wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Fostering dialogue is key to leadership, moderators told

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This story available online:

www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2008/08893<http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2008/08893

Fostering dialogue is key to leadership, moderators told

130 middle governing body leaders gather for fellowship,
training

>by Toya Richards Hill
>Special to Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE - Presbytery and synod moderators from
throughout the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) gathered here
recently to evaluate what it means to be a leader and to
discern their own personal leadership styles.

Meeting under the theme "Leadership for the 21st Century,"
the Nov. 21-23 2008 Moderators' Conference united about 130
middle governing body moderators and vice moderators
everywhere from Boston to Arkansas to South Dakota to San
Francisco.

"Each of you has been called by God to step up to the
plate," said the Rev. Jill Hudson, coordinator of governing
body relations for the Office of the General Assembly and
the General Assembly Council.

Worship services, workshops, shared meals and time visiting
the national offices of the PC(USA) encompassed the
gathering.

Plenary sessions led by the Rev. Carol McDonald,
co-executive of the Synod of Lincoln Trails and
moderator-elect of Wabash Valley Presbytery, also spanned
the conference and provided opportunities for in-depth
discussions about effective leadership.

Participants spent a good deal of time in one-on-one and
small group discussions exploring such things as barriers
to effective leadership, becoming a "self-differentiated"
leader and how to bring about transformation by pursuing
profound questions.

One critical element of leadership that was highlighted is
the ability to facilitate dialogue. "We really need to be
willing to be in conversation with one another," McDonald
said.

"Conversation is how we discover together the way we
transform the world," she said.

When folks stop talking to each other, "we start thinking
of people as things, as objects," McDonald said. "We stop
acting intelligently. ... We don't act to change anything."

The moderators learned about conversation behaviors,
including acknowledging each person as an equal and taking
time to listen. And, they discussed the art of powerful
questions.

"Questions are an invitation to creativity," McDonald told
the group. We need to be able to "create that climate of
discovery."

Time during the conference also was spent discussing
dockets. Each participant was asked to bring one from their
governing body for discussion and critique.

Participants also left the event having developed their own
mission statement.  The Rev. Jaina Anderson,
moderator-elect of North Alabama Presbytery, said she came
to the conference hoping get "some tools" to use in her
role back home.

"I came away not only with the tools, but a sense of being
connected," she said at the conclusion of the event. "There
are people who will help me through this."

Anderson said her mission during her tenure is "that all
voices will be heard and honored," and "that we can build
space for true conversation."

Although the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th
General Assembly of the PC(USA), could not be present
because of the unexpected death of his brother-in-law, vice
moderator the Rev. Byron Wade was present for the
conference. He also preached for the closing worship
service.

"It's an important time in the life of the denomination to
learn to think differently," Hudson said. What the
conference was trying to do was help the moderators look at
how to become a more "dialogical community," she said.

Toya Richards Hill is a free-lance writer in Louisville.
She formerly served on the staff of the Presbyterian News
Service.

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