In order to offer the wide array of skills a pastor is called upon to exercise, I must discern areas of needed development and also continually seek material which addresses needs identified in and beyond the congegation. The areas of inquiry and skills development I identify to work on are more plentiful than the time I have to devote to them, but I do set aside distinct time and resources for this work. I also acquire numerous books and materials to fuel my teaching and preaching ministries, as well as my awareness of currents in theology, politics and society. I have attended many workshops offered by the Youth and Family Institute: Passing on the Faith (The Chiild in Our Hands), Faith and Skills for Parenting, Peer Ministry Training, and Milestones Ministry. These are compelling opportunities to affirm cross-generational ministry, develop individuals' abilities and are key to a healthy church. CONTINUING EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS: Renewal in Congregational Life - Sioux Falls Seminary
Stephen Ministry Leader Training - Stephen Ministries, St. Louis, MO Palliative Care Conference - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD Healthy Congregations Leader Training -South Dakota Synod and Healthy Congregations Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times Facilitator Training - South Dakota Synod and Healthy Congregations Listening to God - Luther Seminary Clergy Coaching - Luther Seminary Purpose Driven Lutherans - Luther Seminary Passing on the Faith - Youth and Family Institute Faith and Skills for Parenting - Youth and Family Institute Peer Ministry Leader Training - Youth and Family Institute Milestones Ministry - Youth and Family Institute 12 Keys to An Effective Congregation - Kennon Callahan
MY CHURCH AND COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER INVOLVEMENT
Chair, Crossroads Conference (SD Synod) Pastors, 2007- Secretary/Treasurer, Crossroads Conference (SD Synod) Pastors, 2006-2007 Synod-Trained Presenter/Facilitator - Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times (2007) Teacher/Representative - Solo Companion Synod Visit/Teaching Mission to Nicaragua (2006) Board of Directors - Carroll Institute (AODA Prevention and Treatment Agency), 2002- Board of Directors - Community Outreach (Emergency Assistance and Education Agency), 2005- Program Committee - Volunteers of America-Dakotas (Social Service Agency), 2005- Elementary School Mentor - Sioux Falls Public Schools, 2002- Elementary School Parent Assistant - Anne Sullivan Elementary, 2005- Secretariat - South Dakota Lutheran Via de Cristo, 2007- Rector and Assistant Rector - Via de Cristo, 2006- Girl Scout parent volunteer and Boy Scout volunteer, 2005- Nursing Home worship leader, 1989- Organizer and Host, Savannah Drive Block Party, 2002- Contributor, Luther Seminary (St. Paul, MN) GodPause devotional, 2007
MY HOPES FOR THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA With confidence in its confessional core and obedience to its evangelical imperative, some ELCA congregations have a chance of overcoming traditionalized limitations. This is absolutely vital to a denomination confronted by a decline in numbers.
Bishop Peter Rogness spoke well to the need to make evangelization a natural outgrowth of effective ministry which makes clear the connection between faith and daily living. He said something to the effect that if we get Youth and Family Ministry right, we will have no concern about how to ignite evangelization. It will happen as a matter of natural outgrowth from a lived faith, not only for youth but for all generations enlisted to nurture trusting relationships which pass on the faith.
Congregations which pursue vitality must be heralded, especially when they sacrifice what had been considered essential until they experienced an overwhelming willingness to trust and risk trying new ways to live the faith.
I demonstrate commitment to our common work in the church as chairperson of our local conference pastors' group, planning and offering enriching events for colleagues.
THIS I BELIEVE ABOUT LIFE, THEOLOGY, SENSE OF CALL With the cross at the center of life, the shape of our life with God is formed in imitation of Christ's sacrifice, which we witness even as we recognize our limitations and failings, endure our tragedies, and die to our illusions. And yet, we are redeemed to abundance of life. It takes extraordinary determination, skill, and support to draw forth the Church's embrace of the abundance we are intended to experience as beloved children of God.
I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to develop my pastoral identity over 18 years. My sense of call is affirmed by everyday opportunities to serve the needs of those who are open to experiencing God's grace. I often hear from those I minister with that I am meeting a critical need.
A human tendency I work with regularly is our compartmentalization of God and spirituality. Our loving Lord, however, knows that our purpose and destiny are centered in fulfilling the blessings, the praise and gratitude which are best able to empower us for unselfish serving. My great privilege is declaring God's calling and desire to be in relationship with us with grace and clarity.
