Staff Blog

Called to Lead: Leading Change

What does leadership have to do with hosting a youth group or a Sunday school class, you might ask? Everything. I often hear the wonderful ideas church volunteers and staff have for adapting their programming to current realities and needs of children, youth and families. There are lots of new ideas. Implementing that change is the real challenge. That’s where leadership comes in.

In our Called to Lead group meetings, we’ve been discussing Chapter 3 of John Roberto’s book, Faith Formation 2020, which outlines six leadership “competencies”: Becoming adaptive, innovative, “blue ocean”, culturally intelligent and a curator of content leader. These competencies are all drawn from writers and thinkers who teach business and government leaders; but, they are also applicable to the ministries we do in our churches.

What leadership competencies could you develop more of in yourself or on your team? What challenges have you encountered when trying to lead change in your church?

Our Common Life...

            At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

                                                                                    1 Kings 19:9

Elijah was a man of many miracles, but for sheer spectacle there’s nothing before his last chariot ride that can rival Elijah’s throw down with the prophets of Baal. During the time that Ahab was king of Israel, Baal worship was the state religion, a fact that did not sit well with Elijah, and he determined to do something about it. He challenged 450 prophets of Baal to a duel. He told them to slaughter a bull, build a pyre and put the remains of the bull on the pyre. He would do the same thing and then each side would call upon their god to ignite the pyre. Whichever god did so would be the mightier.  

Since Elijah was playing for the home team, the prophets of Baal got to go first. Despite their best efforts, and after several hours of trying, their pyre was still unlit. Finally, Elijah said “Enough! Let me show you what a real God can do;” and he cried out to the Lord, saying “Answer me, O Lord…” And answer him, the Lord did—in spectacular fashion: “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench.” (1 Kings 18:38).

As the ashes of the burning pyre cooled, Elijah put the icing on the cake—in true Old Testament fashion: “Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.’ Then they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon, and killed them there.” (1 Kings 18:40).

When Ahab told his wife, Jezebel, what Elijah had done, she was furious, and threatened to have him killed. Elijah decided that discretion was the better part of valor and fled into the desert. There he wandered for the mandatory 40 days and 40 nights, finally winding up in a cave on Mount Horeb. It was in that cave that the word of the Lord asked him that deceptively simple question: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

It seems to me that the real impact of this story doesn’t lie in Elijah’s answer. It doesn’t lie in the spectacle of the self-igniting pyre or the death of the prophets of Baal. It’s not the great wind that splits the mountains and shatters the rocks, or the earthquake or even the silence so palpable and so intense that it can actually be heard.  No, the real impact of the story is in the question itself. “What are you doing here?”

On one level this is a pretty easy question to answer. Each of us may have his or her own particular reasons for being in a particular church on a particular Sunday, but at the end of the day, those reasons are easy to articulate. “This is the church my parents belonged to;” or “All my friends go here;” or “ This is where I was conformed;” or “They don’t start serving brunch until 11:00 and I’ve got to be somewhere until then.”

On another level, however, this may be the most complex and difficult question we ever face. “Why are we here?” Why do we consider ourselves Christian rather than followers of some other creed or sect?  What does it mean to be a servant of Jesus Christ? What exactly is it that Jesus Christ demands of me? We are continually called upon to face the reality that this may be a question without an answer. It may be a question the answer to which is different today than it will be tomorrow. Whatever else it is, however, it is a question the search for the answer to which is the essence of spiritual maturity. In the answer to this question we find the reality, the core, of our faith.

“Why are you here?” For Elijah the answer was easy. For us, not so much. May the Holy Spirit be your guide as you search for it.

Tony Stoik, Associate Conference Minister/Western Iowa

Our Common Life...

I’ve been talking about the gospel of Mark in many different settings the past few weeks. In Bible studies in our local congregations, I’ve been part of discussions in which we struggled with the many stories of demons and exorcism in Mark and what those stories could possibly mean for today. I’ve heard people talk about Jesus’ need to go off by himself to pray and how we might emulate that practice.

This week in our monthly staff worship, we reflected on the lectionary text for this Sunday:  Mark 1: 40-45. A leper begs Jesus to “make him clean.” Jesus was “moved with pity,” the New Revised Standard Version states. Jesus then touches him (Outrageous!) and cures his leprosy. In our reflection, we got caught up on the word pity for a while. Many of us wished the word had been translated with a word with less negative connotations, such as compassion. Though in my heart I’d probably prefer a word change, none of us really want to be given a gift (or anything else) out of pity – it implies we are “less than” the person giving it to us.  The reality is that Jesus has some pretty harsh edges in the Gospel of Mark.

I imagine this Jesus often pounding his fist on tables and rolling his eyes. He clearly gets impatient with his seemingly clueless disciples and often ends stories with, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” to emphasize his point. Given the posture he takes with the people around him, it’s very possible that he would have actually pitied this poor leper. Jesus grasps the gospel vision in a way that others’ around him do not. This apparently makes him impatient and brusque in his dealings with those around him – even this leper.

