04/13/2011
Author: John Powell
Mid January through mid February is a crucial time for the leaders of First EFC. Our annual congregational meeting with elections and budgets is the first goalpost on the road into the new year. The first executive board meeting is the next. Here the incoming officers get used to each other and appointees for the ministry teams get ratified. Then there is about a week for completion of the planning and execution of our annual leadership retreat
I write this as I breathe a sigh of relief and expectation. Relief because it is quite a sprint. Expectation because the retreat helps us pull together and lay on the table the pieces from which we believe God will assemble the jigsaw puzzle of the 2011 ministry of First EFC.
I always look forward to hearing from people new to FEFC. Seeing ourselves from the viewpoint of newcomers helps sharpen our eyes and improve our ability to include others. Ryan and Erica Blaise told of their journey from College Station Texas to Las Cruces in January. In just a month or so they are feeling integrated and grateful for their place (and that of their young son Maverick) here with us. Of course the connection was beginning earlier as Gary Eiceman discussed the open position in his NMSU lab. But your welcome of visitors each week is crucial. Thank you each one for your welcoming warmth
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If you have served on the nominating committee you have read from The Unity Factor in preparation for the selection process. Larry Osborne pastors North Coast Ev. Free near San Diego and has captured the essence of leadership in the local church in his expansion and update called Sticky Teams--Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page. I focused on chapter 7 and described how as churches mature boards (and the congregation as it meets to make decisions) must move from ”Doing” to “Approving” to “Reviewing” and finally “Setting direction & boundaries”. What this means is that we should be learning to make room for others in our ministries by first growing in our ability to make decisions that release others to act, and then moving on to reviewing, after the fact, decisions we have delegated to others. Finally, we should continue growing toward releasing others into ministry by setting direction, giving them boundaries and then letting them go inside the “sandbox” this creates.
Pastor Gordon shared from chapter 5 including the need to give people permission to try new ideas and then review the results later rather than having to convince everyone before trying it out.
Pastor Matt shared the chapter about giving “Young Eagles” a place at the table. His desire is to help us include young leaders in a way that validates their gifts and place on the team. It is good to see Andre Bergsagel and Samuel Wong on the Executive Board this year.
We also broke down into individual boards for application of these and other principles and for planning and coordination. Each board targeted a special focus for this year. The deacons, for instance, decided that in this year of waiting for God’s direction concerning our desired move to our new location, they need to “clarify and focus our purpose and direction”. They asked me to bring this before them regularly so they can bring it before the church as a whole.
Of course the noon meal together was great as well as the joking and sharing that went on! So as I (and I know our Chairman Tom Taylor is doing the same) breathe another sigh of relief, it is with the anticipation built and the memory of the developing teamwork I am privileged to be a part of that I look ahead to the Lord’s plan for us in 2011.
