Archive for the ‘Young Clergy’ Category

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Now serving with Rev. Dr. Shelly Petz!

August 24, 2009

Dustin & ShellyAs many of you know, Shelly and I are both ordained clergy in the UMC.  In December I was appointed to Goodland and Shelly was placed on Family Leave.  However, we are very excited that the Goodland congregation and Bishop Jones took action to have us both appointed here.  Thus, as of July 1, 2009, we are both serving the Goodland community!  We appreciate the faith and vision of the congregation to hire both of us, and we look forward to what God will do in and through our ministries together!

Shelly and I will be co-pastors and will share in all aspects of our ministry.  We each have different sets of gifts and graces, and so we will seek to employ them to be most effective.  Actually each of our various gifts complement well the other’s and so it ought to be a joy to work together again on the same team.

Posted in Church Leadership, Clergy Couples, Goodland United Methodist Church, United Methodist Church, Young Clergy | Leave a Comment »

40 Days of Prayer

May 18, 2009

Starting today the 18th of May, there is a prayer campaign – 40 days of prayer – for the purpose of renewal of the United Methodist Church, and I pray for the whole church.  It is being facilitated by Ben Simpson, who has organized forty young clergy authors to write prayers, then to organize themselves and others to be in prayer for direction, confession, and purpose.

I am blessed to be able to include these prayers within my weekly radio devotions (see the page with links).

I see this as an important ministry as we near the end of the Easter season, as we celebrate and remember Christ ascending, calling the early church to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit….and to pray!  They were to wait and pray, so that they might be given direction and purpose.  As we move towards the Day of Pentecost may we be open to the power of the Holy Spirit, that it might convict us, mold us, and call us forward into renewal and transformation.

God, use us and these forty days to ignite a fire of purpose and vision!  Amen.

Posted in Church Leadership, Goodland United Methodist Church, Ministry, United Methodist Church, Young Clergy | Leave a Comment »

I’m still here.

April 21, 2009

Hello all.  It has been almost two months since my last post.  I am sorry to be so slow with updating my blog.

Today I am in Washington, D.C., with the Lewis Fellows program.  We just had a session about Fruitful Leadership with Lovett Weems.  He pointed out the need for clergy to fulfill all three of these areas (skill sets): Character, Competence, …. AND Contribution.  He talked about the importance of asking about the fruits of our work and ministries. Lovett used the phrase, “so that” to get at the heart of our fruit and contribution.

To explain: we do the various aspects of our ministry (worship, preaching, visiting persons in the hospital, praying with people, visioning, facilitating meetings, etc.)….so that… (here we would fill in the fruit we plan to produce and harvest).  The practice of asking the “so that” question is vital to get at the heart of why we do what we do, or to what end.  It is really all about vision and the calling God places on us as clergy leaders and as congregations!

Lovett invited us to discern the fruit of the following practices to try this question out:

we worship…so that…_____________
we have a choir…so that…_____________
we have ushers…so that…_____________
we have a bulletin…so that…_____________

How we answer each of these questions ought to line up with one another and connect with the larger vision of our church!  Try it for yourself!

There are other learnings from the Lewis Fellows program that I want to reflect upon, but asking the “so that” fruit question is one of the most helpful!

Posted in Church Leadership, Ministry, Theology, Young Clergy | Leave a Comment »

Lewis Fellows in Atlanta, GA

January 20, 2009

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.

Leadership on the Line                                    rocking-the-boat

Posted in Church Leadership, Ministry, Uncategorized, Young Clergy | Leave a Comment »

Grace to Goodland – 4 of 6

November 11, 2008

As I continue this back and forth engagement with my hopes and griefs, I turn today to name a grief of mine as we leave Olathe.  It is really tied to the blessing that Shelly and I have connected well with a group of younger united methodist clergy in the KC Metro area.  Across the denomination the number of younger clergy is very low, about 4.5% of all elders, yet in the KC Metro area there is a higher concentration of us.  Shelly and I have been able to share meals, travel to local clergy and church events, travel to the Holy Land, and really connect with our peers in ministry in this area.  Thus I am grieving that we will soon be further from them.

One of our friends offered a rebuttal that even though we will live across the state from each other, that doesn’t mean we cannot be connected.  Most of us subscribe to one another’s blogs.  Most of us are on Facebook and are friends with each other.  Technology today allows people to be connected in new ways, not possible before.  Plus we will still be able to reunite at annual meetings – either KS area professional seminar or annual conference! 

Finally, this new opportunity will allow Shelly and I to connect with and support the more scattered younger clergy in Kansas West.  We may have further to travel, but there is great potential to be bound together for life and ministry! 

Thanks to the many people who have supported, loved, challenged, and called us to greater depth in faith and greater heights in vision!

Posted in Church Leadership, Clergy Couples, Family, Kansas, Ministry, Theology, Young Clergy | 1 Comment »

Lewis Fellows in Kansas City

October 28, 2008

Last week I was with the Lewis Fellows for our October meeting here in Kansas City.  Our focus for this session was that of engaging context and the different ministries that are shaped by our context.  We visited five ministries sites in the metro area, talked with leaders in those places, and also learned tools to strengthen our spiritual health and church finances. 

