Leaders looking for ways to be more effective in ministry
Clergy to clergy
In everything they do - from preaching in the pulpit and visiting hospital patients to working with youth groups and organizing religious activities - all clergy have one goal in common: to bring people closer to God.
In that mission, clergy become, to many of their congregants, a symbol of God, a messenger who brings truth, meaning and hope to a chaotic world; a strong leader who loves and accepts them despite their failings. But, most important, congregations look to their clergy to hear the word of God during worship.
"There's one thing that every congregation wants - an excellent sermon in a wonderful worship experience," says Larry Dill, executive director for the Huntsville-based Institute for Clergy Excellence (ICE) and retired pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church.
"After that, they want music, prayer groups, Bible studies and youth ministries. But, their desire when they attend worship week in and week out is a service that means something to them, that says something to them. People want a meaningful worship experience that touches them."
But, while clergy focus their energies on supporting, counseling, loving and leading God's people, their own needs of growing and strengthening their faith and preaching skills are often not addressed. Once they graduate from the seminary, who can clergy turn to for advice and counsel on being better ministers, leaders and preachers?
The answer is found among the clergy themselves.
Since late 2002, the Huntsville-based ICE has worked with clergy throughout North Alabama, in Nashville, Atlanta and Pensacola to develop support groups of clergy focused on strengthening preaching and worship leadership. Each group develops its own three-year course of study, which is approved and funded through the institute.
"Right now, we have nine clergy groups," Dill says. "Within these groups, we have 16 different denominations represented."
The program originated in the United Methodist church, but has spread to other denominations, said Dill, who added that 40 percent of the ICE groups are non-United Methodist.
Groups begin with one interested minister who recruits fellow ministers who can make a long-term commitment to the group. Putting together the right mix of eight group members - through self-selection by the group itself - is essential to the entire learning experience.
"Being a member of a clergy peer group is not an easy task," Dill says.
"Clergy have to take the initiative in putting their group together. Most groups start by one member recruiting two or three friends, and then reaching out to others. The goal is to have an ecumenical group of people who are comfortable with each other. It should be interfaith and interdenominational. The more diverse the group, the more dynamic they are."
Although each group is unique in the personalities that define it and the makeup of the group itself - interdenominational, interracial, male and female - only one group so far has been defined by also being interfaith. Rabbi Jeffrey Ballon of Huntsville's Temple B'nai Sholom is one of the clergy who make up Huntsville's Round Table group.
"We have invigorating study time," says the Rev. Dr. David Freeman, pastor of Weatherly Heights Baptist Church and a Round Table member.
"We have a great deal of respect within the group and our relationships are becoming deeper. We deliberately set out to create a diverse group where everyone has a voice, where everyone is respected."
Freeman said the clergy "want to be a model for our congregations and for the broader religious community. We want to show that people of different faiths can interact and get along."
Recognizing each member of the group as an equal is important to the dynamics of the group, Freeman says.
"ICE is not a program for a lone-ranger type. We are forced into community where there is give and take. We work very closely together," he says. "If one person is out of sync with the rest of the group, it can have a negative bearing on the whole group."
Lonely job
When meeting with new ICE groups, Dill always asks the participants why they are interested in the program.
"Two themes always emerge in these discussions," he says.
"First, there is a loneliness among pastors," he says. "They are lonely because they don't have many professional relationships. They feel a need for a peer group experience that will help them concentrate on worship leadership."
The other theme is the conflict between traditional and contemporary services, and how ministers can be effective leaders to congregations struggling with what are known today as "worship wars."
"If I am going to be an effective pastor and lead a congregation, then I need to grow both spiritually and personally," says Jeff Armbrester, pastor of Toney United Methodist Church and a member of the first ICE group, called Asbury.
"I really don't believe God intends us to reach a certain point of maturity and then just sit down," he says. "This program gives me the opportunity to develop some closer relationships with other pastors. We encourage each other and hold each other accountable."
Encouragement was what Stella Moore, an associate pastor at Turner Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, was looking for when she joined the Macaroni group.
"My ministry was not going the way I dreamed it would while I was in seminary," she says. "I needed a new vision of the church. I needed something to help me help others generate hope and new joy in their lives."
Once formed, ICE groups work with a process leader to decide how they will improve preaching and worship skills within their group. There are no books or curriculum to follow.
