http://www.fteleaders.org/ en Copyright 2010 2010-09-03T16:00:08+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/what-are-the-keys-to-renewal/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/what-are-the-keys-to-renewal/ Are you interested in strong leadership for the church? Do you want the church to thrive and be relevant in the world?  If so, what are the keys to renewal and vitality?According to a recent United Methodist Church study, the four key factors are: “small groups and programs; worship services that mix traditional and contemporary styles with an emphasis on relevant sermons; pastors who work hard on mentorship and cultivation of the laity; and an emphasis on effective lay leadership.” These four factors depend on the church giving more attention to the continuous work of cultivating quality leaders who attend to them. And because the average age of both clergy and parishioners are rising-- and because church is becoming less relevant to young people (according to the study), cultivating quality leaders should be a church mandate! FTE "On Call" Blog 2010-09-03T15:00:08+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-ministry-of-the-church/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-ministry-of-the-church/ We had an overwhelming number of visitors in church this past Sunday. There were a number of folks looking for a church home. Each of them felt the welcome of our church family in our worship and in the way that we gather to sip lemonade together on the porch after worship. I'm trying to hold onto that this morning. I'm trying to remember that loving welcome that our church does so well when I'm met with an angry phone call. This call didn't come from a church member. This person wasn't in worship with us. She was here to be served by the members of our congregation that offer a ministry of gently used clothing and toys -- and she wasn't happy with the service she got. Alumnotes 2010-08-31T12:57:08+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/finding-god-in-ghana/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/finding-god-in-ghana/ Ghana redefined my definition of Ministry. Now, I understand ministry not only as an opportunity to teach, but more so as an opportunity to learn. Ministry is no longer about “fixing” the problem or finding a new solution, but it is instead about helping to manage by making a sincere contribution. Ministry is now understood to me to be a time to be silent and to listen. Ministry to me is investing myself in my neighbor to the point of vulnerability-to know intimately the reality of their challenges and know deeply the source of their hope. The Next Narrative 2010-08-27T13:01:18+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-job-interview-and-you/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-job-interview-and-you/ We are entering the season of job searches, interviews, and (hopefully) offers.  Here are a few interview tips for the newly and nearly minted academics on the market. First, be as clear as possible about your own career goals: do you want to teach at a seminary? a university or college? aiming for research and writing or administration? So you are invited for an interview.  If you accept, think about the school and the fit first. For instance, is the school in your own religious tradition? Is the school too liberal or too conservative?  After you accept the invitation, realize that an interview is an opportunity for the hiring unit and the candidate (you) to discover whether they can work well together.  So, your preparation for the interview is very important.    Nurturing the Next Generation of Scholars 2010-08-24T12:00:10+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/gutsy-sermon-title-beckoning-pastor/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/gutsy-sermon-title-beckoning-pastor/ Driving through downtown Decatur, GA last week, I passed the sign in front of First Baptist Church at least a dozen times. It announced the title of the coming Sunday’s sermon: "What If I Can’t Forgive?" That’s a pretty gutsy sermon title. Just asking the question lays certain claims, namely that (a) forgiving is a good, something I should do; (b) forgiving is hard and sometimes I can’t do it; and (c) something happens if I can’t forgive. If we could get CNN to conduct a poll, I doubt a majority of Americans would agree with these as blanket claims, true no matter what it is that needs forgiveness or whether the offender apologizes. This question goes against the grain; it calls us to how we should live. "What If I Can’t Forgive?" is a prophetic question. FTE "On Call" Blog 2010-08-20T12:32:00+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/dancing-with-the-saints/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/dancing-with-the-saints/ Dancing. The whole world seems crazy about dancing. All over the place people are talking about “Dancing with the Stars” or “So You Think You Can Dance”. It makes me quite uncomfortable. I was never much for dancing. As an adolescent, I remember the feelings of betrayal, when my closest friends, those who at one time hung with me at the side of the room at the school dances and would run out of the room when there would be a “lady’s choice” announced, reached the point when they gave up their spot on the wall and started dancing! Some of those feelings changed on Pentecost Day this past May. Voices of Service 2010-08-17T15:42:20+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/american-demographics-and-ministry-or-real-ministry-in-real-time/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/american-demographics-and-ministry-or-real-ministry-in-real-time/ As the demographics of American cities change, the work of leaders in congregations is becoming more complex. The American Community Survey released results that reveal demographics with implications for congregations and their leaders. An emphasis on diversity and effective leadership is desperately needed in a time when leaders in the church, academy, and society are called to be bridge-builders and advocates of cross-racial and intergenerational coalitions. Alumnotes 2010-08-13T17:29:41+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/harbingers-of-the-age-of-the-spirit/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/harbingers-of-the-age-of-the-spirit/ Reflecting on The Future of Faith by Harvey Cox “Where do you find yourself is this story?” is a frequent question posed to twenty-first century Christians grappling with sacred texts in mid-week and Sunday morning Bible studies across denominations.  