Last week (Jan 20-23) I was in Atlanta for my Lewis Fellows program. One of my favorite and powerful portions of the week was walking through the city, visiting the King Center, along with the birth home of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ebenezer Baptist Church. It was powerful to be in the hub of so much of the civil rights movement in this country, especially with the inauguration of President Obama on Tuesday.
Here is one of my favorite pictures from my photostream via www.flickr.com. Enjoy!
Unfortunately Bishop Scott Jones was not able to be with us for worship this past weekend. He was sick with a high fever, so was unable to travel to be with us. However, we look forward to a future time to be together!
Bishop Scott Jones, of the Kansas Area of the United Methodist Church, will be in Goodland on Saturday and Sunday of this week, January 24th and 25th. He will be here to connect with the congregation and to lead in worship. Here are the details of his schedule:
Here is a link to learn more about Bishop Scott Jones.
I hope that you will come and join me in welcoming him and growing with his leadership!
Today I fly out for my third session of the Lewis Fellows program. I am really loving this program. I so appreciate the opportunities to be networked with many other younger clergy leadership from across the nation. I appreciate the ministry sites we are able to visit and learn from. I enjoy the texts that we have read and the assessments we have participated in. I very much cherish the leadership from Dr. Lovett Weems and Ann Michel.
If other younger clergy would like to learn more about this program and inquire about future classes, I am very open to receiving emails and sharing my reflections!
The Atlanta session will have a personal focus of “Physical Health.” This focus is very practical and applicable for my life and ministry. My most recent health exam highlighted that I need to eat better and exercise more regularly, so as to lower my cholesterol and keep my heart in better health. The assessment I took in preparation for the Atlanta session of the Lewis Fellows, called Fit to Lead, highlighted the same needs. I am beginning a program through the United Methodist Church called HealthMiles, which focuses on tracking and rewarding the walking we do every day. I hope it, will be a good start to my strengthened health.
The Atlanta session will also feature a leadership focus of “Leading Change.” This is always a vital aspect of the leadership of clergy, as we help congregations live into God’s vision for their next steps. In preparation for this session we were invited to read two texts: Leadership on the Lineby Heifetz and Linsky, and Rocking the Boatby Meyerson. Both of these resources name ways in which leaders help affect change in their organizations, not for the sake of change, but for the purpose of helping the organization address their values, goals, and visions for life (and ministry!). From a church prospective, it is about helping congregations live out their espoused identities and visions, doing so by making adaptive changes in their behaviors, habits, values, and worldviews. Below are graphics for these two texts and links to purchase them via Amazon.com.
This past Sunday, I preached about how we are all gifted for ministry and called by God to be in service to/with others (you can listen to the sermon here). I shared my call story and invited everyone to be open to God’s Spirit leading them to recognize and live out their own callings.
I included in the bulletin the following list of opportunities to be in ministry, hoping to help the congregation discern God leading them in their lives. May it also spark better understanding for you in your calling!
Possible means of being Gifted and Called by God
Below is a brainstorming list of ministries within the local church ministry and beyond it, to which God may be calling you to use your spiritual gifts. Some of these ministries are already in place and you are invited to join them. Others are opportunities for us, as God calls us, to use our gifts and graces. May you be open to God’s leading!
How might God be calling you to use your gifts and graces for others?
Today, the 19th of January, Shaylin said her first word!!…ok, so maybe she made a special sound, which we interpreted as a word….ok, so maybe it was also in Hebrew! 
Yes, Shaylin said her first Hebrew word today, ya`áqöb (it is translated as “Jacob” in English)! No really, she said it correctly in Hebrew. We will let you know when she says her first English word too!
It is amazing that the most popular page/post of this blog is the one about me (232 views as of Jan 15, 2009). I guess that is normal. If I like a site/blog, I usually want to learn about the author…and am often left wishing there was more info. So, this is my attempt at providing a little more story, background, and juicy details (OK, not really)!
