Donna Barrett's Thoughts on a New District Superintendent

Donna’s entry from her blog (which I’ve posted below) pertains to our discussion and I would pose this question; is there any correlation between our institutional strength as a district and the individual strength of its’ members, in your opinion, and if so, where do you think we are as a district in that regard?

Last Sunday evening, I attended a banquet in my city attended by several hundred Muslims. It was the 6th annual gathering (report, fund-raiser, inspiration, maybe not too different than our upcoming District Council) of the Council on American Islamic Relations, Cleveland Chapter. One of the guest speakers, Imam Johari Abdul Malik, in his talk entitled Persevering in Difficult Times observed (and I paraphrase and summarize) that as individuals, Muslim people are intelligent, disciplined, moral, financially conservative then generous with the excess. I would agree with him based on the friends and neighbors I know who are Muslim and the gracious people with whom the 3 of us shared a table that evening. The Imam went on to relate that other organizations are stronger only because they have more institutional strength than the sum of their individual members. (He had my attention.) He then encouraged his listeners to unite and bring their individual strength together.

As I often do, I came away saying “search me, O God, and see… in me” (Psalm 129:34 from the Bible). I asked my Lord Christ Jesus what He wanted me to do as a result of what I heard. I was challenged to not only continue praying for our upcoming election of a new District Superintendent in our organization, but to be less concerned about the one man who gets elected, and more concerned about the 428 of us who don’t get elected.

It is good to discuss the qualities we want in our next leader. But what if 100% of ordained ministers in our organization in Ohio committed to these qualities over the next four years:

1) Lovingly care for and mentor our staff members and younger pastors in our circle; foster mentoring relationships for ourselves

2) Participate in a monthly peer group of colleagues for prayer, growth, accountability and personal health

3) Voluntarily stay current on our personal dues/tithe so no resources or resolutions are needed to collect them

4) Be a positive participant in our section and district (whether by elected position, influence, or just seeing the need)

5) Initiate hosting our district’s missionaries and aggressively lead our churches (and by personal example) in supporting missions

6) Stay current on reports (if required) and quickly ask for help when needed so problems don’t compound

7) Pray regularly for our district leaders and show them grace as people with feet of clay.

After all, isn’t that what we long for from our own congregations? Maybe then, the District Superintendent could focus all of his energy and attention (with all of our help) on the “duties” described for him in our bylaws, Article III, Section 1. Paragraph a. (again I’ll paraphrase) which is to promote and coordinate efforts toward worshipping God, encouraging God’s followers and giving people around the world a chance to personally know The Lord Christ Jesus.




You can read this same article on Donna's blog at...


http://www.dbarrett.blogspot.com/

Our New District Superintendent

"...it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us..." Acts 15.28

My head and heart have been preoccupied with the upcoming District Council in Columbus, beginning May 12. I will miss Doug and his leadership, and wish him, Gail, and the girls well as they begin the next chapter of their lives in Springfield. Additionally, I'm grateful that he called the District to a week of prayer and fasting, beginning May 5.

The selection of our next DS is crucial for Ohio, for reasons I won't go into here. One of the points of this blog post is to generate positive, open dialogue about what leadership traits of our next DS might well serve the AG in Ohio for some time to come. I am enough of a Calvinist to know that ultimately, God will have His way. I am also enough of an Arminian to know that immediately, we can thwart God's will if we choose. (think Israel's 40 years in the wilderness, and Corinth's carnality) Thus, I hope and pray that at the end of Council we can confidently repeat the Acts 15.28 phrase above.

A few thoughts come to mind. I want a DS who...

1. will first and foremost be God's man or woman
   
   


2. will lead by Biblical principle over the desires of those led, having the courage of his/her Biblical convictions, even when the majority may want otherwise




3. will identify with and utilize bi-vocational, rural, small town, suburban, inner city, small- mid-large church, female, ethnic, and metropolitan pastors; in short, one who will serve all of these pastoral and church profiles, and attempt to relate to each of these cultures well




4. will be a Biblical preacher, rightly dividing the Word, knowing that another generation (or two) of younger gospel communicators is watching, and will later model what they see; someone who will model preaching that is both true to the Biblical text, and relevant




5. will be a fiscal conservative, knowing that 2-3 generations behind us will have to pay for any indebtedness we incur




6. will be a first rate administrator




7. will model a Pentecostal experience fitting a 21st century context
   
   


8. will attempt to lead us in exploring answers to honest questions regarding what we believe as Pentecostals (our orthodoxy), how that plays out in our churches (our orthopraxy), and ultimately, how it impacts a sinful world
   
   


9. will genuinely listen as much as he/she speaks

While these thoughts are not meant to be exhaustive, they are meant to provoke thought and healthy discussion.

No doubt, you have been praying about whom to vote for. If we look for Biblical precedent, there is no one, sure profile. There are many kinds of Biblical leaders. I'm currently thinking of 2-3 Ohio leaders, each of whom has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Mind you, when I get to Council the Holy Spirit could take me in a new direction, and that would be fine with me.

This much I know. When Israel pursued their leader, they got Saul. When God pursued His, Israel got David. There were vast differences between these two men.

And so, I'm curious-- what are you looking for in our new DS? What are the crucial qualifications needed in this position, at this time? We want to hear from you...