Co-Missioned Pastors:
First Group Formed

"And there were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night."  This scene might not have been too far from the truth with the first cohort of twenty-five pastors of the Co-Missioned Pastor Initiative, which met during the second weekend of Advent at Lake Doniphan Retreat Center near Excelsior Springs, Missouri.  For they, too, are modern-day shepherds watching over their congregations with great diligence, sensitivity, and care.

The Co-Missioned Pastor Initiative, launched at the 2004 World Conference, is designed to help pastors lead congregations to a clearer sense of vision, purpose, and fidelity to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and will guide congregations as they create a missionary witness through invitation, hospitality, and personal testimony.  Pastors in the Initiative are offered leadership education, training, ministerial formation, financial support, spiritual care, and mentoring resources. 

And on a crisp, sunny December afternoon it began.  As with any new gathering of individuals there was a healthy mix of excitement and fear, and they each greeted and introduced themselves to the group; then one pastor said it best, "We became connected."

Mary Hamer, Chariton, Iowa, congregation pastor, said it this way:  "We came together as strangers and became family within two days.  We came from different backgrounds, congregation sizes, and diversity in members, but we all had one thing in common:  a desire to humbly and willingly serve the Lord.  In return we were blessed with the Holy Spirit throughout the weekend, and a week later the fire still burns."

the expectations of the weekend were to provide a retreat experience of spiritual renewal; opportunities for learning, worship, and formational experiences with direct application to pastors and their congregations; and the beginnings of collegial relationships with other pastors and the steering committee.

Lovett Weems, distinguished professor of church leadership and director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C., was guest teacher and minister for the weekend, and challenged the pastors and steering committee throughout the day-long presentations and interactions on Saturday of the retreat.  Using material from his book Take the Next Step, Weems covered the topics of "Who Are We?," "What is God's Vision?," "What Is Our Mission?," "Who Are Our Neighbors and What Are Their Needs?," and "Taking the Next Step."

Weems challenged the group with this idea:  "It's hard for people to think their way into a new way of living.  Find opportunities for them to live their way into a new way of thinking."

Throughout the weekend new ideas of living, thinking, mission, and vision were around every corner.  "We were blessed by the ministry and teaching of Lovett, who helped the pastors and each one there to 'take the next step' in being faithful to God's purpose." said tom Mountenay, Co-Missioned Pastor Initiative coordinator.  Jerry Stone, pastor from Ellsworth, Maine, said, "I'm so glad Lovett Weems was chosen as class instructor, using his 'common-sensical' book Take the Next Step.  He inspired me through this resource and his personal reflections and stories.  It was a weekend well worth investing in."

This is just the beginning.  The second cohort applications are beginning the Steps One and Two workshops, and the third and fourth cohorts are still accepting applications.  Cohort One left this initial retreat with great anticipation to go back to their congregations and share what they had learned.

"Leaving the retreat I feel that I am now connected to a big family who will help me, listen to my problems, offer solutions, and mainly love me for trying to build God's church," Flora Givens-Rudolf, Akron, Ohio, pastor, said.

Co-Missioned Pastor Initiative director Ken McLaughlin said, "It was an honor to be present at the first CPI retreat.  The pastors were eager to enhance their leadership gifts so that each might better serve the people of God."

One CPI pastor summed it up: "The Co-Missioned Pastor Initiative gives us the map to get to our goals.  Now we have to decide how fast or slow we will travel and even if there are better ways for us to travel, but at least now we have the directions."

Cohort One will meet for a week-long educational experience in February, and Cohort Two will begin its journey with its first formational retreat in April 2005.