Online Archives

NEWS 

BY ERIK ALSGAARD
UMCONNECTION STAFF

Fleming

The Rev. Helen Fleming has learned through her walk of faith never to get too comfortable. Whenever she does, God always has a way of saying to her, 'Pack up; it?s time for you to go.'

Fleming, new assistant to Bishop John R. Schol for leadership development, brings a broad range of experiences to the office. A native of Baltimore, ministry in the Baltimore-Washington Conference is more than a homecoming; it is a confirmation of God?s calling.

'I was riding down the highway and I heard the Lord speak to my heart,' she said. 'People say God doesn?t speak to people; yes he does. And he said to pack up and get ready to move to Baltimore.' Joy rose up in Fleming, because her daughter, Tracye and grandson, Cory live in Baltimore County.

At the time, Fleming was winning national recognition for her ministry in southwest Philadelphia, pastoring the Eastwick UMC, Sharon Hill Christian Center and running its LM Community Development Center. That program, which fed more than 37,000 people a year, trained welfare mothers for employment and offered banquet and conference facilities to organizations around the country, was her pride and joy.

'Community economic development is where my heart throbs,' she said. 'Transition through the church is equally important.'

The story of how Fleming came here begins in 1963, when she first felt the call to ministry. 'But I said, ?no way, no way, I can?t live like you want me to live, God.?'

God came knocking again in 1978 when she had, she said, 'a Paul experience.'

Fleming was in her bedroom in the middle of the night. She awoke and walked over to her Bible and began reading from Psalm 51. When she finished, she had a warm feeling all over.

'I didn?t know what was going on,' she said. 'So I told God, ?If you?re real, then you?ll make me understand.?'

Before she knew it, Fleming?s hands began to move. 'I didn?t tell them to move,' she said. 'It was frightening to happen.'

Her hands stretched out on either side of her, forming a cross.

'And I said, ?Oh my God,? and tears welled up in my eyes,' she said. 'And I heard this voice saying, ?Be not afraid, for I am with you.? And I said, ?Well, who are you?? And he said, ?I am the Lord thy God who healeth thee. If you?ll let go of your life I?ll give it back to you.?' God then saturated her with His love.

The next morning, she awoke 'truly fresh,' she said. 'And my life has never been the same.'

Everywhere she?s been since, her emphasis has been on leadership development.

'That?s what I built the church on in Philadelphia,' she said. 'Not to see how big it could get but to develop qualified spiritual leaders.'

The difference between 'normal' leadership and spiritual leadership, Fleming said, is getting people to operate out of an understanding of God?s call on their lives.

'God has already called you to be a leader,' she said. 'My thing is to get you to understand your calling...and then getting you the additional support that you need to come to the fullness of your call.'

And that?s not just for clergy, she added quickly. 'That?s everybody. Everybody has a calling on their life, and once you start having people to function and believe in that and walking in that and understanding authority, then they can actually move into their positions.'

The key, said Fleming,is understanding who you are as a child of God.

At the church near Philadelphia?s airport, Fleming?s ministry nurtured leaders as people grew in their faith. Dozens of lay pastors and teachers served the church, each one doing training and developing other leaders.

And for her future ministry? Fleming sees a need for more prayer.

'I really believe we can?t ask churches to do something we?re not doing (here at the Conference Center),' she said. 'Bishop Schol has asked Discipleship and Leadership Development to encourage Spiritual Formation in the Center so that we can all bear Act 2 fruits. The head (Conference Center) has to be lined up in order for the body to follow.' In addition to her work in leadership development, Fleming is planning to start Bible studies and chapel worship services at the Conference Center.

'Go on about your life,' she said, 'wherever it is and accomplish that which God has told you to do. Don?t seek to be glorified or that you be edified, that you be raised up. You always want to raise somebody else above yourself. And when you do, there?s no height God can?t take you.'