Division of Congregational Health
Upcoming Events:
"Excel!" - The ND District Leadership Skills Training Conference
Shepherd’s Hill at the Crossroads
(Part 1) November 19-22, 2009 OR January 7-10, 2010
(Part 2) February 25-28, 2010, (Part 3) April 8-11, 2010
Pastors and lay leaders across the ND District will be given the opportunity to sharpen vital ministry skills. These include relational, communication, management, motivational, recruiting, creative thinking and decision-making skills.
The entire course includes 3 sequential sessions that will run from 2:30 pm Thursday through Sunday afternoons. The fee for the course is $875.00. More detailed information will be distributed in the near future.
During this course you will:
· Be challenged to see and think in new ways
· Gain a clearer vision and direction for your ministry
· Develop a concrete strategy and plan to help it become a reality
· Experience true growth as a leader from the inside out -- in your character, attitudes, skills, and habits
· Learn how to give ministry away with confidence
· Learn how to build people and help them succeed
· Discover how you can have more time for you and your family and to pursue your dreams while serving a growing, expanding ministry
· Become a person who draws the best out of all the people around you
· Learn how to live with more purpose and passion and help others to do the same
You may Register online or print the registration form. October 31,2009 is the deadline to register for Part 1 - November 19-22, 2009
The registration deadline for the January session is December 1.
This is a special opportunity. The conference size is limited. Register today!
Questions? Contact a member of the Division of Congregational Health. Rev. Joel Brandvold, Myrlin Hall, Rev. Paul Krueger, Bonnie Rennich, John Riley, Andy Werth, and Rev. Les Wolfgram (pastor.wolfgram@gmail.com)
Report given to the North Dakota District Convention 2009
The Division of Congregational Health was designed with the following objectives:
“The basic objectives of this Division are the cultivation of sound Lutheran spiritual life and practice both corporately and individually, and the strengthening of the worship life of congregations. Key foci include lay training, human care, and congregational administration and organization.”
The areas of responsibility that fall under the umbrella of the Division of Congregational Health include church leadership and organization, Human Care, and Christian Education. For the last three years Bob Bauer, Myrlin Hall, Wendy Wilke, Evelyn Allensworth, Rev. Leo Deitemeyer, and Rev. Richard Biberdorf have served on the Division, with additional help from President Harvala, and Executive Director, Bill Sharpe.
Stewardship: At the 2006 ND District Convention a separate standing committee for Stewardship was created. As a result Stewardship is no longer a part of this division.
Human Care: The Division once again developed a Human Care Survey that went out in 2008. Almost half (39) of our District congregations filled out the survey and returned it. The survey, which closely followed the results of the last survey several years ago, showed that even though most congregations still do not have an organized Human Care board, the needs of congregational members are still being met through the concerns of individual members (i.e., food pantry, food baskets at Thanksgiving, benevolence funds, providing assistance and transportation for the elderly, mentally challenged and physically impaired).
In response to Overture 7-01 from the 2006 ND District Convention that encouraged our congregations “to reach out into our communities by establishing parish nurse programs and/or health committees,” the Division recruited Wendy Wilke to coordinate the ND District Parish Nursing program. Through the survey it was revealed that presently four congregations (out of the 39 that have returned the survey) have a parish nursing program and five congregations are interested in staring their own parish nursing program.
The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod World Relief and Human Care has established a District Disaster Response Plan for each District to implement. One of the requirements is that the District appoint a District Disaster Response Coordinator to oversee disaster response within their District. Presently Joan Buchhop has fulfilled that role but in 2008 she stepped aside from the District Coordinator position. Presently the Division of Congregational Health has not been able to secure a replacement.
Christian Education: A District Sunday School Workshop was conducted by a representative from Concordia Publishing House, June 16, 2006, at Grace Carrington. It was not well attended.
Church Leadership and Organization: Quite a bit of time was spent discussing the possibility of holding Elder Spiritual Care and/or Church Officer training. Despite our intentions we could never settle on the type of presentation needed (i.e., use “in house” people or the St. Paul Institute for Education, etc.), as well as the time and place for such training to take place. As a result the training workshops never took place. A need for assisting congregations in making themselves and their churches more appealing to friends and visitors of the congregation was also discussed. We considered doing a workshop using the “Master Greeter” materials. Again, we were unable to make the presentation because we were not able to secure a time and place for the workshop to take place.
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