Book Review: The Mission Always Wins

 

Information about the book

The Mission Always Winds: Quit Appeasing Stakeholders by Tod Bolsinger.  Intervarsity Press. Downers Grove, Illinois. 2024

Summary

From Amazon: Every organization faces pivotal moments that can either blur their vision or strengthen their resolve. Through insightful storytelling, engaging illustrations, and practical exercises, Bolsinger helps you cut through the noise to hone in on what truly matters—your mission. The Mission Always Wins isn't just about theory; it's packed with real-life case studies and actionable advice, so you can foster alignment and purpose within your team. The Mission Always Wins is your go-to guide for learning to navigate the choppy waters of organizational change with precision and purpose.

Impressions

This is one of a series of four books in Bolsinger's Practicing Change Series.  In a world where we often strive for win-win situations, attempt to please everyone, and placate those who are invested in what we are doing, this book reminds us that the mission should always win. Every. Time.

Here are some quotes:

• At those times, the desire to find a win-win solution was not actually a solution to a real problem but a way that leaders unconsciously tried to lower the conflict of the moment.
• Every time, in every decision, the key question is: Does it further our mission?
• [A mission statement is] a clear purpose and reason for being that comes out of the core values and summaries the core ideology of the organization.  It captures what endures and the specific conditions the organization faces. It is not something that is change slightly, but it is also not something that is etched in stone.

I liked this book, and would recommend it.

Book Review: How not to Waste a Crisis

Information about the book

How Not to Waste a Crisis: Quite Trying Harder by Tod Bolsinger.  Intervarsity Press. Downers Grove, Illinois. 2024

Summary

From Amazon: In a world where crises seem to be the new normal, leadership that adapts is more vital than ever. In his new book How Not to Waste a Crisis bestselling Tod Bolsinger offers a refreshing perspective on turning chaos into opportunity. Unlike a typical leadership book, How Not to Waste a Crisis is an invitation to rethink and redefine your approach to leadership in times of upheaval. What sets How Not to Waste a Crisis apart is its vibrant storytelling, engaging illustrations, and practical exercises. Each chapter brings to life real-world examples and transforms complex concepts into digestible insights.

Impressions

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been looking for something to replace one of the books I ask the CLM class to read. At first, I thought I would use Tempered Resilience (review here).  I really liked that book and would recommend it, but it is longer than other books I ask the class to read, and more detailed.  A Conference staff person (Ken) mentioned this series by the same author, so I ordered Leading Through Resistance and this book, How Not to Waste a Crisis, both part of Bolsinger's Practicing Change series. (There are two others in the series I have not read).

This is a shorter book focused on helping to lead people through a crisis - and admitting that you don't know how to do that. It's about learning in the midst of crisis instead of bringing your expertise and talents (which won't work in the crisis) to the table.  It's about ending your expert status and inviting others to join you in finding a solution through experimentation.

I liked this book, and would recommend it.

Book Review: Tempered Resilience

 Information about the book

Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change by Tod Bolsinger.  IVP, 2020.

Summary

This books leads the reader through the characteristics and needs of a leader who is leading through adaptive change. Adaptive change is that kind of change for which we have no precedent - we don't know how to solve the problems, and our usual methods for problem solving don't work well.  How do you lead a congregation through that kind of change? How do you change so that you can be that kind of leader?

Impressions

I liked this book from the moment I started reading it. The author is a Presbyterian minister, so his examples include incidences from his own experience as a church leader as well as biblical scriptures. He uses the process of steel-working to make his examples concrete.

I like that his theses and writings strike me as common sense - not easily instituted, but reasonable and not cliché. 

A few quotes:

• Leadership therefore is always about the transformation and growth of a people - starting with the leader - to develop the resilience and adaptive capacity to wisely cut through resistance and accomplish the mission of the group.  (pg 4).
• People do not resist change, per se. People resist loss.  You appear dangerous to people when you question their values, beliefs, or habits of a lifetime. (pg 22)
• While the nomenclature varies, the characteristics of transformational spiritual leaders and organizational change leaders make up a list of attributes for a tempered resilient leader: one that is grounded, teachable, attuned, adaptable, and tenacious.

I recommend this book.

Posts about book

Find my posts about the book with the tag Bolsinger Tempered.

Discouraged?

 Have you ever felt discouragement when involved in a lengthy or daunting task? What was most challenging? What kept you going?

