January/February
2007: Gospel Evangel
Listening/Redesign Team presents draft of
proposal to delegates
The Listening and Redesign Team is spending weekends in February
and March presenting its proposal for a system redesign to pastors, delegates
and congregational leaders in cluster meetings throughout IN-MI Conference.
What is being presented? Here is a preview.
The process
Two years ago the L/R Team was given the mandate to explore
three questions: 1. Where have we come from?, 2. Where
are we going?, and 3. How will we get there?
At annual sessions in 2005, we listened
as people shared what they had found energizing and valuable about the
conference. Themes that emerged included worship,
prayer, mission, connectedness, diversity, conflict, leadership development,
and youth/children. In other settings we listened to various voices, including
people who had complaints to voice; conference ministry staff; and representatives
from Bethany Christian Schools, Amigo Centre, and our neighbor conferences.
During the 2006 cluster meetings and
annual sessions, we moved to the second question, asking congregations what
they felt God was calling them to do in the next three to five years, what
gifts they had to offer, and what resources they needed. We also asked what
they felt God might be calling IN-MI Conference to do in the next three to five
years.
A new vision
We then moved on to the task of redesigning. Working from the
responses we had received, we formulated the following vision statement:
“As we joyfully
follow Jesus, we will promote evangelism, emphasize peace and justice and care
of creation, and nurture vital community. Drawing on our Anabaptist history, we
will creatively articulate our faith, resource congregations, and cultivate missional imagination.”
Envisioning a new structure
What structures and staff configurations will best help us
carry out this vision? We live in a time of rapid change, in which previous
patterns and approaches may not be helpful, and what is coming is not yet
clear. We decided to choose a structure that will be flexible, emphasize
relationships, and be somewhat decentralized.
The structure starts in the
congregations, with healthy congregations “joyfully following Jesus.” We
envision a thickening web of relationships between congregations, with area
councils and clusters continuing. We’re also encouraging congregations to
develop additional ways to relate, such as by forming mission cells around a
common mission or affinity groups around a common interest, and other informal
relationship-building. Enhanced technological tools may make it easier to
connect with others who have similar interests or concerns.
A seven-member Missional
Leadership Team would provide overall leadership, meeting three times per year.
To allow for more conversation and connection, a larger Missional
Advisory Team would meet twice per year and give counsel to the Missional Leadership Team. This team would include two
people from each geographic cluster, one person representing African-American
interests, one person representing Hispanic interests, representatives from
Bethany and Amigo, and people with particular interests or gifts in the areas
of justice/peace, nurture, service, and evangelism.
Three Ministry Credentialing Teams
(north, central and south) would interview and credential pastors, while a
Leadership Enhancement Team would do other leadership development tasks (such
as training overseers and working with ReFocusing and
Journey). Stewardship and Gifts Discernment teams would continue in their
current forms. With a database of gifts, flexible short-term task groups could
form and dissolve as needed.
Proposed staff to support the vision
A quarter-time Shepherd of the Vision would serve as a sort
of spiritual director or overseer for the conference, helping staff and
congregations to stay focused on the mission.
A full-time Administrative Shepherd would have primary
responsibility for articulating and implementing the vision and supervising
other staff.
Three Regional Missional Shepherds
(half time each for north and south and one full time for central) would attend
to leadership development, accountability, helping build connections and
fostering missional imagination.
A half-time Shepherd of Youth and Young Adults would resume
work previously done by the conference minister of youth and young adults.
A Shepherd of Stewardship would provide stewardship
education, pursue financial resource development and help the conference think
about funding issues.
A recently created Conference Resource Advocate position
(initially a volunteer) would assist with information technology resources.
Support staff positions would initially remain unchanged, although
decentralization of ministry staff could lead to changes down the road.
Where to from here?
Does that seem like a lot to process? L/R Team members invite
your prayers as they receive feedback from your congregation’s delegates and
leaders via the cluster meetings. The team will meet March 31 to start revising
the proposal for presentation to the annual assembly in June.
-- Martha Yoder Maust
attends Shalom Mennonite in Indianapolis.