Leadership Development, Christian Education and Pastoral Excellence Program

Pastoral Excellence Program
The Pastoral Excellence Program has just celebrated its third year of support for the 545 local church based clergy in our Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ. It has been another year of experimentation, learning and growing! With the additional resources from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. added to our Conference’s budget supported by Our Church’s Wider Mission and Fellowship Dues, our pastors, In Care Students and Church and Ministry Committees have been stretched toward excellence as they renew and revitalize our local churches within the Conference.

Year three of this five year grant program has been implemented by the same talented staff. They include the Rev. Christina Braudaway-Bauman, Associate for New Clergy Development, who provides part time leadership and coordination of small groups for clergy who have been ordained fewer than three years; the Rev. Dr. Larry Peers, part time Associate for Pastoral Development, providing programming leadership for seasoned clergy; and Ann Plumley, who serves in a full time position as the Associate for Church and Ministry Concerns. Ann provides consultation with clergy and lay leaders of our Church and Ministry Committees and other designated Conference leadership. Other members of the Pastoral Excellence Team include: Susan Dickerman, Program Coordinator; Dawn Hammond providing financial oversight; Kristin LoFrumento, part time Administrative Assistant and Cindy Bolton, Administrative Assistant for our leadership and education ministry team.

Overall Goals
The overall goals of the Pastoral Excellence Program are:

1. to provide clergy with training, resources, and opportunities for reflection and conversation that integrates theology and the practice of ministry;
2. and to offer clergy opportunities which enable more sustained focus on developing ministerial practices and skills in an environment of collegial trust and enrichment.

In the past three years, the pastors of the Massachusetts Conference, UCC, have found new and remarkable ways to do ministry. We have been astounded by the enthusiastic and grateful response to the small group ministries for newly ordained clergy as well as seasoned colleagues, colloquies for clergy and lay leaders, and new learning opportunities for members of Church and Ministry Committees. There is talk among colleagues about excellence and we see emerging recognition of its importance.

New Clergy Groups
One of our greatest successes has been with new clergy, pastors in their first three years of ministry, coordinated by Chris Braudaway-Bauman. Of the 77 new clergy in the Conference, 74 are now a part of a New Clergy Group or are engaged in an intentional mentoring relationship which we have helped them create. That is an amazing 96% participation! These new pastors testify regularly and publicly that their New Clergy Group is essential to their sense of confidence and competence in ministry. The difference we have seen in their effectiveness and morale in the past two years has convinced us that we must find a way for the New Clergy Group program to continue beyond the grant period.

In addition to working with new clergy, we are finding ways to assist graduating seminarians as they make the transition into pastoral ministry. In February 2005, the Pastoral Excellence Program and the Area Ministers held a day-long event on “Search and Call in the UCC,” which included profile preparation, spiritual discernment in the search process, interviewing, negotiating a call agreement, becoming familiar with the benefits offered through the UCC Pension Boards, and getting a good start in ministry. It was a great event, but everyone agreed it was a lot for one day! Beginning this past fall, we are stretching out the topics to offer four Search and Call events, as well as an orientation to the in-care process and “Welcome to the MACUCC Conference” reception for new seminarians. In 2005, we also experimented with small group workshops to assist interested seminarians with interview skills.

Clergy Communities of Practice
Through these colleague groups, coordinated by Larry Peers, seasoned pastors have come to rely on each other for support and friendship, for new ideas and resources, and for new perspectives on old problems. Most groups meet monthly and have covenanted to remain together for three years. Clergy groups have also formed for specific purposes such as for sabbatical preparation, and for worship planning through the liturgical year. Interim pastors and clergy who serve in settings beyond the local church, in hospital chaplaincies and ministries with homeless people, have also requested our assistance to help them form communities of more specialized practice.

Colloquies
Our Pastoral Excellence Program includes cornerstone events. Colloquies, coordinated by the PEP Team, are designed to offer new ideas and resources, and to provide rich opportunities for learning from expert practitioners and to share wisdom and experience with colleagues. When we began our grant period, our hope was that 50 pastors would participate in each Conference-wide colloquy we planned. Attendance at every event has far exceeded our expectations. Pastors and students in-care turn out in large numbers and are eager to take the learning back to their congregations to continue the conversation with follow-up discussion materials we provide. Colloquies in early 2005 included:

• “Seeking the Spirit: Congregational Discernment and Decision Making” with Martin Copenhaver and Kathy Musser, pastors of the Wellesley Village Church providing leadership;
• “From Ashes to Easter: Preaching for Lent” with Matt Boulton, faculty member at Andover Newton Theological School providing leadership;
• Preparing and Planning for a Sabbatical: Workshops and Retreat with Dale Hempen and Larry Peers, MACUCC staff.
• The Clergy Gathering at Annual Meeting with Diana Butler Bass, author, researcher, and professor speaking on the need to embrace change if churches desire to grow and thrive;
• In late October the Pastoral Excellence Program sponsored An Evening with Ron Heifetz, author of Leadership on the Line. 324 pastors and lay leaders attended this event to talk about how to lead their churches through change with clarity, compassion, and risk-taking faithfulness.