 I remember sitting in a meeting of a few conference leaders, listening to a presentation about the new “initiatives and programs” to increase church vitality. It felt like I was listening to the same presentation from past meetings, and that we were pretending that this was all new and curative. I think church revitalization is a lengthy and daunting task, and I am often discouraged, even in my own local church.

What makes it the most challenging is that we often only see the lack of progress. There might sometimes be experiences of the Spirit and “successes,” but most often we see empty pews and the lack of children among us.

What keeps me going is when I am involved in new parts of the vision or with people who are excited for the work. Examples would be the members of  the Conference CLM class that I teach, who are so passionate about following their call, or the sweet spirit of an Annual Conference when that spirit hasn’t always been their lately, or when someone who has felt excluded and separated from the church finds a home in our church.

Nehemiah

Today, I'm starting a new online class from Be A Disciple as part of my goal to complete the Certification in Advanced Christian Studies - Wesleyan Emphasis.  The course is Leading like Nehemiah.

In order to prepare for the class, I decided to read the book of Nehemiah and list some of the leadership characteristics I see.  I made the list from the chapters in the book that part of the Nehemiah Memoir (the first person sections). Here they are followed by the chapter number in which I found them:

• Determines current conditions (ch 1)
• Prays (ch 1)
• Asks for the help he needs (ch 2)
• Evaluates current conditions again, inspecting the wall (ch 2)
• Invites others to join in ministry - invitation through expressing God's will - no guilt.  It is an expression of Henri Nouwen's invitation to the ministry of generosity. (ch 2)
• As he speaks of repairs, he is aware of and lists those who were involved (gratitude to volunteers) (ch 3)
• Aware of the threat against what they are doing.  Responds (does not react). More prayer (ch 4)
• Responds also to the attitude of those involved in the work. (ch 4)
• Once again responds rather than reacts ("After thinking it over") (ch 5)
• Aware of the poor and helps them (ch 5)
• Aware of threats (ch 6)
• Delegates and provides instruction (ch 7)
• Dedication of the wall demonstrates thanksgiving to God (ch 12)
• Leads people in thanksgiving (ch 12)
• Provides administration, correction and leadership (ch 13)
• Not afraid of conflict (sometimes too extreme) (ch 13)

Wesley's Highest Priority

 A watershed for Methodism was the ordination of Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as ministers in America: an act of ecclesial disobedience, even while maintaining Methodists communion with the Church of England. What does Wesley's willingness to bend the rules here tell us about his approach to leadership and authority, and about the character of Wesleyan leadership today?

 

Part of the mission of the Methodists was to reform the Church of England from the inside.  Wesley was an Anglican priest; his goal was never to start a new religion, but to bring the Anglican church to a deeper faith. Separating the Methodists from the Anglican church would have been to admit failure of this original mission.

Wesley spent decades working within the Anglican Church; an earlier separation could have solved problems he faced all throughout this time, but he stood opposed to it.  He published and preached against separation; he saw his work to be to renew the Anglican Church.  At the same time, Wesley saw his call to help others to live a holy life in obedience and under the authority of God.  These were two parts of the mission of the Methodist movement.  For decades, Wesley worked to find compromise solutions that would allow both parts of this mission to continue. 

 

After the Revolutionary War in America, the colonies were no longer part of England.  Why should the Church of England send priests?  Wesley saw the Methodist movement in the new United States as a growing and successful enterprise.  He could no longer fulfill both parts of the mission, and he determined (I think) that the second part, to bring people to a holy life, was more important than renewing the Anglican Church that could not or would not serve them. The people needed priests, so he secretly ordained two of them. 

For me, this look at Wesley's mission and experience building Methodism with its original two-pronged mission, brought to light for me Wesley's highest priority, to bring people to God and a life of holiness. That outranked everything else.

Integrity

From Church Leadership by Lovett Weems: "No matter what we say, people only pay close attention to what we do.  Inconsistency is devastating.

Year ago, and I don't know who said it, I heard that honesty is telling people what you have done and integrity is doing what you have told people you will do.  They are both a type of honesty, don't you think?  Truthfulness in words and actions.

Weems talks about two kinds of integrity.  There is personal integrity; our trustworthiness as a person.  "Brilliance is not required for leadership, but integrity is."  Do we follow through with what we say we will do?  Do we tell the truth? Do we accept fault for our mistakes? When we say we love and care for someone, do our actions live out our words, or are we inauthentic?  People think qualifications and experience are important for leadership, and no doubt they are, but without character and integrity, a leader will fail. 

