Increasing Awareness...

Been working at ways to increase our community's awareness of Community of Joy and opening the door to conversations with people about community of Joy and invitations to join the journey with us.
So, yesterday, I went to the Mall to visit with a friend of mine (he attended the Community Men's Bible Study group that I lead) to see what we could work out.  In about an hour he took my design and logo picture and created the kind of image he needed to print t-shirts.  And the really great thing is that he is giving us the cheapest rate for bulk shirts.  Even better is that each person can go there on their own and decide what size, color t-shirt and color print they want for a totally custom shirt.  And to top off the great thing is that it will be available by the next day (depending on how busy the shop is, it could be done in hours).   If you want one of these shirts, they cost $18 and all you have to do is go to Son Graphics at the Centre of Salisbury and get it.

And every time one of these shirts is worn in the community, Community of Joy is getting exposure!

New Horizons....

Out of the work I did in the Advanced Foundations of Church Leadership Experience, I have been thinking about how I can strengthen my leadership.  I am about to begin my 15th year of pastoring here at Community of Joy.  They have been 14 good years!  But I have not seen the congregation grow in numbers or influence like I had dreamed it would.

So, I am doing some intentional work on how to reorient and leverage my leadership gifts by changing the way I do things.  Getting some great ideas through prayer and from a book I have been reading for things I can do to change the way I lead and minister.

At the same time, I am thinking that it is time to have a conversation at the leadership level of Community of Joy about how we might reorient the way we do things and give new articulation to what we are about so that it might focus us in new ways and enable us to be more effective in sharing Christ's love with our community and world so that we would grow in numbers and more importantly in influence for Jesus!

Stay tuned!

What is the purpose of the church?

Found this in a book I am reading by Paul Borden..."Make or Break Your Church in 365 Days: A daily guide to leading effective change"...

1. Was the church established to be the custodian of the saints?
2. Was the church established to carry out God's mission of redemption?

"When I ask these questions, I ask them in a primary sense.  A church on a mission does need to care for the saints who are carrying out that mission.  A church that is a custodian of the saints does believe in and can employ strategies for mission and seeing the work of redemption accomplished.  However, tis the church fundamentally designed to be a place for saints to worship, grow, develop, and be prepared to carry out God's mission, or is the church by its very nature a missional entity that does worship, discipleship, and other activities in missional ways, designed more for what it achieves as an entity in the accomplishment of the mission, both corporately and individually?"

"I believe that church of Jesus Christ is doing so poorly in North America because the church is most often seen as a custodian of the saints.  Most Christians believe in mission, but I sense that most Christians don't view the church as a missional entity designed more to mobilize believers than to serve them."

Somehow, the task for us in Church leadership is to mobilize participants to RECIEVE LOVE.  GIVE LOVE.  REPEAT AGAIN AND AGAIN.   To view the community as a place to share God's love with others and to help people take their next step toward Jesus!

Teamwork is the BEST work!

Yesterday, Sharon and Caroline and I spent the afternoon and evening (till moon rise) on the beach at Assateague National Seashore.  We drove my truck about a mile and a half down the beach and enjoyed our time together waiting on the moon rise.   While there, I took a walk to see what animals I could see and came across a pair of piping plovers that were acting strange.  At first I thought they had a nest nearby and were trying to keep me from finding it.  One of them would do the "Wounded Bird" dance trying to lead me away.  So, I just sat still for a while and watched and soon I discovered that they didn't have a nest, but they had three fledglings that they were protecting.  So, I set up with my camera hoping to get some pictures ( a bigger task than I thought as they are fast)

I was able to catch a couple shots of the babies.  And a couple shots of one parent with some of the babies.  I had hoped to catch a shot of all of them but that didn't happen.  The pictures are not the greatest because the angle of the sun and the harsh light that it was still.

 

What caught my attention was the way the two parents worked together to watch over and protect their young.  One would stay near the young and the other would try to lead me away from them.  They would even reverse roles.

 

It occurs to me that in the church, we need to do a better job of working together in teams.  Teams share the load, increase the efficiency, and help everyone feel more empowered and part of the body.   God created us to live in community and gifted us each with differing gifts so that we will go farther together.

 



Success is more than numbers....

Numbers don't tell the whole picture!  Never have and never will, in the church!

Today Community of Joy had our first ever Health Fair.  Thanks to the vision and hard work of Ginny Carlyle and the Hands of Joy Team!  It was an AWESOME event. 

This is Ginny on the left!

 

We had a steady stream of people from the community stop by.  It was never a huge crowd.  BUT the success of this event will not be measured in the number of people that came.  The success of this event will be measured in the following things....

 

1.  A person (Ginny) had the vision for an event that would impact our community and worked hard involving other people from Community of Joy and the community to pull it off.  And it was well lead and attended by vendors.  Teaming and Empowering others to lead and serve are HUGE SUCCESS ITEMS!

 

2. Several folks upon leaving thanked us for doing this for the community... one even said, it was so nice of us to do it!  Blessing others is a HUGE SUCCESS ITEM!

 

3. A person ( JoAnn) loves Salisbury's Third Friday downtown event and was eager to attend and set up a booth to share flyers (600) with attenders last night.   New people are exposed to the existence of Community of Joy Church in our community and that is a HUGE SUCCESS ITEM!

 

4. Our Ministry Center is open to the community and lots of activity there on a Saturday morning... that communicates LIFE to our community and that is a HUGE SUCCESS ITEM!

 

5.  Vendors are establishing connections with each other and with folks from Community of Joy and that is another HUGE SUCCESS ITEM!

 

Thanks Ginny and the Hands of Joy Team for leading a great event!

 

Pastor Sharon representing Coastal Hospice at our Health Fair... wearing her other hat!

 

 

 



Advanced Foundations of Church Leadership - What was it?

From September 2011 to June 2013, I have been engaged in a learning experience called Advanced Foundations of Church Leadership that was jointly sponsored by Bethany Theological Seminary, The Brethren Academy and the Church of the Brethren Office of Ministry.  It was funded by Lily Endowment money.  This journey involved 8 weeks of time, traveling to Indiana, California, and Florida for a week at a time.

We mostly met at a Quaker Retreat facility in Richmond, Indiana but twice met in California and Florida (both January's).  The group consisted of 7 Church of the Brethren Pastors from around the country.  Three from California, two from Indiana, one from Virginia, and myself from Maryland.  During the course of this intense study, we read books, wrote papers, taught classes, participated in a variety of class instruction all on the topic of leadership as well as informal conversations and support.

 

Here are the 15 books that I read for the course.

 

We each taught a chapter out of the book Leading Change in the Congregation by Gilbert Rendle.  This book was a pivotal book for me and shed lots of light into some ongoing situations at Community of Joy and offered much help in navigating them.

A part of the course involved a 360 degree review from 8 participants from my congregation and colleagues that filled out anonymous surveys and those results helped shape a major project in the course to strengthen leadership practices in weaker areas.  This was a keystone for me of the time.

Another key part of the journey for me was the formation of Spiritual Companions.  My Spiritual Companion and I have become lifelong friends.  We had so much fun together and have supported and will support each other.  On this last trip, we decided to rent a car and travel together.  Since he was from VA and I am from MD, we met in Hagerstown, MD and enjoyed our trip together very much!

During the 7 plane rides and times spent waiting in airports, I read the following books plus two that I do not have currently.

 

 

I also come away from the event with these books in my "To Read Pile" from suggestions that were given.

 

 

And I received 8 Continuing Education Credits for this journey.

 

 

Here is a booklet of other resources we used.  We built a tool box using various personality tests and other instruments that gave us a greater insight into who we are as leaders.

 

 

Here are some other pictures from our experience....

 

 

This last two years has been a rich time of learning and developing for me.  I am grateful that my congregation allowed me to have the journey!  

 

I entered the process after being denied a sabbatical (having served here for 12 years at the time).  I needed a break and some time for renewal and rejuvenation.   As I entered the journey, I was not so sure that I was going to be able to stay engaged in ministry here at Community of Joy due to extreme exhaustion. But having been given the opportunity to get away and receive some tools to equip me in my leadership here, while this experience was NOT a sabbatical, it did allow me to find refreshment and will allow me to stay engaged in leadership here at Community of Joy for years to come.  I am delighted to have been able to be part of this experience!

 

Here are photos of my last presentation... our learnings from this 2 year experience.  I started inside with a hymn... Lead On O Cloud Of Presence because my experience was about a journey.... then went outside because my spirit fills in the outdoors.

 

 

 

 

At the end of our time, we had a celebration meal at the Olde Richmond Inn and this is me chatting with the Church of the Brethren Executive Director of Ministry and Associate General Secretary, MaryJo Flory-Stuery.   What a delightful way to end the experience!

 

 



 





Blessed to Be a Blessing

At Community of Joy Church we believe that we are blessed by God so that we can be a blessing to others.  In fact as you leave our sanctuary space, you can be reminded by this question on the wall above the exit door... "Blessed by God, so that we can bless others... Who will you bless today?"

Found this liturgy... takes 25 minutes.  It is an online experience.  Love it!

Here are the words to one of the songs by Aaron Niequist....

I want to bless - whoever I see next
I want to give - not just use and forget
I want to leave - more than thoughtless regret
Not gonna run away

I want to give - even when I feel poor
To let it go - when I want to keep score
I want to hear - who is always ignored
Not gonna back away

 

I’m only a part of the story
But wholly a part of the story
So I’ll take my part in the story
Get out of myself
Get over myself
Get lost in the story of somebody else

 

I want to lift - everyone that I meet
Knowing well - I need them to lift me
Unified - in our humanity
We’re gonna pour it out

 

I’m only a part of the story
But wholly a part of the story
So I’ll take my part in the story
Get out of myself
Get over myself
Get out of my fear
Give all of myself
Get lost in the story of somebody else

It takes all of us....

I don't mind mowing grass for a number of reasons... one it is good exercise, two it is great prayer time, three it is necessary to keep a place looking nice!

I took my turn at the Community of Joy Ministry Center this morning.  I never want it to be said of me that I was unwilling to get my hands dirty or to do hard work or to do what I ask others to do.  We don't hire the lawn care, we ask for volunteers and I like to take my turn.

It is hard for me to believe that in 2007 when we bought this property, the very picture above looked like this...

 

Notice this is the same perspective as the one above! (can't really see our building)

 

This one is looking from our building to the neighboring church. 

 

You can see the work we had to do to reclaim this land and make it useable.  Even that took lots of help from volunteers.  It really does take all of us to do the work of ministry and to maintain the ministry center that Jesus provided us!

 

We are looking for volunteers to take a turn each week.  Mower and gas provided.  Sign up sheet is in the Ministry Center Lobby.

Graduated!

It is hard to believe that my baby is all graduated from High School.  She did it 30 years almost to the day since I graduated high school.   Now it is on to the next chapter... she will make a great nurse after completing her college studies at Salisbury University!