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A Better, Healthier, Stronger LEADership

2019-10-30 | Pastor Stacey Littlefield

ECC has been journeying down the Vitality Pathway toward becoming a more healthy missional church for almost three years now. When it’s all said and done, frankly, I believe we might be a poster child for the process and the impact it can have on a local congregation. I think we have seen such fruit along this pathway because of the quality of people who have led us and due to our growing sensitivity and responsiveness to the leading of the Holy Spirit. But I believe we can do even better!

 

One of the things I continue to discover about myself and my own leadership abilities is that there is always more to learn and there are always new areas of growth to be discovered. When we (ECC) took part in the Pulse Assessment in the spring of 2018, for example, one of the lowest Healthy Missional Markers (HMM) was A Culture of Godly Leadership. In fact, it was the second lowest of the ten markers for us. A culture of godly leadership is described as:

  • Our leaders at all levels serve with character, competence, and conviction.
  • A spirit of collegiality pervades, with our people trusting our leaders and our leaders trusting our people.
  • We continually identify and train godly leaders for all dimensions of our ministry.

 

Based on the process so far and the growth I have personally witnessed in our people, I believe that when the time comes to take the Pulse Assessment again, our score on this HMM will rise significantly. However, there is still (always) work to be done. And, thankfully, we are a part of a denomination and a conference within that denomination that desire to serve us in this area. In response to the third bullet point above, the Central Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church has invited us and other churches in our conference to take part in the L.E.A.D. Workshop, which will be held here on ECC’s campus on Saturday, November 16, from 9:00am-2:00pmL.E.A.D. stands for Lay Leaders Equipping And Developing, and on that day lay leaders from ECC and other churches nearby will come together to learn to lead better. I am personally very excited about the impact this workshop can have on our leaders and I hope you will join us!

 

The workshop will be interactive, practical, and biblically-based, and will address the topics identified in a survey sent to church leaders and pastors last year. Together we will engage in conversation and learning around reframing our mission, vision, and health as congregations and as individual leaders, using two excellent resources: Emotionally Healthy Leaders, by Pete Scazzaro and Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times, by Peter Stienke. We will also be introduced to an online toolbox for further learning and growth beyond the workshop. The cost for the workshop is $10, which will include a working lunch and all the materials we need. We have already had several from ECC sign up, and I hope you will consider doing so, as well. Please CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. When you go to the registration page, make sure you scroll down and click the November 16 workshop at ECC, as there are several options. Finally, please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any further questions.