Less frequent are church study groups that ask the same question of a contemporary text like Harvey Cox’s The Future of Faith, a provocative depiction of what Christianity could be becoming right now.   As I read Cox’s latest book I found myself persuaded that indeed Christianity could be making, as Cox proposes, “its most momentous transformation since its transition in the fourth century CE” from “a tiny Jewish sect into the religious ideology of the Roman Empire” (p.2).  The most convincing part of Cox’s thesis is his two-part case that... Calling 2010-08-13T13:00:47+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/churches-unholy-addiction-2/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/churches-unholy-addiction-2/ Part 2 of 2 The early church was not a practical idea. Apostle Paul admitted that our proclamation was foolish. Even Jesus’ contemporaries thought he was crazy, if not a madman. People have invested in and died for more preposterous causes in the church’s history. But they were willing to face the ridicule of the masses and risk the uncharted waters of the future, even if it meant their livelihood, if not their life, for the church’s sake. What are you willing to do?  The vitality of the church and its future is dependent on the quality of its leaders and their break from an addiction to messianic leadership. The church’s vitality and future requires that you and I risk being changed and transformed. I long to see the day when congregations and their leaders all across this land, if not the entire church, have gone wild and are set loose in the world as the presence of God’s healing and Shalom. Project Rising Sun 2010-08-12T12:42:58+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/churchs-unholy-addiction-1/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/churchs-unholy-addiction-1/ Part 1 of 2 In a New York Times article this past weekend entitled “Congregations Gone Wild,” the author claimed that clergy are “suffering from burnout,” “working too much,” and attending too often to “their congregation’s daily wishes,” behaviors which may lead to greater job security in a profession that is severely underpaid. This news is not surprising especially among those who work with clergy and congregations. However, what I do find surprising is a prevailing belief among many clergy and congregations that one pastor is equipped and able to attend faithfully to the needs of an entire faith community. What I find most alarming is an underlying assumption that clergypersons are somehow endowed by God with... Project Rising Sun 2010-08-10T18:13:20+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/transitions-and-new-beginnings/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/transitions-and-new-beginnings/ Here we are again.  It’s the month of August—that transition month.  By this point in the year, those summer plans have given way to summer vacation memories of adventure trips and special times with family. At FTE, making space for conversations and convening is part of our DNA.  As you approach this season of transitions and new beginnings, we invite you to join us in planting seeds for a new future in theological education.    FTE "On Call" Blog 2010-08-09T12:12:59+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/visiting-old-south-church/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/visiting-old-south-church/ From of our 2010 Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA Ten of us went down to the historic Old South Church in Copley Square where we met a minister named Nancy. She told us how she spent hours lobbying the Massachusetts Legislature on Beacon Hill to support the rights of the un-housed... The Next Narrative 2010-08-08T22:39:22+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/about-the-pastoral-vocation/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/about-the-pastoral-vocation/ A few weeks ago I had the great privilege of being a round-table leader for the Fund for Theological Education’s Leaders in Ministry Conference at Boston University. I was blessed to have an amazing group of undergraduate students who were discerning a call to religious leadership. Many times during our times together they would ask me about my vocation and why did I answer the call to pastoral leadership. On the last day at the conference I remembered writing about my vocation for my ordination papers. Here is what I wrote a few years ago:   Alumnotes 2010-08-03T19:04:13+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/garden-blessing/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/garden-blessing/ I take my daughter to the church garden early on Saturday morning. We bring her “tools” – a small plastic shovel and rake, and a bucket for collecting rocks. One of our most regular gardeners talks about how important this project has been for her. “I sit at a desk all day long,” she says, “and then I get tocome out here and play in the dirt, and it’s wonderful.” We ask God’s blessing on the ground and on the harvest, and pray for the people this food will feed. Someone has brought a guitar so we sing a little bit, which feels just right. The breeze sweeps through us just then, a welcome freshness on the hot morning, and I am pretty sure it is the breath of God. Alumnotes 2010-07-29T16:50:24+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/chronos-management/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/chronos-management/ I had an interesting conversation with a pastor friend last week in which he said something like, “Everyone assumes I’m so busy, but I’m not. I have a lot of time to do anything I want. My congregation just runs itself.” I do know, for certain, I am not like this pastor. Yes, our congregation could function perfectly well without me, but I do feel really busy. And I’m pretty certain it’s more than just a feeling. I am busy. So the question: how, if possible, might I improve my time management? What tips do you have for pastors so that they might use their time to God’s glory?   