HOW I APPROACH THE STUDY OF SCRIPTURE AND THE MEANS OF GRACE My spouse and I share an active prayer life with each other and with our children.
I enjoy the invitation to simplicity in Anne Lamott's two main prayers: "Help, help, help!" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Whenever possible, I have attended and convened and provided resources for a year-round, weekly Text Study group for area clergy. I utilize a variety of resources, the most valuable for preaching is translation and word-study from the original languages. I have maintained long-standing, regular contact with a confidant who serves as a sounding board and confessor. I have a history of seeking additional support and feedback from a variety of sources, according to the nature of the needs and opportunities before me at a given time.
Through involvement in the Via de Cristo renewal movement, I have been challenged to deepen my faith journey individually and in small group sharing, and with my spouse and children.
I SERVE FAITHFULLY BY... Making myself available and reachable. Maintaining regular work hours. Seeking to be responsive to expressed need, communicate my limitations and to assist people to find other resources when I cannot fulfil all that they may request.
People hunger for relationship, to have their story heard in a caring manner. Congregations need clarity of purpose and clear, regular information about what is happening in the life of the congregation. I also know people's need for a pastor to be available in their times of need. I seek to fulfil those needs, balancing time in work and away for restoration and renewal.
I LIVE OUT MY FAITH IN THIS WAY... Private prayer and family dialogue in devotion allow me to recount the humbling sense that I/we are receiving the blessing of life itself. I seek to discern how our life choices are able to make us a blessing to others.
Through spiritual direction and study of prayer and meditation, I have made peace with my own spiritual style. For a long while, I considered how I was bringing my concerns into God's care and direction were not spiritual enough, too matter-of-fact. I came to recognize that how I approach God is a gift of the Spirit, and that God takes responsibility for filling the space where we meet with God's presence. All I have to do is allow God in; the Spririt's presence has already been promised.
Holy living is not quietistic, however. I believe that God gives restlessness to meet the tangible hurts and hopes of those for whom I can make a difference. My work with treatment center patients has greatly expanded my assertiveness in finding others' willingness to connect with God. I have worked with dozens of individuals who have come to faith in conversations and prayer with me, and this has blessed my abilities as a witness wherever else I go.
HOW PERSONS AND EVENTS HAVE SHAPED MY APPROACH TO MINISTRY My life has been influenced by many losses which have always been met by the compassion of Christ coming to me through God's people. Early on, key people in my faith journey have been family members, childhood neighbors, friends, and pastors. At this time of my life, I am also greatly influenced by the privilege of working with people who have lived with adversity and futility most of their lives.
I have been blessed through the care of individuals in adversity. This inspires a desire to be a vessel of God's grace in ministry. Along the way, I have come to appreciate even more broadly the trustworthiness of God's provision for our every need. That fires me with the desire to lead the Church in meeting others' needs.
HOW I FUNCTION IN A TEAM AND AS A LEADER My goals in working with lay leadership, in particular, include inspiring self-confidence and respect for diverse points of view, and the pursuit of goals which correspond to tangible benefit in people's lives. Underlying this is a desire to develop and empower leadership through affirmation and individual attention. In team settings, I employ continuing clarification, consensus-seeking and evaluation with regard to goals, methods, and results.
MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY My wife, Lisa, and I have just celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary.
Lisa is a dedicated spouse, and places a high priority on involvement in the community of faith.
Last year, she initiated a new healthy meal serving program in our congregation, promoting a transformation in our congregation's dietary habits.
Lisa is the sort of person who brings a meal and a gift when someone in the congregation or an acquaintance has a baby.
She is involved in a regular Bible study and a regular program of exercise.
In coming years, Lisa will reenter the workforce more fully.
Lisa and I are parents to two healthy, happy and energetic daughters. They are bright and eager to relate to others.
Betsy is five, sings constantly, dances in the aisles during worship, and attends preschool at Messiah New Hope.
Kristina is seven, an avid artist, storyteller, dancer, and is excelling as a second grader.
HOW I APPROACH SELF CARE The most sustaining practice in my spiritual care is sharing a devotional life with my immediate family.
