by Melissa Lauber
UMConnection Staff This year, more than 2,500 United Methodists in the Baltimore-Washington Conference will attend Leadership Days, a training event featuring 69 classes designed to equip participants for the discipleship journey. At Musselman High School in Inwood, W.Va., on Jan. 15, 458 people from the Western region of the conference learned a vast array of information about how to be leaders within their local churches. From the practical to the esoteric, there were few church-related subjects Leadership Days did not explore, said the Rev. Vivian McCarthy, who coordinates the event. The Rev. Mark Derby, Washington West District superintendent, shared how the book of Ephesians can equip church leaders. Conference Director of Finance and Administration Martha Knight taught church treasurers how a church's statistics affect its apportionments. Associate Council Director Timothy Warner provided hard-won lessons about doing prison ministry. And conference Commission on Communications member Charlotte Thomas detailed the process of creating church Web pages. Other classes explored Alzheimer's disease, inclusiveness, visual arts in worship, social justice, lay speaking, special needs children and evangelism. Participants in the class on prayer, taught by the Rev. Brian Jackson, pastor of Zion UMC in Lexington Park, heard about the power of prayer first-hand when he shared his experience of living homeless and addicted to drugs on the streets of Baltimore. Meanwhile, the Rev. Anthony Hunt, Baltimore-Harford District superintendent, found agreement when he told his class on spirituality that 'connecting with God in a way that people can see Christ in our faces,' is an essential part of being a leader in the church. After the first round of workshops, the participants gathered for worship and heard from Bishop John R. Schol, who stressed that 'discipleship and leadership go hand in hand.' Against a backdrop of PowerPoint visuals and a video created by and starring members of the Conference Council of Youth Ministries, Bishop Schol outlined five parts of the discipleship journey he is inviting United Methodists to participate in. The journey, he said, involves: - Celebrating ? recognizing there is something in this life that transcends the ordinary, and magnifying and worshiping God;
- Connecting ? first with God and then with our brothers and sisters in a deeply personal and meaningful manner;
- Developing ? experiencing the Word of God in a life-transforming way;
- Serving ? recognizing that we have a purpose, and then living out that purpose while acknowledging the paradox that the more we give, the more we have; and
- Sharing ? in a way that impacts other individuals, the community and the world.
The bishop acknowledged that this continuing journey is not always easy. However, he encouraged the church leaders to not run from challenges or sweep problems under the carpet. He explained that problems give people the opportunity to use their gifts and capacities. 'I sense that problems are the work of God. Too often in the church we do everything to keep problems from happening. We do happy talk,' he said. 'But we should be energized by problems.' Challenges alone, the bishop explained, are stressful; while gifts without challenges become boring. 'Repeat after me,' he said, 'Problems are good. ? Problems are a gift from God.'
Bishop Schol encouraged the leaders to share each other's problems. 'We are a connected church,' he said. 'When problems get great, we can support one another. Your problems are my problems. I'm ready to journey with you.' The bishop also encouraged churches to choose leaders who are of good character, who turn first to God and are full of the Holy Spirit, and who are wise, having the mind of God in them. Commenting on a skit, written by the Revs. Del Hinton and Mike Sharp, that was performed during the worship service, Bishop Schol challenged the leaders of the Baltimore-Washington Conference to 'go and clean tables, hang out in soup kitchens, massage one another's feet and shoulders, give someone your cross and share the Word of God.' | 
Login/Register to leave comment