Growing Leaders

I took Isla for a run this morning. We did three miles in 28 minutes.

In the morning I aslo met with Mike to talk through his new role as Team Leader. It felt odd in some ways putting all this time in to support someone in this kind of a role. I seem to remember just drifting into it without any support or clarity. I'm sure this way is much better, but it's another clear indication of how far we've moved in a short period of time. Mike will be a great Team Leader, and I look forward to seeing how it all goes...

At lunch time I met with Linda from the Friday Cell Group who is doing a great job as leader/facilitator of that group. I hope she found the time useful.

In the afternoon I had a funeral visit in Shenley Church End, and I spent som time working on worship material for All Saints' Day 2008 - which needs to be finished by tomorrow.

In the evening I went to the Deanery Pastoral Committee at which we agreed to support the proposal from Water Eaton to develop "a Local Shared Ministry" which effectively means setting up a leadership team which will include two retired priests - with me as Area Dean acting as incumbent. This proposal is intended to give Water Eaton some breathing space to continue their development while waiting for more clarity about a long term vision...
We also discussed a proposal about Deanery posts which we will now be exploring with the Bishop, Archdeacon, and PDA. This was a good discussion and moved things on a bit... We seem fairly clear in our minds that there are three posts we want. The question is how to create them, locate them and whether they will be full or part time. All may be revealed on the 15th March...
Local Shared Ministry was also discussed and there seems to be a concensus that we are moving away from models toward process and support structure...

So much of my work today, as usual, has been about developing and encouraging our leaders. This is where my energy must be put if we are to build a sustainable and growing deanery/partnership. It's crucial that we nurture those who will provide the quality leadership that our churches need. I think most of my "parishioners" still think I sit around (between cups of tea) waiting for the phone to ring for a baptism, wedding or funeral. They probably even think I write sermons... The truth is I spend most of my time growing the ministery of others - and actually quite enjoy it...