Leadership

Many years ago Jeff and I led an emerging worship experience.  We worshiped every week and used movie clips, all sorts of music, visuals, and interactive elements to create a place where people had an experience of God.  At first Jeff and I did everything.  We picked the music, planned the worship, and crafted the visual experience.   A few months in we realized that in order to speak effectively to a diversity of people we needed a diverse leadership team.  People experience God in lots of ways and the more people we had designing worship the more avenues to God that would open.  And it was apparent that worship was indeed way better with the team.  Our visual person created amazing videos and found the perfect images to accompany our slides.  We have actors and idea people who came up with things that I never would have considered.  I learned so much about God and ways to worship from this team.

When we were appointed to a new church that worship experience was able to continue as a result of the leadership structure in place. Due to the some times nature of the United Methodist appointment system I realized how important it was to create teams to carry on programs and pieces of the culture.

This last weekend we got to have some dedicated time with the leaders of the Sellwood Faith Community.  We did a day long retreat at the Alton L. Collins Retreat Center near Eagle Creek.  There are so many fabulous ideas, such great gifts, and much passion about God, our neighborhood, and this community.  I felt so renewed from my time walking the labyrinth, the delicious lunch, and from the wisdom of our leadership circle.  I’m excited for the next chapter in the life of the community which will encompass a third dinner hosted in another family’s home, a meditation hike in the spring, a concerted effort to love our neighbors by the gift of presence, and a hopeful imagination about how we can develop a sustainable culture.

As a type A person it is sometimes tempting to go it alone. I have been so richly blessed by my experiences of other leaders that I know the solitary path is not the one that God calls me to at all.

-Eilidh