news article
Building leaders in Upper New York
May 2, 2018 / By Rev. Dr. Aaron Bouwens
As the Upper New York Conference endeavors to embody the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and reach toward being the people that live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are God’s love with our neighbors in all places, three key outcomes have been identified by the Conference Leadership Team.
- Increase the number of transformational leaders
- Increase the vitality of existing congregations
- Increase the number of vital and sustainable New Faith Communities
While working with these outcomes, three core values are kept before the team at all times. First, the centrality of the local church. Second, that we are a connectional church. Third, the partnership of clergy and laity. All three of these values influence the ways in which the three outcomes, the vision, and the mission are reached for.
Increasingly, the Conference Leadership Team has been asking the question, “How can we continue to help connect more deeply with the local church?” They consistently ask how to keep resources as close the local church as possible. This has meant a change in how functioning and programming in the Conference is being offered. Fewer Conference-wide events are being planned and the more regional or District level events are emerging. An active example of this began this fall each district began Pastoral Leadership Development (PLD) groups. PLDs gather regularly, most of them monthly, to spend time in spiritual formation, leadership learning, and peer mentoring.
Rather than invite people to travel great distances for interaction and learning, Superintendents have gathered pastors from their Districts to learn and grow together. At this time, there are approximately 230 pastors engaged in a PLD. For some perspective, there are nearly 550 pastors under appointment in the Conference. By offering PLDs, the hope and vision of the Conference Leadership Team is being realized as the increasing the capacity of Christ following leaders happens on an increasingly local level. Additionally, PLDs are built around peer interaction and offer an opportunity to create a highly contextualized conversation about the content being shared.
As the first round of PLDs comes to a close, and at the direction and need of the Districts, continued opportunities for clergy to engage in Pastoral Leadership Development as well as additional opportunities, with updated resources, will be made available.
Not to leave the laity out, many Districts are in the early planning stage of how to offer a similar opportunity for the laity of their Districts. It is a truly exciting time to be engaged in the work of building leaders in Upper New York as we move deeper into living the mission, reaching toward the vision, and equipping the local church to be the primary missional outpost of the church.