Ohio Ministries News & Views

A Leadership Call from Martin Luther King, Jr.

Debbe Kennedy, author of "Putting Our Differences to Work", in a recent blog posting shares how in the book, "A Testament of HOPE:  The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King Jr.", edited by James M. Warrington, there appears the following address that Dr. King gave at the First Annual Institute for Non-Violence and Social Change titled, "Facing the Challenge of a New Age."  The speech was given in Montgomery, Alabama in December 1956.  I want to share what Ms Kennedy pulled out of King's speech with the modification she makes of changing the century.  This address is a profound call whispering to us from another time calling us to be a part of a new generation of leadership that masters putting our differences to work through our thinking, actions, and behavior when no one is watching.  

 

FACING THE CHALLENGE OF A NEW AGE

 
"Those of us who live in the twenty-first century are privileged to live in one of the most momentous periods of human history. It is an exciting age filled with hope. It is an age in which a new social order is being born. We stand today between two worlds---the dying old and the emerging new.

...another thing that we must do in speeding up the coming of the new age is to develop intelligent, courageous and dedicated leadership. This is one of the pressing needs of the hour. In this period of transition and growing social change, there is a dire need for leaders who calm and yet positive leaders who avoid the extremes of "hot-headedness"... The urgency of the hour calls for leaders of wise judgement and sound integrity---leaders not in love with money, but in love with justice; leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with humanity; leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause."

Then Dr. King goes on to paraphrase Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-1881), a poet and novelist, this way:

God give us leaders! 
A time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, true faith and ready hands;
Leaders whom the lust of office does not kill;
Leaders whom the spoils of life cannot buy;
Leaders who possess opinions and a will;
Leader who have honor; leaders who will not lie;
Leaders who can stand before a demagogue
and damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall leaders, sun crowned, who live above the fog
in public duty and private thinking.

The call seems clear--- we need to evaluate and to strengthen our portfolio of skills to live up to the call of this new age.  Are you, as a leader, up to the challenge?  Do you hear the whispering call to step up?

 

Randy Spence, Director of Ministries

 

Services Provided

With the advent of a new year and the second decade of the 21st century, let me take the time to remind you of the array of services the staff of Ohio Ministries and the professionals whose services we utilize can provide pastors and lay leaders as we all seek to do the work God has called His church to do. Ohio Ministries exists to serve the local church and pastor.  The list below, though not exhaustive, is of many of the services we can provide you and your congregation in 2011:

Services for Pastors

Pastoral Leadership Skills Coaching.  To successfully lead today's church a pastor needs a skill set that most have never been taught.  Important skills such as vision casting, delegating, team building, leading the church through change as well as a host of other skills are often missing from the pastor's tool bag. Additionally most pastors have not been coached and mentored in these skills.  Ministry Advantage seeks to address both of these needs as participating pastors are coached through an online curriculum that seeks to teach the pastor how to lead at a higher level.  

Church Coaching Weekends and Pastoral Coaching. A new era in state ministry came with the introduction of coaching weekends for congregations that want to turn around and to become a Great Commission church focused on making disciples.  Almost 90% of the congregations of the Church of God in Ohio are either plateaued or in decline.  For the most part this is due to becoming internally focused on the needs and desires of the members rather than on reaching those outside.  Anytime the church focuses primarily on the members the church gets off mission and thus begins to move towards stagnation and eventual decline.  To address this reality in the hope of changing the status quo, we offer church consultations for a limited number of congregations utilizing a coaching/consulting team, and we provide coaching to a limited number of pastors beginning with those pastors of the congregations with whom we do the coaching weekends.  The end result will hopefully be turnaround churches that move from stagnation and/or decline to congregations once again focused on the Great Commission.  

Leading From Your Strengths. Director Randall Spence and Associate Director Esther Cottrell are both certified as trainers in the Leading From Your Strengths leadership assessment tool created by Christian psychologist John Trent.   This assessment device can help the pastoral leader discover how he/she serves the Lord's purposes best based on his God given strengths.  This tool can be utilized individually by the pastor or as a tool in leadership development and training with lay leadership or staff.  

Compensation Planning. Ohio Ministries has the latest and greatest information regarding church employees.  We can assist the pastor by sharing information regarding pastoral compensation as well as that of associates and other church employees.  This information is based on surveys conducted across denominational lines. 

One-on-One Coaching.  For the pastor or associate who desires to move to the next level in his or her ministry, or who simply needs some help in overcoming some situation, Ohio Ministries has trained coaches who can walk with the pastor in such a time.  Ohio Ministries staff desire to help the local pastor maximize his life and ministry and to fully accomplish the call of God on his life.  

Coaching Clusters. In the Fall of 2011 we will begin the third round of coaching clusters designed for pastors and associates who desire to maximize their life and ministry.  Up to eight pastors meet monthly in each of our five districts for the purpose of learning together, accountability, and fellowship.  These learning clusters are designed for personal, spiritual and ministry growth.  

Church Finance. Many churches have issues or needs around proper accounting procedures and compliance issues.  Often it is just good to have a knowledgeable outside resource person look at the business practices of the church and to make suggestions for improvement.  Through the services of Director of Finance Bob Fulton, Ohio Ministries now provides such consultation services.  

