This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker
Dear St. Paul's Family,
Many of you know that I was recently accepted into a rather prestigious program called the Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program. It is funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc. and has a competitive acceptance process (meaning more pastors applied than were welcomed into the program). I feel truly blessed to be a part of this learning cohort. If you'd like to learn more about the particulars of the program, visit here www.pastor.wabash.edu/about/.
There are 14 pastors from many Christian denominations in this program, which meets 5 times/year over two years with two study tours yearly in October. This week on Tuesday and Wednesday we met for our second session (via Zoom). As with all Lilly funded initiatives, this one is exceptionally well done. So far we began our studies with a leadership approach based on the book The Practice Of Adaptive Leadership: Tools And Tactics For Changing Your Organization And The World by Ronald Heifetz. The book suggests that the best changes made in an organization are the RIGHT 1-2% shifts that will drastically encourage the desired outcome. The trick is finding that 1-2%, and conducting experiments until it IS found. The good news is that if this is correct, we don't need to reinvent ourselves, we simply need to shift {something}. The bad news is that we don't know what the {something} is!
To this end, this week we studied Community and Well-being. I've been charged, as part of my homework, to have coffee (or whatever is socially acceptable during this time of pandemic) with community leaders, with people who have the pulse of what is going on in LaPorte, with anyone that might help St. Paul's see and hear more fully how we can continue to grow deep roots in this place we call home. I am pleased to say that my participation in Rotary is already opening my eyes and ears to some of this. And part of my homework is to reach out to The Unity Foundation of LaPorte County President, Maggi Spartz. Maybe you have other ideas and suggestions. Maybe you are one of these people yourself. If so, please don't hesitate to share your thoughts and ideas with me, as crazy or conventional as they might seem.
I always want to keep you in the loop with what I'm up to, of course. However, I also share this with you primarily because I remember a specific question from my interview process with the vestry that asked "Where do you see yourself and/or St. Paul's in five years?". I shared then, and I remain committed to this answer now, that I really have no idea. Predicting the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives is an impossible task. Our goal as Christians, always, is to listen for the soft whisperings of the Holy Spirit and then DARE to do what we believe she told us. Talking to these community leaders, hearing from each of you, is part of that listening.
Recently I realized, while reviewing the Diocesan Archives for St. Pauls, that you have welcomed a series of priests that have stayed only a few years each. If God doesn't "laugh" at my plans (as they say), I plan to break that cycle. And while I started my ministry far to late in life to ever match the time Fr. Eyrick was your beloved pastor, I have no intentions or desires of doing anything but settling into this community and growing this beautiful group of believers. I also have no magic formula. If we are ALL willing to listen for the Holy Spirit and experiment just a little, I have faith God has not and will not abandon us!
So we press on with all of the things that are necessary to continue to be a fully functioning house of worship. We conducted background checks on the three individuals that have access to our finances. They all passed (praise God). We are currently educating our vestry on Safeguarding so that we all speak the same language on how to keep ourselves safe and beyond approach while conducting church business. We are enjoying a book study on "The Heart of a Leader". We are praying and worshiping together. We are planning for conversations on Inclusive Marriage Policies. We are being good stewards of our resources.
I leave you with this thought friends. Almost without exception, when I spoke with many of you and asked about your dreams for St. Paul's, you all wanted to see St. Paul's grow. I second that desire. If we all feel this way, what are we willing to do in order to make it happen? What conversations need to occur? As your priest, I can not and will not do this alone. We will all do this together through listening for the Holy Spirit and stepping a little outside our comfort zone. Maybe this season of Lent is a good time to listen more closely. What are YOU hearing?
Prayers and blessings to you,
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226