What’s the Cost?

A reflection on Mary of Bethany from the story found in John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

---

What will it cost to be who you truly are? Anyone who’s been alive a while—no matter how long—knows that being yourself can be risky and costly. Being who we are in the world without trying to fit into others’ expectations or cultural constrictions can cost us friends and family. In these days of extreme polarization in our culture and church, even sharing a perspective can cost valued relationships—or at least followers on Facebook or Twitter.

For me, “being myself” involves being a woman. And I have had women’s issues on my mind a lot lately. Through my work on the soon-to-be published CEB Women’s Bible for which I am an editor, I was reminded of the degree to which women’s stories and voices in the Bible are, with rare exception, relegated to the background if they appear at all. Part of the gift of this new Bible is that every woman—named or unnamed in the text—is lifted up and given some attention. That is encouraging.

The World is Our Parish

From its beginnings, the Methodist movement was a movement of the people. The rapid spread of Methodism—especially in the American colonies—was due primarily to a theology of grace that was shared with all the people and especially those on the margins.

Francis Asbury once expressed concern that when we erect church buildings we are in danger of forgetting our original passion to share the good news outside the walls of the church—a passion that made our United Methodist Church what it is today.

It is from these roots—and the foundational belief that the world is our parish—that our system of itinerancy has grown.

As clergy, we have covenanted to be sent where the people are. Itinerancy allows the church to best match the gifts and graces of our clergy with the needs of the people we are called to serve.

And even though the world has changed, and the ways we work with itinerancy have changed, our need to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the world has not.

 

Throughout Bishop Kiesey’s ministry, she has had the privilege of serving on a wide range of committees and boards, including the Board of Trustees for Iowa Wesleyan College, Morningside College, and Dakota Wesleyan University. After serving eight years in the Dakotas Area, she was assigned to the Michigan Area in July 2012.

Passing the Baton in the Changeover Zone

 

History tells sad stories of good churches that are calcified as monuments to former pastors.

–Colin Hansen

 

When is the right time to begin thinking about pastoral transition? From day one, when a pastor first begins her or his tenure as the pastor of a local church! While the life of a local church may well be seen in terms of a long marathon, the pastoral leadership—regardless of how long any one pastor serves a particular church—is best seen as a relay race, in which the current pastor prepares to pass the baton on to a successor in that crucial segment of time and space called the changeover zone. That is why Bruce Miller says, “Pastoring a church is not getting a trophy to keep; it is getting a baton to pass.”
Biblical history is a testimony to leaders of God’s people moving through changeover zones, passing their batons to successors. Whether it was Elijah passing the mantel to Elisha or Moses giving way to Joshua, wise leaders know their leadership won’t last forever, nor should it. Belief that ministry is a journey into God’s future compels us to pass the baton in a way that makes possible even more success under the leadership of the successor.

When Jesus handed off the baton to Peter, it was with an ultimately victorious church in mind. When pastors—from day one—begin to pray for and prepare their successor, it does not lead (as supervisors sometimes fear) to shortsightedness, or lack of total commitment. Rather, it leads to a cultural mindset that, as the pastor, one of my main jobs is to prepare the church to do even greater ministry when my successor arrives.

Pastoral leadership is a relay race. In The United Methodist Church, bishops, and cabinets invest long hours and a lot of emotional energy to match a church and its mission field’s needs with the right pastor. They pray about, agonize over, and deliberate on how to successfully make appointments. Ironically, the time demands and myriad duties of district superintendents allow them far less time to make the appointment successful.

We wrote our book, The Changeover Zone, to help streamline and provide some tools to improve the transition process—to pass the baton in a smooth, seamless transition that allows the successor to get off to a running start. We took our experience from working with dozens of transition situations and distilled them into best practices for pastors, supervisors, and churches to help create a culture and common language to plan and execute a successful transition. There are many pitfalls and mistakes that can derail a new pastor from getting off to a running start, but there are many techniques and strategies that can help churches go beyond “surviving it” to actually accelerate growth during the transition.

Each role plays an important part—supervisors, judicatory leaders, exiting founder, new pastor, and the church—in the execution of carefully thought-out, prepared-for, practiced roles coming together. Perhaps you are that new pastor, or the exiting founder. Perhaps you are in a supervisory role, or are a member of the church going through its first pastoral change. Whatever part you may be playing in the transition, understand that this is a momentous—and often fragile—time in a congregation’s life; help everyone navigate through the imminent changes and changeovers that ensure your church gets it right.

 

Excerpt adapted from The Changeover Zone: Successful Pastoral Transitions
Copyright 2016 by Abingdon Press All rights reserved.

In addition to coaching, consulting, and conducting workshops in more than thirty annual conferences of The United Methodist Church, Jim Ozier has served on the Appointive Cabinet of the North Texas Conference for seven years. Jim (Griffith) has worked with hundreds of churches and a multitude of tribal judicatories and independent churches and nondenominational churches for over twenty years. Their book, The Changeover Zone, provides insights and strategies to help churches prepare for smoother pastor transitions.

 

Welcome Your New Pastor, Bed & Breakfast Style

 

If you’ve experienced what it’s like to stay in a really nice Bed & Breakfast (B&B), you know that the best proprietors are hospitality experts. You’re a complete stranger and yet, within minutes of checking in, you immediately feel at home. Their attention to detail and the way they create a welcoming, hospitable environment . . . there’s much we can glean, especially when it comes to receiving a new pastor and his or her family.

What Would Einstein Do … to Recruit VBS Volunteers?

 

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” You’ve heard this quote from Einstein, well, over and over again. But in truth, the definition is not his; nor did it come from Ben Franklin. Maybe Mark Twain? Nope. What’s also doubtful is that any of these three brainy men ever recruited volunteers for Vacation Bible School.

Now if every position on your VBS volunteer roster is filled, congratulations! You’ve got volunteer recruitment down to a science. If not, maybe it’s time to change up something in your volunteer recruitment strategy*.

What Lights You Up?: Staying Alive In Ministry

Staying alive in ministry involves knowing what we mean by “alive” and what we mean by “ministry.” There is a pollution of words and confusion of roles that has to be managed before anything else can be managed.

One clergywoman said to me, “The biggest task at my church is keeping me from burning out. I am the chief asset here.” We know what she means. Ask any search committee: they know that the clergy leader is the chief asset of the organization. They may forget that over time. Since churches don’t think they are supposed to care for pastors-in fact they think the opposite-the matter of caring for the pastor is up to the pastor. Start there: if you don’t take care of yourself, no one else will. Care of yourself is your job. “Self-care” is the new buzzword. I prefer to get at the word pollution in “burn out.” Clergy roles are to care for the congregation. The congregation is not to care for the clergy. So the clergy must care for him or herself.