Growing courageous, resilient, and faithful leaders for the sake of the world.
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This newsletter is a way for us, those who are invested in Excellence and Leadership, to connect, to support, and to continue growing in the tools and values of EiL. To each of you who are a part of this community: thank you! Excellence in Leadership has begun its fourth group of cohorts and each cohort and session is better because of YOU. Thank you to those who have participated in Excellence in Leadership and have given us your feedback along the way. Thank you to the participants who are currently working their way through this experiential learning opportunity and continue to come alongside us as we learn together how to meet the future boldly. Each of you has been essential to Excellence in Leadership becoming what it is. May we continue to “become” together. | |
Meet the Excellence in Leadership Community | |
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Welcome to the Excellence in Leadership community! We are a group of people who have a desire to increase our capacity for courage, resiliency, and faithfulness so that we may be healthier leaders for the sake of ourselves, our communities, and our world.
The framework of the Excellence in Leadership community consists of a variety of roles and responsibilities, and as with the body of Christ, each member is an integral part of this body. Here is a brief overview of who you will find here:
Trainers: We are those who devote our time to introducing and accompanying people as they learn and practice the tools and theories taught in Excellence in Leadership. Within this group, you will find those who are currently a part of the training team and those who have been trainers previously, people who serve on the leadership team for EiL, and the Director of EiL.
Commissioned Participants: We are those who have journeyed through Excellence in Leadership and have completed the coursework. Now we use those skills to continue to invest in ourselves and our communities.
Participants: We are those who are currently in Excellence in Leadership. We are learning, growing, and increasing our capacity to be courageous, resilient, and faithful leaders.
Advisory Board: We are those who vision and plan for the future of Excellence in Leadership financially and we help EiL stay true to its mission. We also support the director of EiL.
Synod Council: We are those who have been elected by the Rocky Mountain Synod to oversee the programs, finances, and ministries of the Synod. We are made up of lay leaders, rostered leaders, and the bishop of the Rocky Mountain Synod. Excellence in Leadership is one of the ministries we support.
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Better Together Community | |
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The dream of Excellence in Leadership materialized because of the generosity of individuals just like you, throughout the Rocky Mountain Synod, who have supported the Next Faithful Step - Better Together Campaign. We are nearing our goal of $1,570,000 of which Excellence in Leadership directly benefits. You can help us assure this critical ministry will continue by pledging to the campaign in the weeks ahead. Please join us in supporting Excellence in Leadership by giving generously to this campaign.
Campaign Information
'Ways to give'
Campaign Commitment Form
PHONE-FRIENDLY COMMITMENT FORM Planning your gift to the Better Together Campaign Thank you for making a gift commitment to our life together!
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“Resiliency, Community, and the Loneliness of Leadership” Retreat | |
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Excellence in Leadership’s mission from its inception has been to build “courageous, resilient, and faithful leaders for the sake of the world." COVID has required us to have courage, resiliency, and faithfulness to be sure, and now many feel they are depleted.
We are offering a retreat February 16-18, 2023 (Thursday late afternoon - Saturday late morning) to address some of these challenges and brainstorm together how to build and maintain resiliency when we no longer have the capacity to move forward. The retreat will be held at the Franciscan Retreat Center in Colorado Springs, CO. The cost of $375 per person includes two nights of lodging for a double occupancy room and five meals (Thursday dinner, three meals on Friday, and Saturday breakfast). To receive registration information, please contact Dana Anderson, program manager.
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Bring Leadership Development to Your Community | |
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Do you want a change, but you’re not sure how to do it? Is there frustration in your congregation that you’re not sure how to talk about? Do you feel stuck and you’re not sure how to move forward?
Excellence in Leadership began as an 18-month commitment to learn tools and theories to help both lay and rostered leaders become healthier, work through adaptive challenges, and become more aware of unhelpful dynamics and patterns within the system. We are very committed to accompanying congregations on this journey. We recognize that there are situations within congregations that would be helped by an outside facilitator. Excellence in Leadership trainers have begun to meet with councils, synods, dioceses, and congregations to help facilitate these conversations.
For congregations who have participated in Excellence in Leadership, financial support is available for congregational leaders to work with an EiL trainer to further and deepen the growth started in their 18-month coursework. The work can be designed for your congregation's specific needs.