As I write that, I can think of people I have seen who do not possess an admirable character and who do not exhibit integrity, and yet have risen to high positions of leadership.  Why is that?  Is it because we (as the follower) can't see or admit to the lack of integrity? Is it because power can be used to keep people in control? I don't know, but I do believe that excellent leadership in God's kingdom grows out of trustworthiness and integrity.

Weems also talks about organizational integrity.  Does our organization - whether that is a church, a charity, a school, a government - live into what its purpose is? Does it do what it states is its mission? Is it honest in its transactions? For example, if I give a gift to an organization for a specific purpose, and the gift is used for something else, I won't find that organization to be trustworthy, and I will stop giving gifts.  Will I trust (and participate in) an organization that I don't trust?  No, probably not.

Can we as a church - the body of Christ - say that God loves all people, and that we bring the light of God to the world, when what we bring is judgment and hate?  Integrity is doing what you have said you will do.

 

Failure of Imagination

I shared the following devotional at our Foundation Academy of Faith and Generosity.

On January 27, 1967, three astronauts, whose names were Gus Grishom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee, were in the cabin of Apollo 1, conducting a launch rehearsal test for the flight.  The spacecraft was pressurized with 100% oxygen as the crew went through a full simulation of countdown and launch. The test ran for 5 ½ hours, and the entire contents of the craft were saturated with oxygen.  Just after 6:31 that evening, electricity arced in some wiring below their feet, and a fire started.  Within 10 seconds, the spacecraft was filled with fire.  All three astronauts died.

Frank Borman, who was a veteran of the Gemini program, testified to the congressional committee investigating the accident.  He said, “We did not think, and this is a failing on my part, and on everyone associated with us; we did not recognize the fact that we had three essentials, an ignition source, extensive fuel, and of course, we knew we had oxygen.” No one had considered the possibility of fire on the ground – only in space.  No one considered the preflight rehearsal to be a hazardous test.  Borman said it was a “failure of imagination.”

Let’s go back to where we started.  Think back to the rich young ruler who walked away from Jesus, grieving.  He was failing to imagine how anything could be more satisfying to him than his riches. He was failing to imagine how different – how abundant – his life could be if he let go of what he valued the most.  He failed to imagine God at work in his life. 

We are made in the image of God. Our God is the God who created the universe by speaking it into existence. We have that gift. A potter can look at a lump of clay and imagine the finished product. As parents, we look at our children and can imagine what they will be as adults (most days, anyway). A cook can look at flour, sugar and eggs and imagine what the cake will taste like. The gift of imagination is a wonderful tool that we too often fail to use.

Do we ever look at our churches and imagine what they could become if we allowed God to enter into the discussion? So many people want us to be the church that we were fifty years ago. Do we ever imagine that we can be more than "just" the church that we were? Do we ever imagine what wonderful plans God has in mind for us?

Do you ever look at yourself and feel too small for the task that God has set before you? Do you ever say to yourself that you are "just" a church member, "just" an unequipped lay member, “just” a new graduate from seminary, or “just” a pastor? Do you ever look at a problem and think that it is too big for someone who is "just" one person to solve? I know I do.

Like NASA, we might fail to recognize the building blocks we have – the ingenuity of the leaders God has provided – all of you, and your colleagues in ministry. We fail to remember that we are made in the image of God – imagined into being by God – gifted with creativity and spiritual gifts for the building of the Church.  We forget that the people in our church have been called to God’s service – and that they are trying to hear that call.  And we fail to imagine how great and powerful God is – and that God can do even the unimaginable.

And yet, God calls us beyond the "just" of who we think we are. God calls us to be who he imagines that we can become. God calls the church to be the church of God’s imagination. God calls us to believe that we are more than "just" who we think we are; God calls us to have the faith to believe that we are who God has created us to be.

Once we can do that, we will begin to see that this world is not what God plans for it to be. Once we can see with God's eyes, and believe in what God sees, then we will begin to understand that God is here, God is now, and all around us is the kingdom of God.

“…if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there”, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’”

Can you imagine it?