On the 21st we visited The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection and spent time visiting with Adam Hamilton (after reading his book, Leading Beyond the Walls, in preparation).  We also shared time visiting Jacob’s Well and talking with Tim Keel (after reading his book, Intuitive Leadership, in preparation). 

On the 22nd we then visited Revolution Church, including their Neighbor to Neighbor program of developing community and sustaining new hope for the disenfranchised of that area.  We then visited Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, talking about their current ministry and need for transformation within that community.  Finally, we visited the Center of Grace Mission and Outreach Center of Grace United Methodist Church!  It was really cool to share with my peers the ministry we are engaging via the Center! 

Check out my flickr photostream for pics. Here is one of them!

Posted in Church Leadership, Ministry, Theology, Young Clergy | Leave a Comment »

Dr. Shelly in the house!

September 16, 2008

My wife, Shelly, completed her orals for her Doctor of Ministry through Drew University this past Friday.  I am so proud of her and all of her work towards this degree!  The focus of the program was Worship, Preaching, and Spirituality.  Her project was in conjunction with Grace’s 150th anniversary, where she led a team to erect a spiritual labyrinth – connecting the story and journey of our past with our future.  Then she provided many educational opportunities to teach about labyrinths and spiritual disciplines.  (See this cool link about the labyrinth.)  …She has only to send in her final draft of her thesis for the degree.  We will travel to Madison, NJ in October for the graduation.  Congrats!

Posted in Church Leadership, Family, Kansas, Ministry, Young Clergy | Leave a Comment »

Baltimore Session of Lewis Fellows

July 31, 2008

 

I am officially on “family leave” until August 15th, but this week I was blessed to be with 25 other younger clergy from across the nation.  We gathered together just outside of Baltimore as our first (of four) session for the Lewis Fellows program through the Lewis Center for Church Leadership.  The focus of this first leadership training session was that of Visioning and the importance of Emotional Intelligence for pastoral leadership.

Each session we will have the combination of a main leadership theme, with the addtion of three foci: theological, skills, and personal.  The larger hope is to find ways to equip younger leaders to bring together challenge, support, and accountability, as we strengthen our churches for ministry in the world. 

My two favorite aspects of this session were

  1. The opportunity to network with other younger clergy from a diversity of contexts and backgrounds – being able to find support and encouragement.
  2. To learn the vital content and best practices of helping churches and ministries vision for the future, discerning what next steps God is calling us to take. 

The texts we read in preparation for this session included: Take the Next Step, and Primal Leadership.  Both texts were very helpful and informative.  The leadership of clergy would be more effective at equipping people and helping churches move into God’s preferred future if they would read and engaged these texts. 

I will reflect and blog further about the insights of visioning and emotional intelligence in the coming weeks.

Posted in Church Leadership, Ministry, Young Clergy | 1 Comment »

The Crisis of Younger Clergy – 3 of 3

April 23, 2008

The Crisis of Young Clergy textOne of the recommendations of The Crises of Younger Clergy is the need for congregations to “cultivate call among the young.”  In the United Methodist Church, clergy come only from the local church, and thus there is a need for congregations to invite their young persons (and older persons) to consider how it is that God might be calling them. 

When I use the language of “call” I don’t intend to limit it to only the ministry of a clergy person, but rather to help persons live into their gifts and graces in a way that is in concert with the way that God created them.  Most people may not be called to a clergy role of ministry, but that doesn’t mean they are not called and are not in ministry.  Being a baptized disciple of Jesus Christ means that you are in ministry and are called to follow in service of God and neighbor in a particular way. 

Growing up a member of the United Methodist Church in Bird City, KS, I don’t recall ever wrestling with the idea that maybe God had hopes and a vision for my life.  I don’t remember considering that my life could have a “vocation” – a pursuit connected to the voice of my life.  I didn’t ponder that my life’s work could be connected to my faith. 

What about you?

  1. When have you been asked, how is it that God is calling you?
  2. Did you consider that God had a vision for your life and ministry when you were young?
  3. What steps might the church take to make sure to call new leaders (lay and clergy)?

 

Posted in Church Leadership, Kansas East Conference, Ministry, Young Clergy | Leave a Comment »

General Conference 2008

April 17, 2008

The General Conference of the United Methodist Church will be gathering next week in Fort Worth, TX.  This is a quadrennial meeting to decide policy and legislation that affects the whole of the church.  The Kansas East Conference will have 3 clergy and 3 laity delegates of the total 990 delegates from around the world. 

I will be leading a class at Grace, along with Rev. Frank Dorsey, called “What is General Conference?”  It is a basic class to help people learn more about the organizational structure of the United Methodist Church, as well as to stay connected with what happens in Fort Worth this year.  The class will meet in room 222 on Tuesdays (April 22nd, 29th, and May 6th) from 7:00pm to 8:30pm.  Please come join us for this journey!  Here is a pdf of the class notes of the first session: What is General Conference – Class Notes – 1.  Let me know your thoughts!

You can also stay connected via the UM homepage. 

Question: What are your hopes for General Conference 2008?

Posted in Church Leadership, Kansas, Kansas East Conference, Ministry, Theology, Young Clergy | Leave a Comment »

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