What I Learned This Summer-Part 2
In mid-July, I was able to spend a couple of great days with a group called “The Adaptive Leaders Cohort” which convened in Evins Mill, Tennessee – about an hour west of Nashville. This was a group of a dozen church and non-profit leaders from all over North America (from California to Philadelphia, I was the only Illinoisan there, although there was an Iowan repping the Midwest, too).
The theory behind “Adaptive Leadership” is that there are changes - both personal and organizational - that prove resistant to implementation because our systems have various “immunities to change” that rightfully promote stability and consistency. This is even true of changes that are deemed to be preferred, necessary, or desirable. These few days were designed to help us leaders identify our own obstacles to changes that we aspire to by asking pesky questions such as:
- What are the hidden barriers to not moving forward?
What fears must we face? What losses are we prepared to endure?
What cost are we already paying by not changing? Are we OK with this stagnation tax?
What would need to change about my attitude, mindset, and behavior to live into the changes that I’m being called by Jesus to implement?
What new things would living into this vision of change make possible?
These are great, tough questions for me personally – and – great, tough questions that are timely for ECRC’s current strategic planning process.
One unexpected encouragement from this experience was the positive feedback about the life of Elmhurst CRC offered by other attendees. One individual from Las Vegas is a frequent watcher of our Sunday LiveStream because he finds our worship services inspirational. Another from the East Coast was amazed that we were able to tackle the particular political topics in our “We’ve Got Issues” summer sermon series and had been watching along. Another from South Carolina knew of our Farmers Market and Little Lambs Preschool Ministry and wanted to hear more. Good job church! Evidently, we’ve somehow developed a shining reputation (in a Gospel way) in wider Reformed circles as we creatively serve our neighbors! (And thanks to Sheri Van Spronsen Leppink and our Communications Team and Kyle Olson and Billy Heschl, Technical Team, who humbly get the good word out in innovative ways.)
And speaking of service, this Sunday’s worship experience will offer the opportunity to go deeper in the realm of the Holy Spirit as we seek to identify and implement the spiritual gifts that God’s Spirit has given us, both personally and corporately. A few details that will help us along the way: You’ll receive a name tag on the way into worship this Sunday. Naming is important! Later in the service, you’ll be invited to add to your name tag what you believe is your primary spiritual gift, given to you by God for the betterment of the Body, Jesus’ Church.
If that sounds a little nervy, you might benefit from taking a spiritual gifts assessment in advance. You can find it here on our website. Our staff would love to debrief the results with you, too! Additionally, immediately following worship, Pastor Jason Turner will be facilitating a Spiritual Gifts Workshop to walk you through the spiritual gifts assessment and help with its application.
This is such an essential topic for the health and the life of the church! God’s brilliant vision for the church is that we are all specialized cells, designed by him to both receive and contribute to the functional wellbeing of the Body. I have high hopes that this weekend will empower many of us to discover and activate the unique powers that God has put inside of us for the sake of others.
– Pastor Gregg