consulting

tomorrow I will do some "consulting" Presbyterian Church USA minister in the Cleveland area.  I will hand out at an Arabica coffee shop like do here at The Nervous Dog and clergy are going to stop by during the day.  This will be interesting.  We sort of evolved into doing it this way since I suggested we meet "out" somewhere rather than a church.  I think they had some pastors who were wanting to talk with someone who "has been there" and Harry Eberts at Lyndhurst Community PCUSA knew of what we have and are doing at Fairlawn West and asked if I would consider doing this.  So after I suggested a coffee shop setting, I think they just told the folks I would be there from 10 am to 4 pm and clergy are going to stop by for conversation.  Here are some of the notes Harry I developed to help shape the time:

 

Title:  Feeling the Need for Change

 

Questions

 

How are you reaching out to people in the wider world around us?

 

What's working/not working in your setting?

            How do you know it's working?

 

The issue is Pastor leadership

            Casting a vision

            Persevering

            Leading people as the  people of God

 

How will you lead?  This is the issue

            No models out there

            No one is out there ahead of us

 

What are the indigenous communities around you (context)?

 

What's the culture of your church?

 

What are the realistic core values of your church?

 

What gives you your passion now?

 

How many changes lives have you seen in the life of your church?

 

How many in your church see themselves in a mission field?

 

How can we share the presence of Christ in the world around us?

 

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"It's not about me"

 

It's the way our members reach out to disconnected people

 

Books

 

Broken, William Cope Moyers

Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix, Friedman

The Secret Message of Jesus, Brian McLaren

Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan