection team serves the function of a church council or administrative board. We study together, laugh (lots), cry (occasionally) and hold each other accountable for personal discipleship growth goals. Our group covenant frames how we operate as a team. We focus on macro- level leadership priorities by recognizing that other teams in our church are charged and equipped to do technical work. We recognize that our primary task is to discern and cast a Godly vision and then under God s leadership, lead others toward it. Over the past seven years this team has met an average of 4-6 hours per month. In addition to growing into a collaborative team, some of the tangible outcomes of our work together include: 1) Discerning our church s vision, values and goals; 2) Developing a vision driven organizational structure, staff and process; 3) Leading our congregation in building a Life Center that has doubled our discipleship and outreach space; 4) Establishing church- wide priorities and initiatives; 5) Creating a healthy decision- making process that permeates the entire organization; and 6) Launching a multicultural worship service designed to reach immigrants and refugees. This model has changed the practice of ministry at St. Luke UMC in multiple ways. 1) Thanks to our commitment to investing upfront time in team formation, we are able to make hard decisions effectively and efficiently. The turnaround time for team decisions is often 2 weeks or less. 2) This team of big picture thinkers is freed from the technical work that often prevents leadership teams from staying focused on the vision. 3) The Lead Pastor teams with a group of capable and trusted leaders in leading the church. 4) The team members look forward to attending leadership meetings... are fully engaged in the meetings... treat each other with respect, care and candor... and make most decisions by consensus. Enlisting, recruiting and releasing these spiritual leaders for ministry at St. Luke UMC and beyond has been one of the greatest joys and most fruitful investments of my 29+ years as a church leader.
4. A demonstrated willingness to be held accountable for results and an ability to hold others accountable, with grace, for their results (staff or volunteers). I currently lead 2 major leadership teams at the church I serve. The 8 person Directors team consists of key ministry staff. The 11 person Servant Leadership Team (Church Council) is made up of 9 lay persons, 1 staff member and me. It is our practice to include a segment of each team meeting for personal accountability sharing. The accountability portion of the meeting is a 21 st century version of the early Methodist practice of asking, How is it with your soul? Accountability time sounds something like this in our Directors meetings. Last week you asked us to hold you accountable to a), b) and c). How did it go? I did great on a, okay on b, and failed miserably on c. Hold me accountable again to b and c during the next week, please. The process continues until everyone in the room has had the opportunity to give an update on their accountability requests. Another place in which I hold persons accountable and ask to be held accountable is through work plans. Each person I supervise has developed a plan that includes 1) desired results and 2) strategies to meet the results. This is a go- to document for conversation when pinch points occur and differences in expectations arise between a staff member and his/her supervisor. I also have developed my own work plan that I periodically share with the Staff- Parish Relationships Committee, Directors Team and Servant Leadership Team. It is a tool that helps these groups to understand my priorities, expected results and strategies. If they recognize that a needed result is missing, the work plan provides a springboard for discussing this. In the Fall of 2010, our ministry staff and Servant Leadership Team (SLT) chair engaged in a process that moved us forward several notches in our metrics work. We particularly made headway in determining clear definitions for our discipleship process. After clarifying definitions we developed several metrics within each category of the process. Our discipleship process includes 4 categories. 1) Build- Ministries that build relationships with persons disconnected from the Body of Christ; 2) Introduce- Ministries that connect people to Jesus and His Church; 3) Grow and Equip- Ministries that equip individuals to grow in Christ and prepare to serve others; 4) Going Forth- Ministries that serve others and shepherd those who serve. Craig Robertson from SLI (Spiritual Leadership Inc.) met with us 8 hours per month for 12 months beginning in the Summer 2010. The focus was around adaptive learning and work. This process was both challenging and transformational for us. It has resulted in our ministry staff deepening our understanding of our vision, values and strategies. This has helped us to develop meaningful, measurable metrics by which to measure our effectiveness in moving toward our vision.
5. A track record of doing the right thing in difficult situations. Doing the right thing in difficult situations is a daily challenge. It begins by remembering whose I am (God s) and who I am representing (Jesus Christ). It is accomplished only as God s Holy Spirit gives me the strength and grace to live a life of high character. Consistency in doing the right thing flows out of a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. The Vine/branches metaphor from John 15 comes to mind. I have discovered that I am better able to do the right thing in difficult situations when I am closely connected to the Vine. For instance, I remember my first senior pastor appointment. After 11 years as a staff member in a large church, I was appointed to a medium- sized congregation with 4 part- time staff. It was lonely until I began to connect in deepened ways to the Vine. That action kept me balanced and grounded during a year of huge transition. It also helped me to do the right thing when faced with tough decisions in other areas of ministry and life. Then there was the time in my tenure as a District Superintendent that the right thing to do was to remove a pastor from a church. When his Staff- Parish Relations Committee Chair called me about the situation, I was deeply saddened for the pastor, his spouse, the church and the Annual Conference. But because of some significant boundary- crossing that had occurred, there was only one right thing to do- help him exit ministry. That was followed by providing appropriate after care to the members of the congregation. It also involved being forthright... offering care to other pastors in the District who were hurt, angered and disappointed in what he had done... and making sure that appropriate persons reached out to both the pastor and his spouse. It was a difficult time for all involved. But the right thing to do was clear. More recently, I have led the St. Luke UMC through a building program. Less than 3 months after we launched our first capital campaign, the United States entered our most significant recession since The Great Depression. Doing the right thing in this difficult economic climate involved communicating with the appropriate persons, following the steps outlined in The Book of Discipline and pacing the process in a manner that allowed the majority of the congregation to stay on board with our decision to expand. This has required consistency and a steady hand. At points during the process I have remembered a comment made by Bishop Dan Solomon in a tumultuous moment of the 2000 General Conference. He repeated several times, Hold steady. Hold steady. When a leader holds steady, they increase the likelihood of doing the right thing. Yes, doing the right thing can be difficult in challenging situations. The strength to consistently make right decisions requires a close and daily connection with the Vine.
6. An exposure to the Annual, Jurisdictional and General Conference (Cabinet experience, service on a committee, board or agency, etc.) Annual Conference Service: District Superintendent- 6 years; Dean of the Cabinet- 2 years Episcopacy Committee Chair- 4 years Board of Ministries Member- 14 years; Executive Team- 12 years Board of Ministries- District Committee on Ministries sub- team chair- 8 years District Committee on Ministries chair- 9 years Primary Task Team- 6 years Vital Church Network Chair- 2 years Methodist Home Board 8 yrs; chair 2 years Discipleship Team- 4 years Children and Poverty Board- 2 years Education Chair- 4 years Summer Camp Dean- 3 years SEJ Service: Episcopacy Committee- 4 years Intentional Growth Center- 12 years, chair- 2 years Clergy Women Consultation Steering Team- 1 year General Church Service: General Commission on Status and Role of Women, 8 years Executive Committee of the Interjurisdictional Committee on the Episcopacy- 4 years World Methodist Council Member General Conference and SEJ Conference delegate in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012. First clergy elected in 2008 and 2012.
7. An experience in the global United Methodist Church communion (short term mission teams, UMVIM, UMCOR, etc.) My most significant personal experience in the global United Methodist Church communion is occurring currently in the St. Luke UMC in Central Kentucky. It began 8 years ago when I became acquainted with a handful of persons from Africa who were an integral part of my new appointment. In addition a couple of years later Rev. Reid Buchanan, a deacon with experience in community development at home and on the continent of Africa, connected at St. Luke UMC. Eventually, Reid joined our staff as Director of Build and Introduce. Three years ago, Reid brought to our staff a plan to reach immigrants and refugees in the Central Kentucky area through ministry and a new worship service. His vision fueled our passion to connect with this target group. We committed to do more than provide space for this service. We envisioned that this new worship service and the people it reached would become an integral part of our congregation. Reid and a team he built began to offer a monthly multicultural gathering in November, 2010. A core group emerged who committed to take the next step of moving the monthly gatherings to a weekly service. We approached the Kentucky Conference New Church and Congregational Development team to request that they consider partnering with us by helping to fund a half- time position for a multi- cultural pastor. They graciously approved our proposal and in June, 2011 our Bishop and Cabinet appointed an ordained United Methodist elder, Rev. Harun Gatobu, who is originally from Kenya. He and his family have added much to our staff and congregation. Harun, Reid and their team worked together for several months to move the multicultural service to a weekly service. Simultaneously they developed a partnership with the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the Kentucky Refugees Ministries to teach English as Second Language classes. The launch Sunday for the weekly service was mid- February, 2012. It was a glorious day with 110 persons from 19 nations present. Our city newspaper described it this way. The reading began in English. John 3:16: God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Slowly, the Bible verse traveled around the worship center and the globe as it was repeated in the languages of Kenya, Senegal, the Congo, Bhutan, Nigeria and Ethiopia. The newspaper did not report this next part- but it was a highlight to the worship experience. A group from a refugee camp in Nepal, Asia was present who had not previously heard the Gospel. What a powerful moment it was for them as they listened to one of their group members read John 3:16 in their native language. As Harun said, Many people understand when we speak the language of love to them. 8 years ago I did not anticipate that the opportunity for an ongoing global United Methodist communion experience would be offered at the church I serve in Lexington, Kentucky. Yet by God s grace that is happening. It is changing both the congregation and me in positive ways.