Volume 25: LEADING IN COMMUNITY - PEER LEARNING
April 2016
FEEDBACK QUESTION:
Name a topic about which you'd like to join with other clergy or ministry professionals to form an ongoing learning group.


The first 10 responses will receive a unique set of prayer beads.
PASTORAL THRIVING THROUGH CLERGY SMALL GROUPS
by Rev. Dan Hester, Pastor, St. Andrew's UMC, Charlotte

The one constant throughout my twenty-plus years of ordained ministry has been clergy small groups. I have been a part of lectionary groups, centering prayer groups, lunch groups, formal clergy groups with a pastoral counselor, groups with covenants, peer learning groups, groups that met weekly, and groups that met monthly. I have been invited to groups as well as convened them myself. What they all have in common is that they have formed in me a certain pastoral aesthetic.

To understand what I mean by a pastoral aesthetic, consider the impact of praying the Lord's Prayer repeatedly. Once one prays the Lord's Prayer a thousand times or so, in public and in private, one's own prayer life gets formed without a lot of conscious effort ... More
AN ECOSYSTEM OF CONFERENCES:
The Methodist Way of Being Christian Together
Seven Reflections 
by Ken Carter, Resident Bishop Florida Area, United Methodist Church

 

We are created in the image of a God who is communal and trinitarian. Our lifelong journey of sanctification is the recreation of that image, which is love, in each of us. This process happens in community and not in isolation... More

Remembering all those semesters of Church History classes in seminary, here is one dimension of learning in community as presented by N. T. Wright. 
 
"Paying attention to tradition means
listening carefully (humbly but not uncritically) to how the church has read and lived scripture in the past. We must be constantly aware of our responsibility in the Communion of Saints, without giving our honored predecessors the final say or making them an "alternative source," independent of scripture itself. When they speak with one voice, we should listen very carefully. They may be wrong. They sometimes are. But we ignore them at our peril. The study of church history is not, ultimately, a different "subject" from the careful Christian reading of scripture. Every period, every key figure in the history of the church has left his, her, or its mark on subsequent readings of scripture, and if we are unaware of this we are to that extent less able to understand why we "naturally" read the text in this or that way."
 
N. T. Wright. Scripture and the Authority of God. New York: Harper Collins, 2011, p. 118. 
PEER POWER
by   Christina Braudaway-Bauman 
originally published in The Christian Century, Jan 02, 2012 

The Promise of Clergy Support Groups
When I called a group of pastors to ask if they wanted to join a clergy peer group, they were understandably a bit skeptical at first. They didn't need one more meeting to attend. And they had already participated in other kinds of clergy groups-regional gatherings hosted by the denomination and meetings of the local clergy association-which, to be honest, were not all that satisfying. .. More
CLERGY PEER LEARNING VIDEO 
Offered From Pastoral Excellence Network


We are always learning in community whether we want to be or not. Even when the community isn't always outwardly supportive, the people around a leader can all still be teachers. Here are some ways to think about how to learn from just about anybody...   More
THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU NEED AS A LEADER
Perspectives on Congregational Leadership Blog by Israel Galindo 

Leadership is lonely, they say. That is true to a real extent. Few understand the weight of responsibility that comes with leadership, or the shifts in relationship that can bring isolation and distance. But to say leadership is a lonely position does not mean one can do it alone. Even the most differentiated leaders need to be meaningfully connected to others in the work system, and, to a personal support system. Ask most leaders for the secret of their success and they'll likely tell you two things. ..   More
The WNC Leadership Development Team is currently working on a peer learning initiative where existing groups can request grants for focused shared learning and individuals interested in a particular topic can be resourced to develop a group learning experience. 
Watch for more information at www.LEADwncc.org   and www.facebook.com/leadwncc.  
COLLEGE OF PASTORAL LEADERS
AUSTIN PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

The College of Pastoral Leaders exists to enliven, invigorate and sustain the life of ministry. It's not a place where one earns a degree; it is an association of church leaders committed to learning in community, over time, for their own flourishing in ministry and the sake of the Gospel . ..   More
OTHER RESOURCES

THE PASTORAL EXCELLENCE NETWORK


So Much Better 
...can change the way you think about and perform your ministry 
and lead you to a life that is, indeed, so much better.
Discover a variety of models for peer learning groups.


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