Living Theology
in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church
In America
Vol. 5 No. 2
Autumn 2000
Reflections on Synod Assembly 2000
Synod Assembly Leadership
Event: What was it all About?
John A. Holm
The
Metropolitan Chicago Synod Assembly 2000
included a daylong leadership event in which pastors, lay delegates to the
Assembly and other leaders of our congregational and institutional ministries
were invited. As one of the members of the planning group for this daylong event, I would like to share our objectives and the reasons we
ultimately chose the program that we
offered. As I share my thoughts and personal evaluation, I emphasize that I do
not speak for the planning team, but for myself.
One
of the things that past Assemblies have offered to Assembly delegates and visitors in many and various ways
were opportunities for practical
growth and opportunities to learn about ministries. Typically these events
lasted anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour.
These proved fruitful for many people as they were able to bring ideas and
excitement back to their own ministry settings. Thus, in addition to the
business of the Synod which we attend to at a Synod Assembly, the Synod has
found it beneficial to offer some
education and growth opportunities for those leaders in attendance.
As
the planners thought about this
portion of the Assembly we realized that too often only the delegates to the
Assembly attended these growth
events. One objective of this year’s daylong event was to gather a larger and broader group of leaders within
our Synod to participate in an event
that would provide support for ministry in Jesus’ name and that would do so
with more depth than can be achieved in a short presentation.
There
were many appropriate topics to
choose from that would fit such an
event. We chose to raise up leadership, in order to thank, equip, inspire, and
celebrate leaders through their ministries of discipleship development.
Why
leadership development? I believe that leadership development is one of the
keys to growing healthy and faithful ministries that honor God and serve the
mission of the church. Why discipleship development? Growing faithful,
knowledgeable, and active disciples is part of the mission of the Metropolitan
Chicago Synod, and I am assuming,
most of our congregational ministries.
Thanking Leaders
Inviting
leaders to give a day to leadership development is, in itself, an important way
to thank and honor them. By inviting those who are leaders both formally and
informally, we tell them that they
are important to the fulfillment of the mission in their context and in the
wider mission of the church. In my own context, I was able to affirm my leaders as I invited them and then
thanked them for giving of themselves for a day devoted to God and their
mission of serving God.
Equipping Leaders
At
Shepherd of the Lakes Church at which
I am honored to serve, we believe that when we call people into ministry we
need to help equip them with the tools necessary to fulfill their mission. We
provide up-front training and equipping for those new to a ministry as well as
monthly leadership equipping events for all leaders.
During
the course of this daylong Synod Assembly
event we sought to provide
conversation and tools relating to the
topic of discipleship development. We felt that one way to do this was to learn
from a ministry leader who has had success in raising up faithful,
knowledgeable, and active disciples. There are many ministries in the church at
large that do this, but we decided
to choose a ministry within the ELCA. We thus chose Michael Foss from Prince of
Peace Lutheran Church in Burnesville,
Minnesota. Pastor Foss has a thriving ministry of discipleship development, and he is experienced in providing
leadership development in this area.
We
knew that offering one presenter for
the entire day would preclude offering a broad variety of approaches to
discipleship development. On the
other hand, we also knew that a single presenter
could share more depth of what his/her church does and why. All choices are limiting. Choosing a broad approach with
little time results in diversity but no depth. Focusing on one thing for a daylong event results in depth without diversity. I believe that there are appropriate times for either and that there are also times for a compromise of the two.
In
offering the event as we did, I
believe that we gave our leaders the
opportunity to see how one particular ministry
sees the call to discipleship development and how that ministry goes about fulfilling the call in its context. It was my hope
that this would provide insight, conversation, and self-evaluation of the ministries in which the gathered
leaders of the Synod are engaged. I believe that when we give leaders the
opportunity to see a ministry
in-depth, those leaders can evaluate
and grow their own ministries.
Inspiring Leaders
Leaders
are inspired in many ways. Hearing the call to lead a ministry of purpose is inspiring
in itself. Calling leaders together to learn, grow, and strategize about
discipleship development is inspiring. Seeing and hearing about a particular
ministry can inspire others to the possibilities for their own ministries.
Hearing stories of successful discipleship ministries by a leader who is
faithful and passionate can bring hope and courage to leaders who work
tirelessly themselves and who need to see other visions for carrying out the
mission of the church.
Inspiration
also comes through honoring and worshipping God. Thus, we offered worship in the form of praise songs, prayer, and
closing worship. Since the prayer and worship opportunities offered on Friday
of the Assembly and at the Service of Ordination on Friday evening were of a more traditional nature, the planning
committee felt it would be beneficial to offer a different style of worship at the Saturday event. I realize that
there are numerous styles of worship
in addition to traditional and contemporary offered up to honor and praise God
by our churches. By choosing a particular contemporary style for the Saturday
leadership event we were aware that
we were not offering up other worship
styles such as traditional, contemplative, gospel music-based, harder-edged
(post-modern worship) or those originating in many of the other cultures that
are represented in God’s creation. I
hope and expect that those styles would be offered up in future events since each style offers an invitation
and a pathway to inspire us to honor
and praise God!
I
also believe that the events of the day will inspire critical conversation among the gathered leaders. Not only
is this a way to continue to equip
the leaders, but the process of
conversation can be inspirational in itself as it moves people to share their
hearts, their critiques and their ideas for successful ministry.
Celebrate God & God’s
Leaders
By
gathering leaders within our Synod we not only celebrate God in worship. We also celebrate the leaders who have gathered to learn, grow, and serve
God, and we celebrate the mission of
discipleship development that we have been called to lead. By hearing from a
leader the insights gained in his ministries, we celebrate that ministry. By
continuing the conversation about ministry in our own context we celebrate God
and the call to our own mission.
Some Final Thoughts
The
hardworking, faithful and passionate leaders in the ministries of the
Metropolitan Chicago Synod are too important not to thank, equip, inspire, and
celebrate. I feel that one of the ways we can do this is with a daylong event
connected to the business gathering of the Synod Assembly. Judging from some of
the responses that I have personally
received from leaders, both lay and clergy, I feel that many people were served
by this event. God was honored. Conversation was initiated. Ideas were
generated.
Did
the event serve everyone? No. Can any one event serve everyone? No. Should we
take a day each year to gather leaders for growth and development? Yes. I
believe that gathering our leaders once a year for some type of growth and learning event is an
important opportunity that the Metropolitan Chicago Synod should provide.
Should the same program be offered? No. We did that, and there remain many more topics and concepts to be
offered up that will assist our leaders in the fulfillment of their mission.
John A. Holm