Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Attend strategic plan Listening Conference Saturday, Jan. 23, from 10 am to 12 noon
Coming up: A meeting you and I should not miss
Every concerned lay person in the United Methodist Church should try to attend one of the upcoming Listening Conferences to learn more about the proposed new Strategic Plan for the North Texas Conference.
Fortunately for Tinney Chapel, the first of these Listening Conferences will be in our District, at First UMC Sulphur Springs, Saturday, Jan. 23, from 10 am to 12 noon.
Here's what Bishop Earl Bledsoe has to say about the proposed new Strategic Plan and the Listening Conferences:
Happy New Year!!! This
is an exciting time to be alive
in the world and in the life of
the church.
The
NTC Strategic
Planning
Team
(SPT) has
completed
the first
draft of a
plan to align
the conference with a strategic
missional focus. The team
worked hard to pull together the
hopes and dreams of both laity
and clergy within the conference
as well as researching
other areas to gather knowledge
and information about best
practices and steps forward.
I am pleased that the
outcome of the work will be
focused on the mission field
and how we as a conference
can effectively reach that field
for Jesus Christ. Some things
will remain the same, but some
things will need to change if we
are going to focus our efforts
on leadership development,
starting new congregations and
helping to transform existing
ones, ministering with the poor
and eradicating killer diseases,
such as malaria, in the world.
Each of you will have an
opportunity to review and
comment on the draft proposal
prior to its consideration by
the 2010 Annual Conference.
My hope and prayer is that
you will attend the listening
conferences that are scheduled
for each district within the
next few weeks.
The SPT under the leadership
of Dr. John Fiedler have
done an outstanding job of
getting us to this point in the
process. Your input over the
next few weeks will determine
the success of us being able
to adopt the plan and begin
implementing it right after annual
conference of this year. This will
be a bold step for the conference;
one that I know will require the
cooperation, support and prayers
of each and everyone to see it
through to transition and completion.
During times such as these
I find comfort in knowing that
the spirit of God is with us and
will continue to guide and direct
the work to its completion. I
like what the prophet Isaiah had
to say about change and doing
things in a different way when
the people of God were moving
from a place of comfort to an
unknown place of promise:
“But I’ll take the hand of
those who don’t know the way,
who can’t see where they’re
going. I’ll be a personal guide
to them, directing them through
unknown country. I’ll be right
there to show them what roads
to take, make sure they don’t
fall into the ditch. These are the
things I’ll be doing for them—
sticking with them, not leaving
them for a minute.” (Isaiah
42:16, The Message)
The promises of God are
still with us today. I look
forward to another good year
as we reach out and make
disciples of Jesus Christ for the
transformation of the world.
Following are excerpts from a front-page article in the current North Texas Methodist Reporter which gives a few details, by Rev. Lisa Greenwood of First UMC Commerce, about the proposed new Strategic Plan for our Conference:
We are called to fruitfulness
and nothing less.
The plan enumerates that in
order to reach our mission field
and be more fruitful in our
mission, four strategic changes
are needed:
1 Establish the UMC’s four
areas of focus as the strategic
priorities of the NTC.
2 Reduce the number of
districts of the NTC and revision
the role of the DS’s.
3 Streamline, flatten, and
reorganize the conference
structure and staffing to address
these priorities most
effectively.
4 Realign our financial resourc-
es to reflect these priorities.
The plan further illumines
how these changes can transpire
in our conference. These
changes occur at the Annual
Conference level and are not
local church programs, but if
embraced and implemented,
will positively impact the local
church’s ability to live out
the mission of making disciples
for the transformation
of the world.
I am genuinely excited by
the direction our conference is
headed and look forward to the
conversations we’ll have over
the next few months as we hone
and polish our plan to get there!
In District Meetings held
January 23 through February 7,
John Fiedler and Fiona Macleod
Butts will lay out the plan for
pastors and key lay leaders.
I, for one, am very excited!
There were times along the way
I thought it would be very easy
to get caught up in yet another
program for local churches OR
to find ourselves limited by “the
way we’ve always done it.”
I believe we avoided both of
those traps!
After months of research,
conversation, discernment,
prayer, and listening, I truly
believe we have a plan that
takes us to new places and has
the potential to dramatically
transform our conference.