It’s interesting that so often we typify the ideal Christian behavior as being “nice.” I wonder if that has more to do with our Scandinavian forebears who settled this land, than with Mark’s gospel.  If we use this Jesus as a role model, we’d be decidedly less “nice” than we often think we should be. This Jesus was passionate, fiery, even impatient because he knew that he had a gospel vision to impart in a short time. Why can’t we get that passionate and fiery about the gospel now and even risk offending a few people in the process of spreading it? Why can’t we be the kind of leaders who have a broad, radical vision of church that takes people into uncharted, even uncomfortable territory? Why can’t we get a little impatient with people’s inability to change in order to get our point across a little more quickly? If we did, church members just might be a little more fiery and passionate in their living of the gospel.

Nicole Havelka, Associate Conference Minister Youth and Young Adult Ministries

Our Common Life...

Money – it’s called filthy lucre for understandable reasons.  It literally passes through many hands…so I’m sure it’s bacteria laden (though most of us have no reluctance to take it in hand – disease risk or not!).

But I doubt that literal contamination gave rise to this expression.  Money – its actual possession and the striving to get it – can easily corrode the soul.  We all know that, even if most of us believe ourselves resistant to its corrosive effects.

Some folk think the Bible condemns money as the root of all evil.  That’s a distortion of what it really says.  In I Timothy the writer says, “The LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evil….” and in its pursuit some have “pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Life is abundant with anecdotal confirmation of Paul’s warning.

But it’s also true that money can be used to accomplish great good.  From the feeding of hungry people, to the building of great institutions of learning, to the commissioning of stunning works of art – money has been and is used to enrich the welfare of humankind.

It can also be used to underwrite life-transforming ministry. 

So why does it seem there is never enough for this last ennobling purpose? 

I think there are many reasons – far too many to list here.  Partly, however, persons and organizations in Christian ministry find themselves (ourselves!) underfunded for a reluctance to ask in a legitimately persuasive way.  In church we are frequently given to a dreamy sort of naiveté in which we imagine that God will provide without our agency in the process.  It’s as if we imagine ourselves as too pure to involve ourselves in “filthy lucre” business – so we leave it to God….which really means that we hope it takes care of itself. 

It’s not true, of course, that the Bible ever says that “God helps those who help themselves” but like many human adages, this one contains a germ of truth. 

To a stunning extent, life in contemporary America revolves around money.  We spend countless time every week hearing and thinking about its acquisition and its use.  It’s no exaggeration to say that we are immersed every day in money-messages.  Well….every day but Sunday morning!  To attend a typical church is enter a money-talk-free zone – and I think that’s atrocious.  The claims of the gospel – of Jesus – assert relevance to every aspect of life, including money.  I think that if we as church got serious about talking about money – not so much the need of the church to have more, but rather thoughtful and faithful teaching on its uses and abuses – we would find our “relevancy rates” to soar.

Even though I don’t think church talk on money should mostly be about our own needs, we do need the courage and conviction to appropriately address those needs.  On March 2 and 3, Rev. Steve Gray, recently retired Conference Minister from the Indiana-Kentucky Conference of the UCC will lead a seminar in Ames entitled “More Money for Your Ministry.”  This 24-hour long seminar promises to be practical and realistic.  What it won’t do is offer easy answers – because there are no easy answers to legitimate fundraising.  If you and your church have a vision for ministry for which you require more funding, then you – pastor and lay representatives – need to come to this event.  Effective fundraising requires a real partnership between pastor and lay leaders, so we are requiring that all participating churches come with both their pastor and at least one layperson. 

I hope to see you in Ames next month!

 Rich Pleva, Iowa Conference Minister

Our Common Life...

I’m writing to you on the 25^th of January, the day marked for commemorating the conversion of St. Paul.   This morning, as I move from my prayer table to my work table, I’m still wondering all sorts of things about conversion and about what a commemoration of St. Paul’s conversion might look like in our lives and in our churches.  What do you think?

It’s a good day to spend time with the stories of St. Paul’s conversion.   I am drawn again and again to story in Acts 9 of Ananias, sent by God to welcome Saul of Tarsus, a changed man.  It’s a story that includes lessons on how deliciously difficult, how full of fear and wonder, the holy work of welcoming can be!  And of how changed a man can become through welcoming another changed man.

The idea of conversion is a tricky one for us to get hold of.  Very, very few of us would describe ourselves as converts to Christianity.  There is a fair amount of spiritual mischief to be found in being among those who understand ourselves to be “already here”.   It is one thing to be steadfast in faith and quite something else to be satisfied, stuck, and immune to the yearnings of the Spirit that might include for us such large changes of heart, mind, and spirit that they would well be described as conversions.

I can imagine praying this day to be converted, to be a Christian converted to discipleship.  I can imagine the Church being used by the Spirit in the holy work of converting dear folk who inherited some Christianity from our grandparents into disciples.  Into disciples so steeped in Scripture, in daily prayer and weekly worship, in life-changing service, that we are a strong brew.  Into disciples, who wholly seek and follow Jesus.  Into converts whose conversion is highly contagious.

 God, may I keep changing toward your will, in small daily decisions and enormous life choices.  Grant me the grace to be a convertible at your service.  Amen.

Jonna Jensen, Associate Conference Minister