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Interim Minister and President’s Message
Leadership is the key to everything we do

October, 2000

By Erwin R. Bode

I am into my second month as your Interim Conference Minister and President. It is an exciting journey because I am learning new things each day.

Each day I keep asking myself what are the key issues we need to address as a conference of 432 churches in this in-between year. Four major themes that are emerging for our attention are:

• Celebrating who we are;

• Searching for new staff;

• Moving forward with the implementation of our Vision for Renewal and Growth;

• Developing ever deeper relationships.

I will be addressing these issues from several viewpoints in this space in the future.

The leadership and the people involved in the Massachusetts Conference are an impressive group. Let me introduce you to three primary groups I’ve met in my first weeks in Framingham.

Staff based in Framingham

On my first morning in Framingham in this new position, I invited all the staff located in our central office in the barn to a brief reception. I asked each person to describe his or her job, since several persons are new or are part-time. I also asked the staff how many years they had worked for the conference. I was amazed at how many have been employed by the Conference for ten to twenty years, and even longer. For example, our registrar Ellie Kell has been faithfully working for over 25 years. We are blessed with the commitment, loyalty and dedication of our staff. The longevity of their service says a lot about the solidarity of who we are in the MACUCC.

Volunteers

Another MACUCC reality that has struck me in this first month has been the energy and vitality of our volunteers. You who are serving on our boards and commissions are challenging us all to live out in even greater measure the vision for growth and renewal that God has led us to follow. I never take for granted the long hours and new ideas that you share as volunteer leaders of our conference. For example, Mary Alice Stahleker of the First Church of Christ in Sandwich who recently chaired our Strategic Planning team in an outstanding manner continues in leadership on our Board of Directors. Simultaneously she serves as President of the Board of the Massachusetts Council of Churches. Hooks Johnston of South Church in Andover is serving this year as chairperson of our Conference Board of Directors. His sense of vision and excitement for the future of our Conference is contagious. Mary Alice and Hooks symbolize for me the gifts so many of us share with the wider church.

Executive Staff

When the five area ministers plus the program staff of Susan Dickerman, Paul Nickerson, and Meredith Hutchison plus Sue Baker and I met for our first Executive Staff meeting, we shared with each other the unique gifts we bring to the common table of our life together. This was a crucial meeting for us because it was the first opportunity for us to be together as a core staff. In fact, five of the nine present were attending their first staff gathering. At the end of the day, we evaluated our time together, especially around the theme of building community among us. On a scale of 5 to 1, with 5 being the highest, we all rated the day either a 5 or a 4. I went away from the meeting feeling we are off to a good start in this in-between year.

Leadership is the key to everything else we do, whether in local churches or in Conference settings. There is much to celebrate about the quality of our leadership in the Massachusetts Conference. The excellent health of our Conference is directly related to this reality. Through the efforts of our staff and volunteers who make up our Board of Directors and serve on our seven Commissions and additional committees, we are helping to provide resources to the local congregations throughout our Conference. We are pulled by the new and constrained by the old without the privilege of knowing fully what the new will be like. We simply place our future in God’s hands. Doing this work in the name of Jesus—that’s what we’re all about. Please pray for your leaders and support our efforts on your behalf.

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