Book Review: Church Leadership

Information about the book

Weems, Lovett H. Church Leadership, Revised Edition.  Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2010. (Cokesbury / Amazon)

Summary

From the back of the book:  In this Revised edition of the class work on leading congregations, Lovett Weems draws on the best new ideas and research in organizational leadership, yet always with his trademark theological grounding foremost in mind.  Anyone who guides the life of a congregation be they clergy or laity, will find Church Leadership an indispensable took with which to follow their calling to be a church leader.

This was one of the books assigned to the Conference CLM class I am teaching.  The group found it to be one of their favorite books of the 10 we are reading together. 

The book is structured in four parts: Vision, Team, Culture, and Integrity.  He speaks of leadership as a channel of God's grace and a gift from God.

Impressions

I would highly recommend this book.  Parts that especially appealed to me were:

1. The excellent descriptions and clarity around what leadership actually is.  "Genuine leadership is always values driven leadership."  There is an excellent section about authority and its source.
2. The vision chapter is especially well done, and as I read it, I was already applying it to our ministry where I work and to the churches we serve.
3. Our CLM class had a good discussion with a guest speaker regarding culture - how to respect the "culture" of a church as you enter its ministry.
4. The chapter about integrity is well done and would be useful for anyone in leadership.

To summarize, all of the book is good, well written, and helpful in ministry.  Two thumbs up!

Leadership

I just started reading a book called Short Stories by Jesus, written by Amy-Jill Levine.  I'm making myself read the (long) introduction, because it seems to be full of great information.  I almost skipped it today, and then started reading. 

She was telling the reader about parables in the Hebrew Scriptures, including one from the book of Judges.  It is told by Jotham, younger brother of Abimelech.  The older brother had just slaughtered all of his brothers, except the youngest one, Jotham, in order to rule over Shechem.  Jotham hides, and then goes to Mt. Gerizim (where, eventually, the Samaritan Temple will be built) and tells a story (from Judges 9:8-15):

The trees once went out

    to anoint a king over themselves.

So they said to the olive tree,

    ‘Reign over us.’

The olive tree answered them,

    ‘Shall I stop producing my rich oil

        by which gods and mortals are honored,

        and go to sway over the trees?’

Then the trees said to the fig tree,

    ‘You come and reign over us.’

But the fig tree answered them,

    ‘Shall I stop producing my sweetness

        and my delicious fruit,

        and go to sway over the trees?’

Then the trees said to the vine,

    ‘You come and reign over us.’

But the vine said to them,

    ‘Shall I stop producing my wine

        that cheers gods and mortals,

        and go to sway over the trees?’

So all the trees said to the bramble,

    ‘You come and reign over us.’

And the bramble said to the trees,

    ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you,

        then come and take refuge in my shade;

    but if not, let fire come out of the bramble

        and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

All of the "trees" who had something to contribute refused the role of leader.  The one who would take it on, who had nothing to offer, promised retribution on those who opposed him.

It reminds me of today.  Where are our leaders? Who among us, who has gifts and talents to offer, will step up, and lead effectively, with honor, sweetness, and cheer? And who have we to blame but ourselves when one who has no gifts of leadership steps into the role with anger and hatred?

It is up to us to choose wisely, and to use our own gifts willingly.

Priesthood of all Believers

Whose work is ministry?  Ministry is the work of all Christians.  Read 1 Peter 2:4-5 and 9-10

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by  God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a  spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable  to God through Jesus Christ.

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of  darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are  the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received  mercy.

This is a passage that will be familiar to those who have participated in a Walk to Emmaus.  We are part of the priesthood of all believers.

I know I keep saying it, but all of us are called to the work of servant leadership - ministry.  God will find us where we are, will work with us to answer our doubts, and will prepare us for the work.  Given all of that, we are God's chosen people - all of us - and we are now God's people.

Notice that there isn't anything in that passage that says we have earned this calling. God hasn't examined us and found us worthy. We are not worthy, but God has called us.  This is a form of grace, of mercy, of love.  God gives us this gift of a call out of God's mercy and love for us.  God changes us so that we are now holy.  Sacred.  Called. 

How can we ignore that?

Sorry for my lack of images - for some reason, they keep loading up in black and white.  I'll have to figure that out.

Servant Leadership

As I continued to prepare my class plan for the Western District, my next question was, "What does it mean to be a servant leader?"

Matthew 20:26b-28:  …whoever wishes to be great among you must be your  servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve. And to give his life a ransom for  many.

