Collaboration is at the heart of my ministry — collaboration with colleagues on staff, lay leaders, and the wider community beyond the congregation’s walls. For me, every single thing in ministry is collaborative: worship, governance, spiritual formation for all ages, justice work, stewardship, even pastoral and spiritual care (the minister should not be the only provider of care). We are better together.
Three other basic principles ground my philosophy of ministry:
- A congregation needs to have a bold, easily remembered mission that it focuses on like a laser.
- A congregation’s process of achieving its ends (or goals) is as important as the ends themselves. Ability to adapt to changing circumstances and opportunities is crucial.
- Putting a congregation’s values and mission into concrete action within and beyond the congregation’s walls is where ministry comes alive.
I believe my approach to ministry will help congregations have a successful ministerial transition. Transitional ministries that set up a congregation well for its next chapter need a collaborative approach, a focus on mission and how a congregation’s mission impacts its ministerial search, attentiveness to good process, and reflection on how a congregation can best put its values and mission into concrete action during and beyond the transition.