Holy Conversations

The following is the conversation held at the consultation between Sue Steiner, facilitator, and Gladys Bender, Vision Focus Team leader at Steinmann Mennonite Church, regarding holy conversations.

Sue: Gladys, I'm pleased to be able to interview a leader from the Steinmann congregation, where we are meeting today. You are the Vision Focus Team leader here. So first of all, what is a Vision Focus Team?

Gladys: The story of the Israelites wandering in desert for years is a story which felt like a theme at Steinmann. Some would say that we felt as though we were wandering for 10 years and others would say 20! We were trying to figure out what we could do with our facility which felt very inadequate and we weren't happy about the way we were doing business.

Under our intentional transition time we decided to totally re-organize our structure. Our council became more of a visionary team that takes the time to look at the big picture of who we are, who are our neighbours, and what is God calling us to do? The council is no longer a "rubber stamp" council - we now have core teams to take care of those details.

Sue: You along with the pastors have been fostering something which you call "holy conversations." Tell us the purpose of these conversations and how they've been happening the last couple years.

Gladys: This is based on "Holy Conversations," a book by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann. We looked at a SWOT analysis and identified our strengths, weaknesses, opportunitites and threats. We asked what our biblical story was.

The story of the Israelites wandering in the desert was one of them. It took the time in the desert for the Israelites to become a nation and unified group.
We also looked at the story of the altar that Joshua built which represented for the people where they had come from and what God had done as well as recognized moving ahead.
The Parable of the Sower was a story which caused us to question how might we fit into our community both locally and globally.

The goals that emerged from this were those of growing leaders, nurturing conversation and building Christian community in a fragmented society. We continue to attempt to facilitate a culture of transfer of power, learning to discuss when we don't agree (which isn't easy). We seek to reduce "us and them" conversation and hold more round table discussion about the future of the church.

Sue: What is the Steinmann congregation learning about how God is moving in your midst? Give us a couple examples.

Gladys:

"Be careful what you ask for." We started our Logos Group with 20 kids and are now up to 44 and are growing. We hope to have enough people to keep it going!

"Just feel it." We hear that again and again in stories when asked where God is evident. Our wise elder people said they had the same sorts of fears when they undertook the original mortgage on the building as we have now with the renovation expenses. God was faithful then and will be now.

During a brainstorming session, a young girl wanted to go on a Mennonite Disaster Service trip and mentioned that. Since then, there has been a trip that has happened every year.

We are learning to use small ideas and grow with them as we look for the passion.

We are in discussion about sabbaticals for our pastors and perhaps having a placement here for a seminary student.

These ideas weren't part of a plan - sometimes these things happen without planning. We need to be attentive to catch them.

Sue: Gladys, you've been a lay leader at Steinmann Mennonite Church for a long time. How are you being changed as a leader through these holy conversations?

Gladys: I'm task oriented and a problem solver. Those two traits are not helpful in a holy conversation and discernment. They need to be set aside. Being attentive and listening to what is being said and putting aside our agenda is important. One needs to lean into the winds of discontent.

I've been energized by meetings where we have seen evidence of God.

Discerning what the final outcome of what we want to achieve is our focus rather than determining how we are going to get there is energizing. Leadership is a team. Management is about doing thing right and leadership is doing the right thing.

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The following is the conversation held at the consultation between Sue Steiner, facilitator, and Gladys Bender, Vision Focus Team leader at Steinmann Mennonite Church, regarding holy conversations.

Gladys: This is based on "Holy Conversations," a book by Gil Rendle and Alice Mann. We looked at a SWOT analysis and identified our strengths, weaknesses, opportunitites and threats. We asked what our biblical story was.

The story of the Israelites wandering in the desert was one of them. It took the time in the desert for the Israelites to become a nation and unified group.

We also looked at the story of the altar that Joshua built which represented for the people where they had come from and what God had done as well as recognized moving ahead.

The Parable of the Sower was a story which caused us to question how might we fit into our community both locally and globally.

Gladys:

"Be careful what you ask for." We started our Logos Group with 20 kids and are now up to 44 and are growing. We hope to have enough people to keep it going!

"Just feel it." We hear that again and again in stories when asked where God is evident. Our wise elder people said they had the same sorts of fears when they undertook the original mortgage on the building as we have now with the renovation expenses. God was faithful then and will be now.

During a brainstorming session, a young girl wanted to go on a Mennonite Disaster Service trip and mentioned that. Since then, there has been a trip that has happened every year.

We are learning to use small ideas and grow with them as we look for the passion.

We are in discussion about sabbaticals for our pastors and perhaps having a placement here for a seminary student.

These ideas weren't part of a plan - sometimes these things happen without planning. We need to be attentive to catch them.

Gladys: I'm task oriented and a problem solver. Those two traits are not helpful in a holy conversation and discernment. They need to be set aside. Being attentive and listening to what is being said and putting aside our agenda is important. One needs to lean into the winds of discontent.

I've been energized by meetings where we have seen evidence of God.

Discerning what the final outcome of what we want to achieve is our focus rather than determining how we are going to get there is energizing. Leadership is a team. Management is about doing thing right and leadership is doing the right thing.