I also engage in personal, intercessory prayer and commend my concerns and desires to the authority of God's will, knowing that the Spirit's guidance may be perceived but not controlled, and must continually be renewed in light of my only partial knowing.
I have engaged the services of a Spiritual Director and am in the process of reinitiating these sessions.
I am a Conference Pastors' Group leader, and seek to promote this venue of collegiality for the sake of caring for one another.
For the sake of my physical health, I seek to exercise several times per week (I have worn out three exercise bikes and have used the extended warranty for my latest bike!) I try to get adequate rest, and seek balance in my time with family and in work, making time for taking our kids to school, cooking and taking walks with them, as often as possible.
My family and I have embraced a healthier diet in the past few years, integrating practices of a local health initiative and promoting them in our congregation, under the name "Body and Soul."
My spouse and I are intentional and specific about seeking continuing growth in marriage and parenting skills and practices. We are intentional about visiting family and a key goal in seeking call now is to be closer to in-laws and relatives.
MY FAMILY'S PERSONAL STEWARDSHIP Some time ago, Lisa and I began participation in a Financial Peace University course, presented at our church. This experience has transformed our approach to stewardship in daily living, and our ability to direct the means placed in trust with us for meeting immediate needs and lasting purposes.
The approach we embrace now integrates a faith perspective on the purpose and goals of the discipline we practice. Our goals are centered on financial stability, living on much less than our income, planning for the unexpected, funding children's education, and eventual wealth-building with clearly planned, lasting and benevolent purposes.
We teach our children the pitfalls of our excessively-consumptive, overspending culture, with clear lessons on the role of money and sharing in our lives as followers of one who taught that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also.
Though the beginnings of this process had minor pitfalls, we have found abundant grace in seeking to order our daily living in ways which correspond to our trust in an extravagantly giving Lord.
KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL #1 - Preaching I am deeply committed to making the most of the opportunity to cast light on the transforming power of God's word for our daily lives.
Often, this involves humor and an appreciation for the reality that our thoughts are not God's thoughts, nor are our ways God's ways.
And yet, a light touch and a perceptive ability to lift up where God's grace brings rescue to our fallen humanity are ever exciting dynamics in offering the Good News that Christ died to save us in a sinful world.
Often, I provide a follow-along sheet, outlining the main ideas and providing a few fill in the blanks to assist in engaging hearers.
KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL #2 - Counseling Those who I have assisted through trials, most often the death of a loved one, or facing their own impending death, have expressed deep personal appreciation.
The public portions of this ministry reflect a unity between private care and communal expressions of support, appreciation and trust for which I offer leadership.
After five years of counseling Treatment Center patients, I have developed an ability to establish working rapport with individuals, in which I can gain entry into significant areas of brokenness and confer hope while assisting individuals to clarify what they need to do next.
KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL #3 - Congregational Transformation and Leadership Development The congregation I serve has had a robust history of rapid growth. Nonetheless, it has been a congregation in need of continued development and transformation.
During years of rapid initial growth, the congregation grew into a community which needed to raise up multiple leaders.
I have assisted the congregation in that effort by training and equipping small group leaders, many of whom have developed new, lay-led initiatives which have expanded the connections and relationships in the congregation, and service and mission activity, as well.
I have also assisted in the other key areas identified in our "12 Keys" action plan, expanding quality worship experiences and developing leaders (mainly a natual outgrowth, as outlined above).
KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL #4 - Ministry with Youth and Young Adults Seven years as a pastor with youth (Milwaukee, 1991-1998) left me with a body of work, a set of experiences, and a bit of wisdom about how to draw forth the best responses.
Some of those lessons were hard won. But the external measures of my work show that I led a program which was handed off to a successor at its highest level of function. I was blessed with committed Youth leadership and I am committed to continuing the best that I can offer.
Years later, young adults who had participated in my ministry and were now making their way in the world or away at college have searched me out and called or messaged me for advice and a listening ear.
Recently, I was nominated for the position of campus pastor at an ELCA college by another pastor who serves in the same capacity at another ELCA college. This is significant of his trust in the ministry with youth he has seen me exercise and the collaboration in college ministry I have contributed.
KEY LEADERSHIP SKILL #5 - Small Group Development Eighteen months ago, I initiated the development of a new Small Group Ministry, nurturing them through the development of independent leaders.
