A passage from the prophet Habakkuk has been on my mind recently. The very last verse of chapter three reads, "God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me tread upon the heights." I grew up seeing and watching deer and have seen them navigate some remarkable terrain. Even fawns can quickly navigate over rock and roots soon after birth. So I have been praying these days for God to make my feet like those of a deer. There is some rocky terrain to navigate in the church these days. In order to make our way through this challenging landscape, it is critical to be attentive, nimble and agile.
We know the landscape of the Penn Central Conference has its own unique terrain. In the midst of this environment I am focused on several priorities - the Structure of Staffing and the Hartman Center are two, which play key roles in a third priority - Strategic Planning. These were originally presented to me by the Executive Committee along with a few others. My three-week experience as your Transitional Conference Minister already shows these rising to the top. They are interrelated and complex. For example, consider staffing for a moment. Re-visioning structure entails navigating all of the needs of the conference and then prioritizing them. As you know we have limited resources. So how do we decide which of those needs are the top priority? Is it Search and Call? Church vitality? Clergy development? Lay education? Youth ministries? Stewardship? Fund raising? All have been suggested to me as priorities. How we answer the staffing question will influence other decisions we need to make. Discernment always includes some prioritizing. It also acknowledges competing values and expectations. Most of all it requires

listening to a variety of voices. Careful discernment can lead to wise strategic planning. And strategic  planning, when done well, lays a path through the terrain.

Questions of staffing, the future of the Hartman Center, our financial stability, and the like do not exist in a vacuum. They are enmeshed in a landscape that is shifting due to changes in demographics, values, economics, civic engagement and more. Just as deer have learned to adapt (very well) to changing environments and habitat, so must we. We cannot thrive if we do not acknowledge and live into a new habitat. My approach in these next few months will be to listen carefully to the voices around me, sort out competing values and expectations, and prioritize needs. We will move through this discernment together. I will also practice what I call "patient persistence." This means staying calm, doing the necessary research, taking the time needed for good decision-making, and speaking the truth in love, all while maintaining forward momentum.
As the doe makes her way up and over the rocky hillside, she moves forward with care and awareness. As God guides her feet, may God guide mine as well.