I think a good image of a servant leader, for us, the the picture of Jesus, wrapping a towel around his waist, and washing the feet of the disciples.  Servant leadership, to me, has these characteristics:

• It is centered on the first phrase of the definition of ministry from yesterday:  an expression of the mind and mission of Christ.  Servant leadership, for a Christian, begins and ends with being a person who reflects the nature and purpose of Christ.  That doesn't mean we ARE Christ - but that we are disciples of Christ, doing and being as he has taught us.Servant leadership isn't about bringing glory to oneself.  Servant leadership is about bringing glory of God.Servant leadership is about leading others by serving them.  It isn't about telling other people what to do and expecting them to service you, as a leader.It means we do a whole lot of hard work so that others can know Christ. Servant leadership involves sacrifice.  It means giving.  Of our money,  our time, our gifts, our preferences - so that God's work is done.It isn't about credit.  It's about lifting others up.
  
  

What else do you think servant leadership is about? How would you characterize it?

Ministry

Last week I wrote about call stories.  These were all part of a class I taught in the Western District about lay servant ministry, but all three stories were highlighted in my CLM training curriculum.  There are certainly other call stories in the Bible that one could examine.

As I was planning the session I was going to teach, I wondered next about ministry.  What is ministry?  According to Paragraph 126 of the Discipline, ministry “is an expression of the mind and mission of Christ by a community of Christians that demonstrates a common life of gratitude and devotion, witness, and service, celebration and discipleship.  All Christians are called through their baptism to this ministry of servanthood in the world to the glory of God and for human fulfillment.”

Let's make a list about ministry:

• An expression of the mind and mission of Christ.  So, ministry reflects who Christ is and what Christ came to do.
• By a community of Christians . Community is a good word.  By a community.  We don't do ministry in isolation.  
• It demonstrates a common life of gratitude and devotion, witness, and service, celebration and discipleship.  Without going through each one of those, I think we can agree that ministry is multifaceted.  
• All Christians are called through their baptism.  We all have a ministry to do. And that calling is associated with the sacrament of God's claim on our lives.  Also, ministry isn't something we work up to, or earn the privilege of doing.  Ministry is a part of who we are as Christians.
• Servanthood.  Ministry is wrapped up in servanthood.
• In the world to the glory of God.  We have an outside motivation and inspiration for ministry.  It is for God's glory, not our own, and not to glorify the church or the pastor.  It is for the glory of God.
• and for human fulfillment.  Does that one surprise you? I was so glad to see that phrase as  part of the definition.  Ministry is necessary for fulfillment of who we are.  Ministry is not drudgery done only because God said so.  Ministry brings fulfillment.

Leaders Who Bring Excitement

As I still consider thoughts from the conference I attended about Growing Church leaders, I offer this idea:  a church that is growing has energy, momentum, and excitement.  How do you reach that point in a church?  Have you ever felt that your church doesn't have those characteristics?  What are we really saying when we say a church is lacking energy?  We are saying that the people who are the church are lacking energy, momentum and excitement.  Do we too often detach the characteristics of the church from the characteristics of the people?

How can we foster the kind of enthusiasm in the people that is reflected in the church and the work of the church?

The conference suggested that leadership development can do that, and they may be right.  I know that when I am working in the church on projects that excite me, the excitement is contagious.  And fostering that kind of excitement probably means developing leaders who give of themselves for the work of the church.  Here are their suggestions for doing that, in a nutshell:

• What do we need?  Lots of leaders in lots of different roles
• Why to we need it?  Leaders have a higher investment in the work, an increased excitement. We are providing them an environment to use their gifts.
• When do we start to do it?  Now.  Consider the cost if you do not.  You may have to stop doing some other things, but it seems like it would be worth it.
• Where do we find leaders?  Inside and outside your church. Don't forget children, youth, and young adults.  Think long term, not short term.

Leadership and Vision

People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.  -- John Maxwell

What do you think of this quote? Is it true?

A pastor told me a story once of his service in a church.  The church loved him and thought his ministry among them was good and a blessing.  One year, they decided to install new carpet in the sanctuary, and the carpet chosen was very light.  Fearing that communion grape juice spills on the carpet would stain it beyond repair, the pastor suggested that they use a lighter colored grape juice. Since they loved him, they loved his idea, and went with it.