This process has resulted in the raising up of new leaders and new initiatives in the congregation, most recently the implementation of an all-ages education hour.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH AND APPROACH TO PROCLAIMING THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN Over the past five years and more, I have heard the 5th Step from hundreds of adult treatment center patients.
This wealth of experience has helped me to understand the breadth of human need for reconciliation, and the opportunity given me to sue for peace between a person and their Lord. This has been challenging and humbling, and has helped me to understand how fundamental our need of God's acceptance is for fruitful living. I imagine that whatever portion of those I work with implement these insights in their daily living bring immeasurable blessings to their families and to society as a whole.
All of this has enhanced my passion for the ministry of reconciliation within the congregation and community. I am comfortable walking with people in their brokenness and making sense of what to do next in light of God's welcome in the grace Christ has brought into the world.
HOW I PROVIDE PASTORAL CARE I treasure the trust conferred upon me by those I am charged with caring for, particularly those in critical circumstances.
There are extreme examples, not to be shared here, which portray the importance I place on being present with those who are in need of the care of the spirit.
HOW I SPEAK FOR JUSTICE ON BEHALF OF THE POOR AND OPPRESSED At the conclusion of my ministry in Milwaukee, I was humbled by the appearance at my farewell party of a delegation from a sister congregation which I had assisted by making serving opportunities consistently available and well promoted and staffed. This involved a tutoring and meal-serving program to which I drew dozens and dozens of volunteers on a monthly basis, year after year. That surprise delegation was evidence that my commitment made a difference in their congregation, and in their lives.
In other congregations, I have tirelessly carried forward similar efforts, whether collaborating with a congregation in Inner-City Boston or promoting tutoring and emergency services in Sioux Falls.
As a reflection of our ELCA statements, I have advocated for justice by preaching and teaching on the call to welcome persons without regard to sexual preference.
HOW I ENCOURAGE PERSONS TO CONSIDER VOCATIONS IN CHURCH LEADERSHIP Several opportunities have presented themselves for me to encourage young persons seriously to consider church vocations. In doing so, I have taken time to describe the nature and the joy of the service to the church.
I have also utilized the services of the South Dakota Synod "Answer the Call" staff to speak in our congregation.
Most importantly, I believe, I have tried to model an exemplary and joyful attitude of service to the congregation, the wider church, and in the community.
HOW I IMPART KNOWLEDGE OF THE MINISTRIES AND TEACHINGS OF THE ELCA AND ITS WIDER MINISTRY, AND INCREASE SUPPORT OF THE ELCA On two occasions, I have served as a delegate on behalf of a Companion Synod relationship, to Tanzania and Nicaragua.
In conjunction with these activities, I have provided interpretation of the overall relationship, built lasting and creative relationships myself, and elicited support for mission activities.
One resource which I have kept in use is "On Being a Member of the ELCA," which I use with new member groups.
I have brought delegations of our students to participate in services I have led at the local ELCA college chapel.
More than once, I have provided interpretation of the church's mission in face of some misunderstanding of the nature of our connection as congregations with the broader church. As a result, the congregation leadership has committed to give of first fruits, regardless of financial crunches through which the congregation may be passing.
I have also led groupings of the congregation to participate in community ministries in the broader community, often ecumenical in nature.
HOW I EQUIP A CONGREGATION FOR WITNESS AND SERVICE, PROCLAIMING GOD'S LOVE IN WORD AND DEED The confirmation and youth programs I have led are examples of gateways to witness and passing on the faith through the ministry of small group leaders and of parents in the guided conversations on matters of faith and spirituality which I have integrated into the program on a monthly basis. These same programs are gateways to cross-generational service participation, with adults offering leadership and encouragement as they serve with young people.
I have led many, many mission trips over the years, but the fruits of these efforts come most clearly when the transition is made to embracing local service, as well.
I lead by example, embracing and encouraging involvement in chances to serve others.
As we developed small group ministry in my current call, a groundswell of passion developed. People saw a need to offer education for all ages between worship services, rather than only for children during worship times. This was driven by the conviction that the lively encounter with God's word should be offered as widely as possible.
Another side benefit of small group ministry as we have implemented it is that these groups have become centers of service, offering their gifts of time and ability, in addition to their commitment to fellowship and learning.