At last count, 90% of all 545 clergy who serve local churches in the Massachusetts Conference have participated in the Pastoral Excellence Program in one or more ways.

Clergy Shared Practices
Ann Plumley consults in partnership with the five Area Ministers and the chairs of the Church and Ministry Committees to encourage the sharing of best practices, encourage consideration of the changing context of Church and Ministry work, and to support the development of culture of continuous professional development among clergy. She provides training, support and evaluation for Church and Ministry Committees and response team members in their Fitness Review process. In addition, she has coordinated a psychological screening assessment group developing an innovative approach to in-care student screening and formation; facilitated gatherings with members of Church and Ministry Committees and in-care students throughout our Conference; and consulted with staff on issues of mutual concern and welfare.

Work continues to foster collaboration among the 14 Church and Ministry Committees in our 11 Associations. The Western Area Leadership Academy, developed in conjunction with representatives from Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Associations, will offer its third course in March, 2006 to address the development needs of licensed pastors and those who aspire to be authorized as licensed pastors. Recommendations for continuous professional development for authorized ministry are in process and will be recommended to the Annual Meeting of the Conference following review by several authorizing bodies of the Conference.

The Commission for Leadership Development
The Commission for Leadership Development is chaired by the Rev. John Hudson, pastor of the West Concord Union Church; the Rev. Terry Martinson, pastor of Old South Union Congregational Church serves as the vice-chair. The eighteen members of the Commission for Leadership Development have provided the oversight and direction for both clergy and lay volunteers who desire to build on their faith foundations and expand their skills to think out of some of the traditional boxes through the Lilly Endowment, Inc. grant by:

• celebrating the more than 400 women in the Massachusetts Conference, UCC who are ordained, commission, or licensed for ministry, through “Called Together-Together Called,” an educational event held at the Westin Hotel in Waltham, MA, November 1-3, 2005. More than half of the attendees were lay Church Educators, musicians and In-Care students. The keynote address was provided by Kathleen Norris, author, and outstanding preaching was provided by Barbara Lundblad, Susan K. Smith and Lillian Daniel. There were 30 workshops and an original drama focusing on stereotypes (age, class, sexual orientation, handicapped conditions etc.) and call was presented to stimulate thinking and create opportunities for networking.
• providing pre-retirement seminars for UCC Annuity Fund members and spouses/partners in West Springfield and Framingham;
• continually testing Clergy Compensation Guidelines and presenting them at the Annual Meeting for vote;
• meeting regularly with the members of the Pastoral Excellence staff team to hear reports, reflect on new ideas and evaluate and encourage new innovative programs where challenges seem to deter change and growth;
• encouraging pastors and laity in our Conference congregations to host workshops that focus on “Safe Church” education as well as providing templates for policies and procedures to ensure as much as possible a safe environment for our children, youth, and the leaders who carry out ministry.
• continuing Commission support to the specialized ministry of transitional ministers and their education, support, and recognition;
• initiated “The Timothy Project”, an experimental process for supporting local congregations in all parts of the Conference to assist pastors and lay leaders in directing resources to their congregations that may provide new growth and development in strategic areas in their common life;
• continuing oversight to the historical ministries of the Commission that include the support of the Pastors Study Conference gathering at Old First Church in Springfield during February; the Annual Church Secretaries Conference held at the Craigville Conference Center in June; the Craigville Colloquy held at the same location in July; and the recognition and identification of specialized categories of clergy including retired, extra parochial; and interim continue to be carried out;

Young Adult Ministries
Kristin LoFrumento, part time Associate for Young Adult Ministries, oversees the coordination of the implementation of the Vision for Renewal and Growth goal in cooperation with other staff colleagues. She brings enthusiasm and commitment to this important ministry emphasis. Some highlights during Kris’ brief tenure:

• Coordination of a Young Adult Clergy Retreat;
• Coordination and facilitation of a Rite of Affirmation ceremony for all MACUCC high school seniors;
• Leadership of a conference-wide event open to all senior high youth…Faith Under Construction: How to Live Faithfully Along the Road of Life;
• Conversations and a meeting with UCC-affiliated college chaplains and campus ministers within the MACUCC;
• Updating and reviewing resources which can be found on the webpage: www.macucc.org/youngadults;

Gratitude and thanks are especially extended to Cindy Bolton and Kris LoFrumento for their ongoing consultation with pastors and church leaders by phone and email, registration and financial expertise, and Cindy’s service as our confirmation registrar. Each of them keeps track of the myriad of details that are the result of these important program ministries. What a blessing it is to be part of a team of talented leaders to be partnered with you in mission and ministry!