At the June 14-16, 2007, Annual Sessions, delegates approved the Listening & Redesign Proposal by 96% and the Executive Committee named a Transition Team to discern how to implement the system redesign proposal. The Transition Team held their first meeting on August 21, 2007.
............................................................................................
"During 2008, we on the IN-MI Conference Transition Team (TT) invite you to join us in a journey of focusing on and listening to Luke 10:1-12 -- the story of Jesus sending out the 70 -- believing that both the TT and the conference as a whole will navigate the transition to the new organizational system most joyfully if we find our source in Scripture.
We are encouraging elder groups, area councils, and participants in cluster meetings and annual sessions to allow this Scripture passage to inform and shape the conference’s transformation process, believing that its call to leave the familiar and risk the future will be important as we go forward. We see our work as not simply about making technical adjustments to our structure but about changing our thinking about how the conference furthers God’s mission."
...................................................................
Important Links:
- Listening & Redesign Proposal
- Transition Team Members
- Transition Team timeline
- books recommended by Transition Team |
|
Transition Team Update (April 9, 2008)
On Monday, April 7, the IN-MI Transition Team gathered for a full day. The morning got off to a great start as the team met with Rick Stiffney, president and CEO of Mennonite Health Services Alliance, who shared his expertise about multiple governance models. The team also reflected on the feedback that delegates gave at this spring’s cluster meetings and discussed significant themes that were shared regarding the lead conference minister (LCM) position.
The team planned to spend most of the afternoon writing a first draft of a job description for the LCM position. However, additional issues and conversations needed attention, and the time allotted to work on this task became smaller and smaller. With less than an hour left in the day, the team finally began to work on the job description, separating into two groups -- who the LCM should be and what the LCM will do -- to save time.
If you don’t believe it already, you should know that God is active and present in the work of IN-MI Conference! After 30 minutes, the two groups came back together to share their work. Without any discussion with each other, both groups had narrowed down their descriptions into four main parts, and although some of the wording was slightly different, the four topics were the same. The separately written parts of the job description lined up perfectly!
As a member of the team, I am so thankful for everyone who prays for us and our work. Often our job seems daunting and overwhelming. But as we remembered again yesterday, God is faithfully leading and guiding this process. We ask for your continued prayers as we revise our first draft of the job description via e-mail.
-- Sarah Rohrer for the Transition Team |
............................................................................................
|
|