"Each group must be able to come together and spend six months to a year designing their own unique study and travel plan," Dill says. "There's not a particular curriculum that fits any one group. They have to rely on the skills, talents and experiences of their group to build their study program. It's very energizing because it's very rare that even adult learners get to do that."
Planning ahead
Although it can take months of planning before a group is ready to embark on its study plan, Dill says these months are still beneficial to the group.
"The time of preparation is one of the most fruitful parts of the project," he says. "It is during this time that group members learn a lot from each other. They become engaged and energized by the whole process."
Moore recalls her group meeting several times to develop their study plan.
"We had to decide what our priorities were for ministry, and what we would bring to the group and what we expected to get out of the group," she says.
With more than 10 years in the ministry, Moore says her ICE group has given her a fresh outlook on her role in the church.
"I've never felt as involved in the ministry and as able to have an impact on the ministry as I do now," she says.
"Now, when I preach, I preach with boldness. I talk of a gospel that is old, but that we are involved with in a new way. I understand how we have to make the story of the Lord come alive in the pulpit. It's not about me. It's about God and helping my congregation come alive with their own gifts from God."
During their first year of study, members of the Asbury group focused on understanding themselves.
"We wanted to understand how our personality affects the way that we interpret Scripture, the way we plan for worship and lead worship, and the way we deliver the message," Armbrester says.
Now in its second year, the Asbury group's focus is shifting toward the congregation and how the congregation's history and members impact worship. During its third year, the group will study effective ways to connect with people outside the church.
As with all the groups, the Asbury course of study involves some traveling.
"A major part of learning is experiencing what we want to learn. We need to actually see what is happening," Armbrester says. "Traveling to talk with worship leaders and experience different kinds of worship is important to broadening our cultural experiences."
Trips to study with clergy and religious teachers in Chicago, New York City, Hawaii and other parts of the world are often part of each group's three-year course of study.
To learn more about the ICE program, visit www.theice.us, e-mail ice@theice.us, or call 489-4231.
ICE groups follow own study paths
Currently, there are nine Institute of Clergy Excellent (ICE) groups at various stages in their studies. Three of those groups -- the All Saints Group, Atlanta + Group and Trinity Group -- are developing their three-year plans. The following six groups have developed study plans and are in the first or second year of their plan.
Asbury Group: The first group formed, Asbury is made up of an interdenominational group of ministers from Birmingham, Sylacauga, Anniston, Birmingham, Fayette, Wilsonville and Huntsville. The group believes a worship service is a communications event, a time to communicate the story of God to an audience. If ministers can't communicate the gospel in clear, concise ways appropriate to their audience, then they have failed. The group is working to improve the worship experience by identifying and eliminating barriers to communication.
Pensacola Group: The second group formed, Pensacola is made up of Methodist ministers serving in the Florida Panhandle and the Alabama Gulf area. Their course of study focuses on answering the question: "How do we become authentic leaders of transformational worship experiences?"
Macaroni Group: This third ICE group is unique both in its name and members. The name "Macaroni" came after meeting numerous times at the Macaroni Grill. The name, like macaroni, has stuck with the group, which is both interracial and interdenominational with ministers from Huntsville, Sheffield, Toney, Fort Payne, Stevenson and Florence. Their focus is to grow to their fullest potential in preaching and worship by better understanding themselves, their world, their community of faith and their solemn task.
NICE Group: Based in Nashville, the name of this group is an acronym that stands for Nashville Institute for Clergy Excellence. The group is interracial and interdenominational with ministers from the Nashville area. Its goal is to enhance the members' overall calls to the ministry by studying different preaching models and other models in the ministry from the Christian, Jewish and Islamic traditions.
Transformer Group: Members of this interdenominational group are primarily from churches in the Haleyville, Blountsville, Morris and Jacksonville areas. They seek God's genuine transformation for themselves and their churches, as stated in 2 Corinthians 3:18. They aspire to develop their skills for preaching, ministry and leading, aspire to further their personal spiritual transformation and aspire to a more faithful worship.
Round Table Group: This Huntsville-based interdenominational group is the first group to also be interfaith. They chose their name, first, because they often met around a round table. But, the name has become more significant in that at a round table everyone is seen as equal. Their goal is to acquire more effective worship and preaching skills, so they can help people of diverse cultures worship in a way that transforms them through a meaningful connection with the divine and be challenged by the demands of their faith.
Used with courtesy of The Huntsville Times. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.