Every concerned lay person in the United Methodist Church should try to attend one of the upcoming Listening Conferences to learn more about the proposed new Strategic Plan for the North Texas Conference.
Fortunately for Tinney Chapel, the first of these Listening Conferences will be in our District, at First UMC Sulphur Springs, Saturday, Jan. 23, from 10 am to 12 noon.
Here's what Bishop Earl Bledsoe has to say about the proposed new Strategic Plan and the Listening Conferences:
Happy New Year!!! This
is an exciting time to be alive
in the world and in the life of
the church.
The
NTC Strategic
Planning
Team
(SPT) has
completed
the first
draft of a
plan to align
the conference with a strategic
missional focus. The team
worked hard to pull together the
hopes and dreams of both laity
and clergy within the conference
as well as researching
other areas to gather knowledge
and information about best
practices and steps forward.
I am pleased that the
outcome of the work will be
focused on the mission field
and how we as a conference
can effectively reach that field
for Jesus Christ. Some things
will remain the same, but some
things will need to change if we
are going to focus our efforts
on leadership development,
starting new congregations and
helping to transform existing
ones, ministering with the poor
and eradicating killer diseases,
such as malaria, in the world.
Each of you will have an
opportunity to review and
comment on the draft proposal
prior to its consideration by
the 2010 Annual Conference.
My hope and prayer is that
you will attend the listening
conferences that are scheduled
for each district within the
next few weeks.
The SPT under the leadership
of Dr. John Fiedler have
done an outstanding job of
getting us to this point in the
process. Your input over the
next few weeks will determine
the success of us being able
to adopt the plan and begin
implementing it right after annual
conference of this year. This will
be a bold step for the conference;
one that I know will require the
cooperation, support and prayers
of each and everyone to see it
through to transition and completion.
During times such as these
I find comfort in knowing that
the spirit of God is with us and
will continue to guide and direct
the work to its completion. I
like what the prophet Isaiah had
to say about change and doing
things in a different way when
the people of God were moving
from a place of comfort to an
unknown place of promise:
“But I’ll take the hand of
those who don’t know the way,
who can’t see where they’re
going. I’ll be a personal guide
to them, directing them through
unknown country. I’ll be right
there to show them what roads
to take, make sure they don’t
fall into the ditch. These are the
things I’ll be doing for them—
sticking with them, not leaving
them for a minute.” (Isaiah
42:16, The Message)
The promises of God are
still with us today. I look
forward to another good year
as we reach out and make
disciples of Jesus Christ for the
transformation of the world.
Following are excerpts from a front-page article in the current North Texas Methodist Reporter which gives a few details, by Rev. Lisa Greenwood of First UMC Commerce, about the proposed new Strategic Plan for our Conference:
We are called to fruitfulness
and nothing less.
The plan enumerates that in
order to reach our mission field
and be more fruitful in our
mission, four strategic changes
are needed:
1 Establish the UMC’s four
areas of focus as the strategic
priorities of the NTC.
2 Reduce the number of
districts of the NTC and revision
the role of the DS’s.
3 Streamline, flatten, and
reorganize the conference
structure and staffing to address
these priorities most
effectively.
4 Realign our financial resourc-
es to reflect these priorities.
The plan further illumines
how these changes can transpire
in our conference. These
changes occur at the Annual
Conference level and are not
local church programs, but if
embraced and implemented,
will positively impact the local
church’s ability to live out
the mission of making disciples
for the transformation
of the world.
I am genuinely excited by
the direction our conference is
headed and look forward to the
conversations we’ll have over
the next few months as we hone
and polish our plan to get there!
In District Meetings held
January 23 through February 7,
John Fiedler and Fiona Macleod
Butts will lay out the plan for
pastors and key lay leaders.
I, for one, am very excited!
There were times along the way
I thought it would be very easy
to get caught up in yet another
program for local churches OR
to find ourselves limited by “the
way we’ve always done it.”
I believe we avoided both of
those traps!
After months of research,
conversation, discernment,
prayer, and listening, I truly
believe we have a plan that
takes us to new places and has
the potential to dramatically
transform our conference.