Preaching & Teaching.  The staff of Ohio Ministries are available to preach in your church at request. This can be for regular or special services including installations, dedications, etc.   

Counseling. In every ministry and life there come those bumps in the road when we need the help of a professional to help us sort through things and to help us move to emotional health.  Ohio Ministries can help link pastors and pastoral families to such services as needed.

Conflict & Mediation Services. Increasingly conflict seems to be a reality in the life of the church.  Many pastors and congregations try to deal with conflict by avoidance and denial only to see matters escalate and grow worse.  In those moments of conflict it sometimes can be helpful to call in an outside expert who has both the training and the experience in helping a pastor or congregation weather the storm of conflict and even come out the better as a result.  

Church or Site Assessment. Should we build on or relocate?  Are we maximizing our building space? These questions and more occasionally arise regarding facilities. Utilizing the services of a licensed architect, Ohio Ministries is now able to provide such services.  

Church Planting. Ohio Ministries seeks to identify and to assess those who feel called to plant a church. To this end a concerted effort is being made in the years ahead to plant new churches throughout our state. 

Services for Lay Church Leadership

Volunteer and Employee Background Checks. Every congregation needs to do “due diligence” in protecting its children and the congregation.  This means doing a criminal background check on those persons who work with minors and additionally a credit check for prospective pastors.  Ohio Ministries is able to provide such a service to those congregations.   

Compensation for Church Employees.  What is fair compensation for a pastor, for an associate, or even for a church secretary or custodian?  Ohio Ministries now has a resource from which we can help you determine what is a fair compensation based on church size, location, church income, education, etc.  

Pulpit Committee and Interim Pastor Assistance.  Ohio Ministries along with Church of God Ministries in Anderson are two sources of information for churches looking for a pastor, an interim, or for pastors interested in relocation.  Ohio Ministries has numerous resumes plus is in continuing conversation with many pastors open to a pastorate or to an interim pastorate.  Additionally Ohio Ministries provides a “Pulpit Committee Handbook” for pulpit committees. 

Pastoral Position Assessment.  Utilizing the Leading From Your Strengths assessment tool created by Christian psychologist Dr. John Trent, this assessment can help the pastoral search committee or church board in determining what the pastoral position in their congregation requires in a potential pastor.  By utilizing this tool and then having a prospective pastor take the assessment, the leadership can get a picture of whether or not a candidate might be a good fit for their congregation.  While certainly not the only tool in the pastoral search process, it can nonetheless be a useful tool.  

Conditional Deeding Assistance.  Every congregation should be conditionally deeded to Ohio Ministries. Many of our congregations previously conditionally deeded their property to Church Extension in Anderson.  With the demise of Church Extension, those congregations need to do again their conditional deeding now naming Ohio Ministries as the successor should the church ever close its doors.  On occasion we hear of a congregation closing its doors with the remaining constituents attempting to sell the property and distributing the proceeds amongst themselves.  This is illegal and the stuff of which prison sentences are made.  Regardless of size or the unlikely nature of your congregation ever closing, every congregation should be conditionally deeded.  

Church Incorporation. Many of our congregations likewise have never bothered to incorporate. Some that did incorporate have allowed that incorporation to lapse.  We are attempting to discover those that have not incorporated or that have allowed their incorporation to lapse and to inform of this need.  

Church Finance. Many churches have issues or needs around proper accounting procedures and compliance issues.  Often it is just good to have a knowledgeable outside resource person look at the business practices of the church and to make suggestions for improvement. Through the services of Director of Finance Bob Fulton, Ohio Ministries now provides such consultation services. 

Conflict & Mediation Services. Increasingly conflict seems to be a reality in the life of the church.  Many pastors and congregations try to deal with conflict by avoidance and denial only to see matters escalate and grow worse.  In those moments of conflict it sometimes can be helpful to call in an outside expert who has both the training and the experience in helping a pastor or congregation weather the storm of conflict and even come out the better as a result.  

Church or Site Assessment. Should we bulid on or relocate?  Are we maximizing our building space? These questions and more occasionally arise regarding facilities. 

Church Planting. Ohio Ministries seeks to identify and to assess those who feel called to plant a church. To this end a concerted effort is being made in the years ahead to plant new churches throughout our state. 

Other Services

In addition to the services listed above, there are many other services provided by organizations and ministries that fall under the umbrella of Ohio Ministries.  Examples are as follows:

Camp Marengo | Ohio Retreat Center.  With the programming staff in the persons of John & Melyssa Trussel and others, the hope is to greatly expand the usage of the retreat center and camp.  Example ministries that take place there (not a total listing) are:

    * Summer youth camp

    * Winter young adult retreat

    * Fall men's ox roast

    * Leadership and church retreats

    * Pastors prayer and study retreats

    * School and other organization retreats and events

    * Band camps

Credentialing of Ministers.  The Credentials Committee is responsible for the licensing and ordination of those called into career ministry and annually holds an ordination service during the fall general assembly meeting to ordain those whom God has called to ministry.