Alumnotes 2010-07-26T14:15:27+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/Single-Leader-Centered-vs-Group-Centered-Leadership/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/Single-Leader-Centered-vs-Group-Centered-Leadership/ Consider these two statements on leadership:      "Strong people don't need strong leaders."      "Leadership never ascends from the pew to the pulpit. It always descends from the pulpit to the pew." The first quote is a famous line from Ms. Ella Baker, whose masterful work in organizing and leadership development helped to launch and stabilize the early work of many of the most significant civil rights organizations of the 20th century: NAACP, SCLC, SNCC and MFDP. The second quote is a lesser known line from a better known figure: the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ... Project Rising Sun 2010-07-20T17:03:57+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/kore-pwodiksyon-lokal-reflections-after-six-weeks-in-haiti/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/kore-pwodiksyon-lokal-reflections-after-six-weeks-in-haiti/ You learn the basics of any language when you’re going to a foreign country: “Hello,” “Thank you,” “Do you have wireless here?” Well, perhaps the last is not very useful in Haiti, where most things except the internet are wireless, and where my Kreyol... Alumnotes 2010-07-16T12:02:26+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-glow-within/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-glow-within/ The following is an original poem composed by 2010 Ministry Fellow Emmy R. Kegler for final night "coffeehouse" at our 2010 FTE Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA O Father O Mother O Maker Creator Almighty Uniter Redeemer and Light of the World This is not painting a gloss on our skin But revealing the glow from within We are the fountains of a new generation Now living out who we'll become We're splitting our hearts for illumination We know nothing but that we are loved The Next Narrative 2010-07-13T13:55:26+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/staying-connected/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/staying-connected/ From of our 2010 Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA Today my roundtable group had our last meeting. I would not consider myself a very sentimental person, but I found myself a little upset about this meeting. Over the past few days, my group had become quite close. We spent our together each night reflecting on each group member’s call story and why each person believed that God had led him or her to this conference. Every story was very distinct from the next; however, these distinctions brought us together in ways that would normally take years to happen. Now that our final hours at the conference were approaching, I realized that I would probably not see some of my fellow conference participants again. Suddenly, I became a little sad that such a good thing was coming to an end. The Next Narrative 2010-07-08T18:54:35+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-search-for-authenticityand-a-job/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-search-for-authenticityand-a-job/ It seems to me that job searches are all about being authentic. The time-consuming preparation of application materials can really be an opportunity for a person to re-examine her/his direction in life. This idea of “vocation” guides my thinking on this matter. To what am I being called to do? The reality is that I have had to revisit that question several times in my life.   Nurturing the Next Generation of Scholars 2010-07-06T18:40:29+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/how-can-i-keep-from-singing/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/how-can-i-keep-from-singing/ From of our 2010 Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA Here is something of what we are called to do--to learn and to grapple with how to tell our stories, to sing our songs, with integrity and with vulnerability, in such a way that those we are in ministry with will find themselves responding with their own songs, their own stories. It's a scary call in so many ways. Our whole lives, our whole selves, are so full of foibles and failures, and the lives of our churches our no different. We spend--I spend--so much time crafting elaborate structures to hide my whole life from God (unsuccessfully, of course) and from my community (also, ultimately, unsuccessfully). Won't singing our whole lives destroy all of that carefully crafted deception? The Next Narrative 2010-07-02T12:24:55+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/a-right-question/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/a-right-question/ “Why are you doing a PhD?” – Drs. Manigault-Bryant and Walton encouraged the first-year students to find the choruses in our praisesongs for the Ph.D. We were in search of, as Dr. Walton succinctly identified, our animating impulse for the next four to ten years. I first said out loud: “I don’t know.” I then gave pieces of the puzzle in an effort to make narrative meaning of my presence. The “I don’t know,” at the moment, felt like enough. Indeed, Dr. Iva Caruthers challenged this year’s group of motley doctoral fellows with a charge: we do not have to know the right answers to the wrong questions, Caruthers contended. Rather, we are able to say “I don’t know” in the face of the right questions. “Why are you doing a PhD?” – a right question. Nurturing the Next Generation of Scholars 2010-06-29T16:19:30+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-turnaround-one-story1/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-turnaround-one-story1/ “Resurrection isn’t easy,” says Noele Farrell, the teenage heroine of Andrew Greeley’s novel Lord of the Dance. Rev. Dr. Mary Louise Gifford, pastor of Wollaston Congregational Church (UCC) in Quincy, MA, can cite chapter and verse why this is so. In her book, The Turnaround Church: Inspiration and Tools for Life-Sustaining Change , she tells the story of a congregation that had moved from 900 members in 1950 to twenty five and into virtual hospice care according to the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ when she arrived as the pastor in 2003 – their first full-time pastor in more than twenty years. Calling 2010-06-26T16:26:08+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ruining-lives/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ruining-lives/ There’s a quip that gets repeated a lot – that these long-term volunteer programs will “ruin your life.” Some might argue that the opposite is true – spending a year or more working for peace and justice, living in community, and working for little to nothing actually enrich and transform, opening us up to the beauty and possibility in the world like nothing else. Actually, I think most former volunteers would agree with that argument. But this recent conversation about decision-making reminded me why we talk about volunteer service ruining our lives. Once you know what’s possible – how little money can sustain you, how life-giving community living can be, how a small individual effort can in fact make a difference in the world – it’s hard to go back to what you thought you knew, or what you thought life should be like. Old plans just don’t seem to fit, anymore. All of a sudden, you have to take into account this glimpse you’ve gotten of life lived another way, and it throws things into tangled messes that you’re left to unravel.  Voices of Service 2010-06-23T13:53:33+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-story-of-us/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-story-of-us/ From of our 2010 Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA A Baptist preacher once proclaimed that the Southern Baptist Convention was God’s last and only hope for saving the world. But if this fellowship, this beloved community, has shown me anything it is that God’s last and only hope does not lie in one denomination. It does not lie in our perception that we are more right than someone else. It does not lie in our capability to prove we are more biblical or less heretical than anyone else. Maybe God’s last and only hope lies in our ability to get along.   The Next Narrative 2010-06-21T17:05:41+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/two-minutes/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/two-minutes/ LIVE from our 2010 Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA I sat near the door waiting in anxious anticipation for the creative time to begin and then I heard, “make sure the story of yourself is told in under two minutes.“ As I waded through the muddy waters of my own life and listened to the stories of my group I discovered how long two minutes was. It was long enough to be moved purposelessness to conviction, long enough to be transformed by what before seemed like lonely isolated incidents, it was long enough to move from the hay of Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary. Two minutes was enough time to build a bond between two people who thought they had nothing in common. The Next Narrative 2010-06-20T10:59:58+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/a-community-of-stories/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/a-community-of-stories/ LIVE from our 2010 Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA This has been a day of stories. We told our story, heard the story of others and were pleasantly surprise to hear about God's story in a variety of ways. It makes sense that we are gathered in this place at this time to talk about the importance of story for the transformation of the world. I'm still reflecting on the transformational moments in my story. It seems that the more that I reflect the more moments that come to mind. Also the more people... The Next Narrative 2010-06-18T17:00:20+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/beauty-of-boston/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/beauty-of-boston/ LIVE from our 2010 Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA  I forgot the beauty of Boston—and how the sun gently falls on one’s face much earlier here than it does in the South, especially after staying up late having deep discussions about theology, science, and the messiness of our world. But what better way could I be greeted before a morning run and an astounding, challenging, fruitful day at the FTE Leaders in Ministry conference than the whisper of a city awaking with the sun?!   The Next Narrative 2010-06-18T10:42:37+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-mirror-mirage/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/the-mirror-mirage/ LIVE from our 2010 Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA If I, as a pastoral leader, am not willing to go beyond those who look like me, what future awaits the church of tomorrow? May God give us the strength to relinquish the right to look for those who look like us in exchange for the privilege of seeing those who look like God. The Next Narrative 2010-06-17T13:06:33+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ministry-as-poetry/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ministry-as-poetry/ Some words get pummeled nearly to death.  Some words are a well-meaning team of letters that strain hard to hold the meanings we pile upon them.  Some words have it easy: “dandelion,” “mouthwash,” and “clarify” don’t have too many multiple meanings.  They are not asked to express holy things, or things beyond language.  But how can the words “Jesus” and “God” bear all we ask them to hold? In the world of ministry, “spirit” and “love” and “life” and “you” and “me”…these poor words have been asked to mean so many things...   Alumnotes 2010-06-15T10:54:24+00:00