Meet the DLTs: Erinn Norris

November 25, 2019 / By Erinn Norris

Hi! I’m Erinn Norris, a member of the Adams United Methodist Church and part of Northern Flow’s District Leadership Team. Over the last few years, I have also been part of our Conference Leadership Team, Kairos Outside Prison Ministry, Via de Cristo, Closer Walk, and active in leadership in my own church. 

Recently, our DLT wrapped up our first round of Intentional Discipleship Making workshops around our District. We decided to get to the heart of things by focusing first on our “WHY” – as individuals and as congregations. This is one of my favorite things to talk with people about. When we are truly connected to WHY we do what we do, our heart is engaged. When our heart is engaged, what we do has far more impact than when our hearts are disengaged.

Part of my goal in helping facilitate our first workshop was to encourage people to connect what they knew in their heads about “church” to what they felt in their hearts. We even talked a bit about why each of us is a part of the church we each currently attend. We can very easily get so caught up in the business of running church that we lose sight of why we are there (in that church AND why our church is in that community). A bonus was seeing multiple neighboring churches come together in conversation and fellowship. This connection is vital. Relationships are at the heart of everything we do. These workshops are an opportunity to strengthen the relationships we have within our churches, between our churches in our district, and take that into our communities. Our next round of workshops will build on what we started, and dig deeper into what we believe a disciple looks like. 

Being part of various ministries has been a tremendous blessing. Though I have stepped down from a few responsibilities to better balance ministry, motherhood, and other aspects of my life, I’m excited to more intentionally love and serve in the Adams UMC and the Northern Flow District.