Among the ten agenda items we tackled at May’s Leadership Board meeting, all of which were important, there were two thought-provoking ones that I think merit sharing with you.
After Michael Harris opened the meeting with a prayer of gratitude for each other and a request for focus and sound decision making, he led us through the next item, which is a mainstay on the Board’s monthly agenda. Agenda item #2, called Spiritual Formation & Leadership Development, is a twenty-minute self-reflective and self-help exercise intended to align our characters with higher values to become better leaders and disciples of Jesus Christ. It’s a serious assignment, and that evening, it was Michael’s turn to deliver the research and scripture the Holy Spirit laid on his heart and intended for our ears. While Michael handed out some stapled pages that I’ll refer to as “Reflection,” he challenged the Board with this question: “Write down the names of three people you disagree with, are not aligned with, or you struggle to respect (this can be family, political leaders, friends, coworkers, etc.) .”
My eyes darted around the table looking to see if anyone put pen to paper immediately with names of antagonists or if Board members were pausing and contemplating before writing down any names or if any were struggling because they couldn’t come up with even a single name. “Seriously?” I thought. “Three names? Three!” I mentally and quickly scrolled through my list of adversaries. The President and Vice President of the United States. Twenty or so department secretaries and cabinet level officials. Two hundred seventy members of the United States Congress. Six supreme court justices. Three talk-show hosts at 93.7 The Fan sports radio. Two cousins and one friend. Two hundred ninety-nine people. Uh-oh.
Considering there are forty or so lines on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, I needed about seven and a half pages. Four if I used front and back. Yikes. I wasn’t sure where Michael was headed next with this exercise, but I figured that having nearly three hundred names probably wasn’t a good thing.
My prediction proved prescient when Michael asked his next question. “Do you pray for them? And if you don’t, why not?” Deep sigh. I looked around the table again. Responding to Michael’s question in my head for no one to hear, I acknowledged that I do indeed pray for some of them. For the government officials, I pray to God that he handles the hateful, the oppressors, the persecutors, the authoritarians by changing their hearts or ridding the world of them… and not caring by what means God accomplishes that task. Technically, that’s a prayer, I thought, a callous one but a prayer, nonetheless. As for the talk-show hosts whose opinions about my Steelers are appallingly wrong or the cousins and friend who are blatantly racist, my practice is to write them off.
For the third time, I scanned the room wondering this time if agenda item #2 was resonating as strongly with my colleagues as it was with me. Michael’s points were good ones. His Reflection packet, as I perused through the pages, was encouraging each of us to engage in a personal evaluation of introspection, grace, empathy, humility, and forgiveness. Michael was giving us pointers on improving our relationships with God by changing our prayer practices. He even validated his research with five scripture passages – Romans 12:18, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:12-14, Galatians 5:14-15, and Matthew 5:44, the one that moves me most.
“But I say to you, LOVE your enemies and PRAY for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus, I can bet my life, wasn’t asking me to pray death on government officials. Jesus is teaching, in all these passages, that love is the greatest of virtues and the one that binds us together in unity. So, this morning, I put Michael’s advice into application. It went like this.
Father God, Lord Jesus, Mother Holy Spirit, this morning I’m going to shake things up a bit. First, thank you for agenda item #2, which touched my heart and changed my prayer habits. I lift our government officials and those around the world and ask that you soften the hearts that are hard, that you instill empathy where there is void, that you replace hate with love, that you enlighten the ignorant, that you bring humility to the self-righteous, and you bind us in unity. As for the knuckleheads on 93.7 The Fan, Lord, I couldn’t help myself, please open my mind and help me to hear their opinions without judgment and rage and to celebrate our differences. As for my personal relationships Lord, help me to find compassionate ways to interact, peaceful and productive ways to communicate, and a supernatural ability to move their spirits to the Way of Jesus Christ. This I humbly ask you, mighty God of the universe, in the name of Jesus my savior and the Holy Spirit my connector. Amen.
As May’s Board meeting creeped from evening into nighttime, the agenda that started with an “internal reflection” ended with an “external reflection.” May’s meeting was a marathon, and the culprit was agenda item #6d, Pastor Hannah’s evaluation. Every year, the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference requires that we assess our Pastor’s performance. It’s called the “Annual Clergy Evaluation/Review.” Twenty or so questions on a three-page form inquiring about the Pastor’s effectiveness preaching and teaching, making and increasing discipleship, practicing pastoral care, leading laity, and continuing her education. The Conference states the goal of the evaluation “is not simply to complete a form but to come to a greater understanding of each pastor’s gifts and effectiveness during this unique time in which we are doing the ministry of Christ’s church.”
Side bar here before I conclude my report. Every year, I’m skeptical about this review thing. This is the third time I’ve participated with my colleagues and Pastor Hannah to do her evaluation and every time I feel trepidation, doubt. “For what purpose,” I fret, “are we doing this review? Are they going to use this report to steal Pastor Hannah from SUMC? Move her to a different church? Am I the only one who feels this way?” Although I don’t consider our Board to be a bunch of conspiracy theorists, some of them were doing the same mental gymnastics I was about how to answer the evaluation questions. A blushing Pastor Hannah assured us that the review was a routine requirement, helpful for reflection and improvement, but not used for any nefarious reasons.
The Board was supremely prepared for agenda item #6d. We had familiarized ourselves with the Conference’s evaluation form, even previewed the Conference’s video that supplemented their instructions. Amanda Pelphrey, equipped with her laptop, had already converted the Conference’s form to a Word document populated with examples of Pastor Hannah’s performance and intended to prompt our discussion. I’m bragging about the Board’s preparation here, but let’s face it, Pastor Hannah is an easy subject to evaluate. And because she was required to participate actively in the Board’s deliberation of her performance, she had to sit through what was a thoughtful and thorough assessment but had the vibe of a celebrity roast. I’ve known Pastor Hannah five years, and I can count the number of times on two fingers that I’ve seen her shy, awkward, and self-conscious. It was delightful to witness. All that aside, after an hour and a half of discussion, the Board filled out the form, which reflected our honest conclusion and her stellar performance. Pastor Hannah knows her purpose and honors God by using her gifts and going wherever and however God leads her to make disciples of Jesus Christ. She’s special, and we recognize it. Now we keep our fingers crossed.
Our next Board meeting is Wednesday, June 17th, at 6:30 pm in The Patton Library. We invite you to attend.
Lynn Colosi
Board Member