To learn how our training team may be helpful in your community, please contact the Director, Rev. Sarah Moening.
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Celebrating the Class of 2022 | |
On March 18, 2022 we celebrated with forty-four Excellence in Leadership participants as they completed their coursework and were commissioned into the world to use what they learned to be and build courageous, resilient, and faithful leaders. It was a joyous celebration and we would love to share it with you! | |
Growing with Excellence in Leadership
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From August 2019 to Present and Beyond | |
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As we look at the past, present, and future of Excellence in Leadership's 18-month program, we are filled with gratitude for God's continual guidance and for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. Through the good times and the challenging times, we have leaned into seeing and hearing where God is calling us to love, serve, and be a blessing to others "for the sake of the world."
Class of 2021: In September 2019, the first group to participate in the Excellence of Leadership 18-month program began meeting in-person at four locations in the Rocky Mountain Synod: Cheyenne/NOCO, Denver South, Border Conference, and Synod Staff. At the end of the first year and for the remainder of the program, COVID-19 restrictions required all gatherings be moved online. A commissioning ceremony for the Class of 2021 was held virtually in May 2021 for forty-nine participants, all from the Rocky Mountain Synod.
Class of 2022: In September 2020, because COVID-19 restrictions continued, the 18-month program was able to reach beyond the territory of the Rocky Moutain Synod. Participants were from ten States (Washington, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and California), and represented eight ELA Synods (Rocky Mountain, Grand Canyon, South Dakota, Montana, Indiana Kentucky, Northwest Intermountain, Pacifica, and Central States), the Colorado Episcopal Diocese, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian-USA Church, and the United Church of Christ. A commissioning ceremony for forty-four participants in the Class of 2022 was held in March 2022.
Class of 2023: In September 2021, the third group of participants was able to choose between online and in-person delivery. On March 4, 2023, a commissioning ceremony will be held for forty-nine in the Class of 2023.
Class of 2024: In September 2022, the Class of 2024 began with two groups meeting online and one group meeting in-person. This is the largest group with sixty-nine participants.
Class of 2025: Planning is underway as we prepare for a new group of participants to begin in September 2023.
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The Five Theories of Excellence in Leadership | |
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Much has been written about leadership in business and in the church. The five theories of Excellence in Leadership originate from the business world, and yet, all five vibrate from a deeply spiritual place and are congruent with Gospel values of caring for all our relationships, from the most intimate family and friend relationships to our broader civic world.
Emotional Intelligence
Family Systems
Vulnerability
Adaptive Leadership
Theory U
Spirituality / Spiritual Practices
The five leadership theories are surrounded by our faith in God and the spiritual practices we use to live out our faith.
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Continuing the Journey
by Vivek H. Murthy, 19th Surgeon General of the United States
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by Rev. Sarah Moening, EiL Director
Faith in God is the one consistent thread woven throughout my life. Even as the people surrounding me, the people I love most in the world, never seemed to grasp faith in God in the first place or lost faith a long time ago, I cannot not believe in Jesus. I have spent many hours contemplating what this faith means for my own life and for the life of the institution, the Church, whose primary purpose is to proclaim Jesus Christ to all nations, to all generations.
Meaning and purpose, the Why! If we are going to achieve our objectives, we must be clear about why we are doing what we do, otherwise we toil and busy ourselves with tasks unrelated to the Gospel message entrusted to our care.
I have long believed that communion, the unity in which God created all that is, is a core purpose of Christianity. Belonging, a sense of connectedness, lies at the heart of the Christian message and the life of each congregation. Vivek Murthy, 19th Surgeon General of the United States, has written a book titled Together. The subtitle -- "The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World" -- aligns with my belief in the Christian value of communion and belonging. As I have read this secular book, writtten by a physician with scores of scientific data pointing to the healing effects of human connection, my spiritual senses start to tingle. This! This! This is what faith communities ought to be focusing on! This is our purpose – community, belonging, connection! Jesus, through whom all things were created, spent his three incarnate years healing, reconciling, bringing outcasts and forgotten people back into community.
I commend this book to you as inspiration for all leaders who are searching for a way forward in these uncertain times.
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