This isn't a vision for his church, but it is an example of how building trust among the people with whom you are in ministry is important.  It is - as they say - all about relationship.  Getting to know people, showing them acts of caring and compassion, listening to them, encouraging them, suffering with them - all lead to relationships of trust.  And when God makes his vision for a congregation known to that leader, then those who already trust him will see God in it, because they can look through the trusted leader.

Otherwise, my experience has been, that the distrust clouds the issues - whatever they might be.

Leaders

What is a leader?  I've often found that some people see a leader in a church as a person who holds a

particular office - the Lay Leader, the chair of the Church Council, the pastor.  While these are leadership positions, it doesn't always necessarily follow that the people holding the positions are good leaders.  By the same token, there can be church leaders who hold no position in the church.

Leadership isn't about position; it's about influence (from a Church Leaders seminar I attended a few weeks ago).  Everybody has influence, in one way or another.  How are you using your influence?  Where are you leading people?  When you walk into a room, do you bring life or do you take it?  Do you lead people in the direction that Christ wants them to go?

Whether you realize it or not and whether you agree with it or not, you are a leader, and you will be leading people somewhere.  To deny this doesn't remove you from the position of leadership; it just defines what kind of leader you will be.

What kind of leader WILL you be?  Where will you lead people?  Is it in God's direction or not?

Will you bring life or take life from a room?

Images and Ideas

I posted a picture a week or two ago of a paten and chalice.  I took the picture for the cover of The Foundation's annual report, but I didn't just pick up the objects and my camera and snap a picture. First, I prepared.  I thought about what I wanted the picture to be, and I planned it in my mind.  Then I did probably at least 100 images, just testing out what I wanted the image to look like and how I could make that picture in my mind come to life.  I pulled the best of those images and electronically put it on the cover, to see what it might look like.  I evaluated it, and critiqued it, deciding what might need to be changed.

After that, I prepared again, selecting the best time of day to get "the image," buying the bread, getting my materials together.  And when all was ready, I took everything down to the chapel and took at least 200 more pictures.  I went through them all, and selected a few that came close to what I was imagining.  I dropped each into the Annual Report file, trying them out, and then selected the final one.  I put it in the Annual Report, moved it around, cropped it, moved the text, undid selections and redid them - it wasn't just drop and go.  And throughout this process, I sought the opinion of other people about what I was doing.

What I want to stress is that I didn't just take one picture.  I took hundreds.  I knew that was necessary to find the one I wanted to use.

I was in a seminar this past weekend.  The speaker said, "Remember that you are not your ideas.  Don't become personally attached to them."  When we do church work (or any kind of work), we bring our ideas to the table, and use them, with others, as springboard to where we need and want to go.  We'll need hundreds of them before we get to the one that is right.  We'll take pieces of one idea and combine it with another, we'll use one idea to spring board to something none of of ever thought about.  If we are too personally attached to one idea, then we never get to the best idea.

"If I have 1000 ideas, and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied." -- Alfred Nobel

Jethro's Advice

This morning I read Exodus 18.  In this passage, Jethro, the father of Moses' wife, meets Moses as he and the Israelites are traveling through.  Jethro watches Moses' leadership style and then gives him advice regarding how he can delegate the heavy responsibility he is under.

"What you are doing is not good.  You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you.  For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.  Now listen to me.  I will give you counsel, and God be with you!  You should represent the people before God, and you should bring their cases before God; teach them the statues and instructions and make known to them the way they are to go and the things they are to do.  You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear God, are trustworthy and hate dishonest gain; set such men over them as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.  Let them sit as judges for the people at all times, let them bring every important case to you, but decide every minor case themselves.  So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.  If you do this, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will go to their home in peace."

Moses follows Jethro's advice.  I wonder if we follow Jethro's advice; if not, why not.  What might have been Moses' alternative answers?

• "That sounds great Jethro, but I'm the only one who can do this.  I must keep control of this."
• "Great, except I don't want to do that.  I like what I'm doing - I find joy in all of this responsibility, and I don't want to give it up."
• "No, thanks, Jethro.  No one else knows how to do this the right way except me."
• "I would love to do that, Jethro, except this is a responsibility that God has laid on my shoulders.  It is my duty."
• "Jethro, great idea, except no one would do it.  They are too busy, and if I asked them, they would say 'no.'"
• "Jethro, who has time to do that?  I don't have time to recruit volunteers, determine their worthiness, train them correctly.  It's just easier if I do it."