Fall Feasts & Spring Fling. This ministry for senior adults is comprised of several events held in the fall and the spring throughout the state.  Held at several Amish restaurants throughout the state, this popular ministry involves good food, fellowship and a program for the entertainment as well as inspiration of older adults.

Missions.  The Churches of God help sponsor eight missionaries across the globe through money funneled from local churches through Ohio Ministries.  

O-Net. This state youth ministry group is responsible for the state youth convention held annually in November.

Leading From Your Strengths

I recently read an article by the management guru Peter Drucker titled, Managing Oneself.  Drucker contends what many others argue and that is that we work best if we focus on working in our areas of gifting and strength rather than expending our energies in trying to prop up our weaknesses.  The question thus becomes, do you know your strengths?  Drucker argues that while many of us think we do, often we are wrong.  Often it takes some outside verification to help us discover what we think should be obvious.

To this end we at Ohio Ministries are putting our greatest efforts in leadership development.  We believe that John Maxwell got it right when he said that the church rises and falls on leadership.  To this end we have several "tools" we utilize in our efforts to help pastors grow as leaders such as Coaching Clusters, a new round of which will begin in the Fall of 2011.  We do so as well through Pastoral Leadership Skills Coaching, an intense year-long process of coaching pastors through an on-line curriculum designed to help them learn to lead with greater effectiveness and efficiency.  Currently we have 15 pastors being coached.

An important place to begin is in the discovery of how God wired you.  In other words, what are your strengths?  To this end we have placed on our website (www.ohchog.org) two tools that can help you in your efforts at discovery.  The first is a free Spiritual Gifts Assessment.  You can take it on-line and get an immediate scoring.  I suggest you ask a few trusted friends to speak into your life regarding the accuracy of the results.  Do others who know you well verify what the assessment says about you?

The second tool is a personality assessment called Leading From Your Strengths.  This is an assessment designed in part by Christian psychologist John Trent that helps you discover your natural strengths.  Again you can access this tool from the Ohio Ministries site, and if you write us and ask, we can give you a coupon code that will save you $4.00 off the usual price of $26.95.  With the code the final cost is $22.91 and for that you will instantly receive the results in a 26 page document that you can print and save to your computer.  It is a great tool and I heartily recommend it.

To take this whole matter of leading from your strengths to an even higher level, Associate Director Esther Cottrell and I are certified as Level II trainers in the Leading From Your Strengths assessment and are available to work with leadership groups.  In the past we have done day long sessions with leadership boards in churches where they didn't want to just insert people into slots but in places where they can serve with effectiveness and passion.  If interested in scheduling a workshop, please write us or give us a call.

In summary, remember that we have two tools on the Ohio Ministries website that can help in your quest of discovering your strengths.  While all jobs have tasks we must perform that we are not good at or passionate about, the hoped for end is that we can find ourselves where we are in a "sweet spot" where our gifting, strengths and passions converge and we know we are where God wants us to be.

Carpe diem!

Randy Spence, Director of Ministries

Bible Reading Plans for 2011

With a new year come new opportunities as well as challenges.  In a sense it is like God has given us an opportunity to write a new chapter in our lives.  And while we can't go back and make a new start, we can start today and make a brand new end.  Our past doesn't have to equate to our future.

The advent of a new year leads many to making New Year's resolutions that will likely go by the wayside by the end of January.  In his book with the stark title of Change or Die, author Allan Deutschman says the reason our efforts at change fail is because we don't understand the elements that bring about lasting change.  He argues that lasting change comes about through three things:

1.  Relationships.  We change by relating to people who are seeking to make the same changes we are endeavoring to make. This is in part why programs like AA and Weight Watchers work for many, at least as long as they stay engaged in the program.  

2.  Reframing.  This means thinking differently.  Often this comes by receiving new information that radically changes the way we think about something.  The apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:2:  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.  In other words, think differently.

3.  Repetition.  Of course we all know what this means---developing a new habit or habits.  Is there a new habit you want to make in 2011?  What about your habit with the Word of God?  Do you have one? 

 If spending more time with the Bible is a habit you would like to create in 2011, there are many such plans available to meet numerous interests and needs.  If you want to check it out, go to Google and type in "Bible Reading Plans" and you'll be surprised at the results.  Let me name three such plans for your consideration: 

• The Discipleship Journal Plan.  This reading plan, created by NavPress, is a popular one and entails reading the Bible through in a year but for only 25 days each month allowing the opportunity to catch up if you know you may fall behind.  Each day's readings are from four areas of the Scriptures.
• The Chronological Plan.  This plan will take one through the whole Bible in a year in chronological order.  

• The M'Cheyne Plan.  This is often considered the classic plan but is pretty demanding.  In this plan you will read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice in a year's time.

I have each of these plans on my computer stored as pdf's and would be happy to share them with you if desired.  Just write me a note requesting one or all of them and I will happily share them.

God has given us all the opportunity to write a new chapter in our lives.  While 2011 will no doubt have for each of us our challenges, spiritually this year could be the best of our lives.  A commitment to reading the Scriptures can certainly lead us in the direction of making it so.

Carpe diem!

 

Randall Spence, Director