{"id":10100,"date":"2015-06-03T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T00:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.brethren.org\/news\/?p=10100"},"modified":"2018-11-07T18:56:38","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T18:56:38","slug":"district-executives-sponsor-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2015\/district-executives-sponsor-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"District Executives Sponsor Conference Celebrating Gifts, Calling for Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford<\/small>
The three plenary speakers at the CODE conference on leadership: (from left) Jeff Carter, Belita Mitchell, and Lee Solomon<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAre you fanning into flame your gift? Have you started any fires yet?\u201d asked Belita Mitchell, who spoke for the opening plenary of a conference on leadership sponsored by the Council of District Executives (CODE). The conference on May 14-16 was the first such CODE event, and was hosted by Frederick (Md.) Church of the Brethren.<\/p>\n

Mitchell, who pastors First Church of the Brethren in Harrisburg, Pa., and is a former Annual Conference moderator, focused on the first section of the theme of the conference, \u201cGifted by God.\u201d Referencing the relationship of New Testament leaders Paul and Timothy, she noted that everyone needs a teacher to learn how to use their gifts for leadership. When leaders are not taught to receive and use their God-given gifts, the church suffers, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe each are going to have to use our gifts if the church is to survive and grow. Fan the flame and pass the torch,\u201d she said. \u201cLet God lead and use the gifts that God has given us!\u201d<\/p>\n

The conference brought together\u00a0some 100 people to hear Mitchell\u2019s remarks, and those of two other plenary speakers–Jeff Carter, president of Bethany Theological Seminary, and Lee Solomon, who comes out of the Brethren Church tradition and who\u00a0served at Ashland University for some 20 years. Participants also had opportunity for small group learning and discussion at numerous workshops on topics related to leadership.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt is not by accident that you all are called,\u201d Carter said, focusing on the second part of the theme, \u201cCalled by the Church.\u201d God calls leadership in order to advance discipleship, he told the conference. \u201cGod is scripting you into the history of the world,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s because of Christ…. How do you lead? By following in his steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, churches often are distracted by the how of leadership, and forget the why, he warned. Among leadership \u201chazards\u201d that he identified: paying too much attention to technique, and not enough to culture. He defined church leadership as \u201chaving the eyes to see where God is already moving and going to join in that work.\u201d The three qualities every church leader must possess, he said, are \u201cthe three p\u2019s\u201d–being present, prepared, and proactive.<\/p>\n

Solomon, who addressed the third part of the theme, \u201cEmpowered by the Holy Spirit,\u201d urged attention to the individual interactions that he said lie at the heart of church leadership, because they reveal the presence of God\u2019s Spirit.<\/p>\n

He referred to the \u201cWhere\u2019s Waldo?\u201d books, in which children have to search for the Waldo character who is hidden somewhere in plain sight on each page. Similarly, he said, God is on every page of the Bible, and in every individual interaction. \u201cYet many of us leaders in the church today are asking \u2018Where\u2019s Waldo?\u2019 Where is that Spirit of power that is promised to us?\u201d<\/p>\n

The mystery of God\u2019s presence may be found in the one-on-one interactions within the church, and with people in the surrounding community, he said. Solomon interspersed stories of such personal interactions with gospel stories of Jesus\u2019 personal interactions, which brought healing into the lives of those he touched.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford<\/small>
Participants meet and greet during the CODE leadership conference<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt is not enough to teach this power of the presence of the Spirit,\u201d he warned church leaders. \u201cWe must live it ourselves every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The conference ended with worship led by pastor Paul Mundey of the Frederick congregation, and a service of anointing. Mundey closed the event by focusing on the humility required for church leadership. The church leader\u2019s calling is not focused on self, he emphasized, but on proclaiming the name of Jesus, and \u201cserving the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Participants who came forward to receive anointing were given a special blessing, that they might \u201caccept and courageously be bold to utilize the gifts God has given you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find a photo album from the conference at www.bluemelon.com\/churchofthebrethren\/codeleadershipconference<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAre you fanning into flame your gift? Have you started any fires yet?\u201d asked Belita Mitchell, who spoke for the opening plenary of a conference on leadership sponsored by the Council of District Executives (CODE). The conference on May 14-16 was the first such CODE event, and was hosted by Frederick (Md.) Church of the Brethren.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1273,1304],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-10100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-spiritual-life","tag-training"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10100"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12707,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10100\/revisions\/12707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10100"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=10100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}