Science and Art

I read an article written by Stephen Beal called Turn STEM to STEAM: Why Science needs the arts.  His premise is that science and the arts are intertwined - they have similar purposes and processes and that advances in one will require the illumination from the other one.

I passed the article onto my younger son, the trumpeter.  He read it, and we talked about it.  I don't think he was as convinced as I was in the truthfulness of what the author wrote about, but I may have changed his mind.

I am a living example of how science and art can interact and enhance each other.  When I worked in the lab, doing very "scientific" work, with procedures and strict experimental design, I saw the value of creativity -- it's an inescapable component of problem solving.  In my life now, as I work in a less scientific field, I find that I use my analytical skills very often, in order to describe and understand the world in which I am working.

I wonder, though, if we get stuck in the idea that the skills and gifts we need for a particular mission are from a small subset of what is possible. Do we forget that value of metrics when we do the work of evangelism?  Do we believe that our Finance Committees can't benefit from creative ministry?  Do we think God draws lines around what we are to do?

A friend, who serves on our Church's Board of Trustees, said the other day, "I don't know why I'm a member of this Committee.  I don't bring any financial gifts at all."

Have you served on a lay leadership committee in the church?  Do you find that only the "accounting" type people are appointed to the finance committee?  Do you see that only the people involved in childhood education are asked to serve on Christian Education Committees?  What would happen if an artistic person served on Finance?  Would he be frustrated or would he enhance the work being done?  What if the neighborhood accountant was asked to do visitation?  Would she like it, and would she expand the vision of the committee?  Or not?

I'm glad my friend serves on the Board of Trustees, because I think the Committee needs the other gifts she does bring.  I think this line of thought opens up two opportunities for us.  I wonder if our work is narrowed because we draw boxes around it.  We need to open ourselves to the possibilities of asking people to serve in areas of church leadership where they don't have traditional expertise, and we need to listen to what they have to say.

NOW

I was reading a post by Beth Quick (you can find it here). She asked if anyone reading the blog was using the NOW system of committee structure in his/her church. NOW is an acronym for Nurture/Outreach/Witness. Our church uses that structure, so I began a comment to leave on her blog. It (the comment) got longer and longer, so I deleted it, leaving her a message that I would write a post instead. So here it is (the post, I mean).

Our church does use the NOW system. We instituted it over 10 years ago; during that time I have been a member of the Nurture Committee. For about 7 1/2 years of that time, I was chairman of that committee, but I currently serve as lay leader.

I would recommend the structure to other churches. I think we have learned its strengths and weaknesses over the years, and I'll try to share what I think in this post.

1. After the first year, we decided that the responsibilities for Nurture were too large -- too many. We were meeting monthly, and only were really able to address education issues. Worship (another part of Nurture) was being ignored. Because of that, the Celebrations Committee was created. It oversees our worship and receptions ministries, relieving Nurture of those jobs. Nurture still has a huge plate of things to do, but in our church, this made it more manageable.
2. I believe that the structure simplified our committees. We had work areas on everything you could think of prior to this change -- now it is easier to understand the committee structure.
3. With any new organization, training and communication become of paramount concern. Everyone needs to understand what each committee is to do. Personally, I still think this is an issue in our church, even after all of these years.
4. All of our committees -- the four programming committees and the administrative committees -- report to our Ministry Leadership Council. I think it is vital that this larger, oversight committee become a center for communication. We all need to talk about what is happening, share ideas, support and celebrate ministry in our church. It needs to happen at these meetings. We are still working on this. One of the major changes we made (and it doesn't sound big, but it translates into better communication) is that we moved the meeting from the chapel, where we sat in pews, to a room where we sit at a large table, facing each other. Big impact - it opened up discussions that didn't happen before.
5. Committee chairman need to understand that part of the committee's job is to involve everyone in ministry. Give them the freedom to pull people onto their committees as needed, to invite members to ministry. Give them freedom to form teams to tackle problems, to form task forces.

Our visioning committee just completed a vision / mission process for the discernment of a vision for our church. As we completed it, and stepped back to look at it, we realized that our mission statement parallels our committee structure. We didn't plan that. It just happened. What it says to me is that the NOW (or our amended NOWC) structure provides for the circular running of ministry in a church -- bring people to God (Witness), help them to grow in faith (Nurture (and Celebrations)) and reach out in service (Outreach). It is a complete church.

Image: Sky one morning at the high school.