wfn.org | ABCUSA: 'Strong in the Lord' Lifts Up Support, Renewal for Pastoral

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Richard.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

Leaders

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 2/4/04)--More than 500
pastors and other church leaders experienced a program designed to provide
support, renewal and fellowship at the "Strong in the Lord" conference Jan.
26-29 in Orlando, Fla.	

In meeting the conference goals of shaping and strengthening pastoral
ministry, connecting colleagues from various ministry specialties and
geographical settings, and encouraging participation in collegial covenant
groups, "Strong in the Lord" offered worship, Bible study, plenary
presentations and peer group gatherings.  Foundational Scripture passages
include Ephesians 3:16-21 and Ephesians 6:10.

The conference grew out of a vision of the affirmation of pastors, through
such a gathering, developed by the Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, general secretary
of American Baptist Churches USA, and the Rev. Dr. Kate Harvey, executive
director of the American Baptist Churches USA Ministers Council.  The Rev.
Dr. Jeffrey Haggray, executive minister of the District of Columbia Baptist
Convention, led a planning team in coordinating the event.  

 "You don't have to be perfect to have your ministry redeemed and useful,"
Medley said in a worship message to participants.  He noted that pastors
often face formidable congregational expectations and a sense of isolation
as they seek to be effective shepherds.  Emphasizing the need for peer
support, friendship and encouragement, Medley said that all pastoral leaders
need "somebody to come and walk beside us with humility and compassion...the
power of community" during the challenges of ministry.

Haggray told participants that the gathering was intended to put them "in
touch with God, with self and with others" and to assure them that "you are
appreciated and you are valued."

The Rev. Dr. Gordon MacDonald, former pastor and author of more than a dozen
books, invited attendees to consider the 23rd Psalm as "perhaps the greatest
single job description of the pastor" in Scripture.  "The Lord is my pastor;
he makes me lie down," MacDonald paraphrased, in emphasizing God's intention
"to bring us in for nurture and protection" in order "to be pushed out into
the larger world" for ministry.  MacDonald said that the Psalmist's call to
"lie down" was a mandate to embrace a Sabbath rest that "brings things back
to order and peace...an opportunity to function again from the deepest part
of the soul."  MacDonald, referencing Psalm 23 and Pauline passages from the
New Testament, encouraged pastors to see God's provision for Sabbath rest,
reflection and renewal as a necessary component of a shepherding ministry
that constantly confronts "the stomping boots of life." 

The Rev. Wilma Johnson, pastor of the New Prospect Baptist Church, Detroit,
Mich., led participants through Bible studies focused on the first letter of
John and the call to "increase and enrich fellowship" among Christians.
"There is no such thing as a solitary Christian," she said.  "At the very
bottom of fellowship there must be a like-ness" that draws believers into
community, she maintained.  "Our task is to love one another--when we build
up one another, when we are kind to one another, when we admonish one
another, when we forgive one another.  We can't fellowship with half a
heart, half a brain, half a spirit.  It takes all of me to fellowship with
Jesus Christ."

The Rev. David Wood, pastor of First Baptist Church, Gardiner, Me., and
coordinator of the Transition into Ministry Program, a grant program funded
by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., brought insight to the need for deep
friendship and peer encouragement in a calling that often results in
isolation.  "Our definitions of intimacy are far too narrow; it's time to
recover intimacy in its full range and scope," he said.  "We have lost the
importance of the sociability of spirituality."  Wood noted surveys
consistently reveal that "pastors struggle with isolation, alienation,
loneliness."  Citing John 10 and John 15, Wood emphasized that "Jesus names
us as friends" and that "I lose sight of the face of Jesus if I don't see it
in the face of friends."

Wood said that friendship as a necessary component of a healthy pastoral
life produces a greater knowledge of God and self; an understanding of
appropriate intimacy; a greater capacity for self-care; an increased
capacity to deal effectively with conflict; and an increased capacity to
model friendship. 

Among other program participants, who lifted up aspects of clergy self-care,
nurture and peer fellowship, were the Rev. Oscar Garcia-Johnson, regional
minister for Hispanic congregational ministry, new church planting and
leadership development, American Baptist Churches of Los Angeles; the Rev.
Margaret Marcuson, consultant with clergy and other leaders who want to be
healthier and more effective, and former pastor of the First Baptist Church,
Gardner, Mass., for 13 years; the Rev. Dr. Kirk Byron-Jones, Kelsey-Owens
Professor of Black Ministries and assistant professor of Social Ethics,
Andover Newton Theological School, and well-known author; the Rev. Alice
Davis, interim pastor of Irving Park Baptist Church, Chicago; the Rev. Ken
Tang Quan, pastor of Palos Verdes Baptist Church, Rolling Hills, Calif.; and
the Rev. Souci Familiaran-Grimsley, director of Integrative Wellness of HIP
Health Plan of New York.
  
The Rev. Nolan Williams Jr., musician, songwriter and theologian, provided
worship in music throughout the gathering.  Other performers, from Orlando,
included the Mount Zion Praise Team, Haitian Youth for Christ and musicians
from Iglesia Bautista Central.

The Rev. Dr. Kate Harvey, Ministers Council executive director, assessed the
gathering: "After praying and working for so long that "Strong in the Lord"
would be a defining moment in ABC life, I am full of joy that over 500
pastoral leaders attended with spirits thirsting for healing and hope, and
God did not disappoint them. The "Strong in the Lord" conference was holy
space where God met us to touch pastoral leaders in their depths to stir
within them the expectation that God will yet do miracles through our
ministries and missions. While a professional evaluator will assess
conference outcomes with all the tools of her expertise, I can already
affirm that "Strong in the Lord" has transformed the American Baptist
Churches through its work in the precious souls gathered there. Leadership
is the absolute key to a vital body that will honor God through the witness
of lives, work, attitudes and spirit. My prayer is that God will continue to
bless the pastoral leaders who participated in this conference, and through
their testimonies will gather even more for the next."	

The Rev. Joe Kutter, Ministers Council president, noted, "My personal sense
is that more was done at "Strong in the Lord" to bridge what many feel to be
the chasm that separates the local church from denominational leadership
than any single event in recent history."

"We have a tremendous opportunity to re-ignite within American Baptists a
passionate love affair with God in Christ that overflows in the joy of
discipleship," General Secretary A. Roy Medley said.  "Such disciples will
see their churches as missional congregations called and equipped by God to
be Christ's witnesses in the world in the power of the Spirit.	These
missional congregations will focus on making disciples who walk humbly with
God, love mercy, and do justice.  'Strong In The Lord' represents a renewed
commitment at the national level to strengthen, equip and encourage
ministerial leaders who will be in the forefront of congregational renewal."

K/2004ABNS/04ABN10

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA x2077
/ (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org