Clergy Family:
Maybe the most unique part of my story is that I am a UM clergyperson, as is my wife, her sister, and the sister’s husband! Yep. All four of us (two sisters and their husbands) are UM clergy. All four of us went to seminary at Saint Paul School of Theology and now serve in the state of Kansas. Here is a pic from when Shelly was ordained, with all of us together in a row.
Pastoral Journey:
I have been very blessed with some really cool (and very diverse) pastoral placements since 2000. I first served as the circuit riding pastor (not a horse but a Dodge Stratus) for three small-membership congregations south of the Kansas City Metro area – Parker, Beagle, and Fontana UMCs. It was a really great first appointment. The people really took as part of their ministry the raising up of new clergy leaders. I was blessed! I lived half of the week in Parker and the other half in Kansas City, MO.
When I graduated from seminary (with a Master of Divinity degree) I moved to Northeast Philadelphia. It was culture shock no doubt, but a really cool adventure! Over the course of the first two years I served as the pastor of two congregations in urban settings with changing neighborhoods (Tabernacle Memorial and Central/Rehoboth UMCs). I served part-time while attending Princeton Theological Seminary seeking a Master of Theology degree in Biblical Interpretation: New Testament. (I had thought I might be called to a ministry of teaching in a seminary.)
My third and final year in PA was one where I served and focused my ministry on one congregation – Bristol: Harriman UMC. It was an opportunity to focus more on my local church ministry and the importance of its context and local community. I also enjoyed my role within the Conference Committee on Finance and Administration.
In 2006 Shelly and I shared in being placed together in a larger membership church in Olathe, KS. Yes, we came back to our home state. We were both Associate Pastors (not main preaching pastors, but had other more specialized ministries). I served as the pastoral of discipleship and evangelism for Grace UMC of Olathe. Much of my ministry was that of adult education, helping people get connected, and reaching out with various ministries.
I hope to provide more information – or change it at times. Let me know your thoughts! Dustin
Six weeks ago, while I was in transit – in the midst of our move at the end of November – I was invited to be a part of the Economic Advisory Committee for the General Council of Finance and Administration of the United Methodist Church. I had worked with the recently elected General Secretary, Moses Kumar, when he served in Eastern Pennsylvania, and he invited me to be on the committee. In so many ways I find this a great honor and I am excited about being able to bring a local church perspective to the meetings and visioning of this committee.
Our first meeting was on December 5th, the Friday before my first weekend at Goodand UMC. It probably wasn’t the best timing for me, but I enjoyed the work we did and helping connect my new congregation to the larger ministry of the United Methodist Church. The committee sought to gain a sense of our current economic situation (in the U.S.A. and around the world), while also doing our best to assess what we can expect in the coming months. A report was crafted; here is a link to it in pdf. I invite you to read this report. I was quoted in the report, and would enjoy to hear your thoughts of my comments.
How do you see the current economic situation affecting your ministries? How might this recession shape or give new focus to your church community?
Hello all! It has been a little crazy moving this past month, celebrating the Advent and Christmas seasons, getting to know many of my new congregation in Goodland, and trying to get unpacked. We still have a lot of boxes to go through. Thanks for everyone who offered us so much care and support in this transition! We appreciate you!
I look forward to getting back into the flow of blogging and communicating about my ministry, what is going on at Goodland UMC, and sharing my reflections about discipleship on the way! Sorry for the long break.
Website: We are working on a new website for the Goodland United Methodist Church, which is in its early stages, but I am hopeful! I just made it live, so here is a link. We will get our church’s domain name connected soon.
Radio Spots: I will begin on Monday, the 12th of January, a new radio ministry – new to me. On KKCI and KLOE at 6:10am MST each day of the week, I will have a short devotion as part of the Good Neighbor Hour programing. I have recorded the first week’s sessions, and have plans to connect those recordings to this blog and the church’s new website, so that people can listen to them again or hear ones that they missed.
Shaylin’s Baptism: Shaylin was baptized on January 4th by the United Methodist Clergy of her family: Jenny, John, Shelly, and myself. It was quite a site to see. I don’t have all the pics ready, but will get them up soon.
Shaylin’s First Christmas: Don’t you just love this cute pic!
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