The GHC pastors have met in
monthly groups, called clusters, for a good many years. When I arrived in 1997
I was told by many pastors that these monthly meetings, apart from the
fellowship, were not a profitable use of their time. During the years from 1997
to 2001 these cluster meetings changed. The focus became training. The training
covered two major areas: leadership and congregational health. In 2000 another
change was initiated. The monthly cluster meetings, which in the past had been
run by region staff members, now began to be led by mentor pastors. Mentor
pastors were people who had demonstrated effectiveness in ministry and were
able and willing to communicate their wisdom and expertise to other pastors.
Because of God’s blessings in our congregations we had a number of pastors to
select from and as a result were not able to use most of our effective pastors
as mentors.
Last year, after meeting with the
mentors and other pastors we took their suggestions and instituted some other
changes. One of the major changes was that we asked our mentor pastors to begin
to hold the pastors who attended accountable for goals. These mentors were to
ask pastors to set both personal and professional goals. The idea was to build
more accountability for responding to the teaching and training that was being
offered by the mentors in the cluster meetings. We wanted pastors and other
pastoral staff members to become more intentional about improving their
leadership behaviors in leading their congregations and ministries.
Our God continues to bless these
clusters and the changes that have been instituted. There are now between 150
and 175 pastors and staff members attending the clusters each month. Not all of
these people are in GHC congregations, which is great. However, the majority
are connected to GHC congregations, which is also great, since it reflects that
our pastors and their staff members want to continue to grow and learn. These
individuals also desire to improve in their ability to lead congregations and
ministries and are willing to be held accountable for their development as
leaders.
The response I see in our monthly
cluster meetings affirms a number of convictions. First, we all need mentors.
In order for us to improve in that which God has called us to lead we need to
learn from those who are a little further ahead of us in how they are following
God’s call in their lives. Mentors provide us with the learning that has come
from their experience. They also teach us wisdom. Mentors also help us when
ministry is difficult. We all know we learn best from the times of life that
try our souls. When such times arrive we need those who will walk with us
through such times and provide both encouragement and the help required to make
the right choices in order to survive and in many cases thrive.
The clusters also reflect that a
community of fellow pilgrims who are struggling and succeeding in ministry is
often the best place to learn. We realize that God does not use “Lone Rangers”
for the most part. Instead our God works through a community of people who help
each other in the group function at their best. Pastors share with each other
new resources they have discovered that have aided them in becoming more
effective at what they do.
The interest in our cluster
meetings also impresses upon me that in this day and age of rapid information
growth and change it is imperative that all of us become lifelong learners. Too
much is happening too quickly for any of us to stay up with everything that is
occurring. Clusters are not the final answer to this phenomenon; in fact I am
not sure what is. However, the congregational leaders in GHC realize that
continual learning is not an option but a mandate in order to be effective in
leading God’s Church in this new century.
God continues to bless GHC with
mentors, resource pastors, pastors and staff members who are committed to doing
whatever it takes to lead the Church of Jesus Christ to fulfill its mission,
which is to make more disciples for Jesus Christ.
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