Imagine Ministry transition yields three new appointments

01-06-2012

Imagine Ministry transition yields three new appointments

By Amy Forbus
Editor

Bishop Charles Crutchfield on Dec. 7 announced appointments to three new positions created as a result of the Imagine Ministry process adopted by the Arkansas Conference.

The bishop named two clergy and one layperson to new roles: The Rev. Dr. Kurt Boggan as director of the new Center for Clergy and Laity Excellence in Leadership; the Rev. Andrew Thompson as the Wesley Scholar for the Conference; and Ms. Sandy Watson as the lead facilitator for Holiness of Heart and Life: The Network of Discipleship and Mission.

Leadership focus

Boggan, who currently serves as superintendent of the Northeast District, will move to the Conference office in Little Rock when he takes on his new role this summer. Having served in a variety of churches, and drawing from his experiences as a district superintendent and as project manager for the Imagine Ministry team, he hopes to foster an environment that leads clergy and laity to excel.

“This work will begin with the mission field of the local church and address the adaptive learning that must occur with clergy and laity working as a team,” he said.

A major focus of the Center for Clergy and Laity Excellence in Leadership will be creating a sustained increase in the number of vital congregations in Arkansas. Regardless of their size, “vital congregations must learn how to be steady in purpose but flexible in strategy,” said Boggan.

He will take charge of recruiting and training up to 70 Circuit Elders and up to 30 Congregational Coaches who will be deployed by the district superintendents in 2012 and 2013. He also will develop strategies for equipping laity and clergy, and creating accountability for leadership goals.

“The purpose of all this is to develop and strengthen passion and excellence in local congregations so they can make disciples and transform their mission field,” he said. “I look forward to serving the clergy and laity of the Arkansas Conference.”

“The Center for Excellence in Clergy and Laity Leadership is really designed to create opportunities for accountability,” said Bishop Crutchfield. “It’s designed to create an opportunity for us to build excellence into everything we do, both as clergy and laity.

“For a long time, we have said clergy need to be accountable.... But laity are accountable, too. Clergy are accountable to their vows of ordination; laity are accountable to their vows of baptism and church membership. We talk so glibly about laity-clergy partnerships, but we don’t do much about it. This is a step in that direction.”

Bridging a gap

Thompson, who lives in Marion and serves as instructor of historical theology and Wesleyan studies at Memphis Theological Seminary, is a Th.D. candidate at Duke University, where his dissertation focuses on the means of grace in John Wesley’s doctrine of sanctification. His appointment as Wesley scholar for the Conference began on Jan. 1.

No other annual conference has a clergyperson appointed specifically to provide insight into the Wesleyan roots of United Methodism, so Thompson expects his role to evolve over time. He will work with the Holiness of Heart and Life Network, the Center for Clergy and Laity Excellence in Leadership and with local congregations.

“I think direct engagement with local churches will be a significant part of this ministry,” he said.

Bishop Crutchfield believes that having a Wesley scholar will help churches learn to more intentionally use John Wesley’s teachings as a foundation for ministry in the name of Christ.

“When we talk about the business of the Conference, where are we as Wesleyans?” he asks. “And how do we strengthen that connection?

“We think having a scholar like Andrew, who is also deeply committed to the life of the local church and the Annual Conference, is a great way to keep this unifying factor before us—that is, our theology of grace.”

Before completing his doctoral studies and becoming a professor, Thompson served two appointments as a local church pastor. Through these experiences, he has seen the gap between the church and the academy—“a gap I think is much too wide,” he says.

“With [my] duties as Wesleyan scholar for the Annual Conference, I will be able to focus that much more directly on how the work of a Wesleyan theologian should serve the life of the church at the ground level.”

Creating a network

Watson, a former administrator for two UMCs in Arkansas, is an active member of canvascommunity UMC Little Rock, and also sings in the choir at Highland Valley UMC.

Her experience at the local church level, including leadership training in Bible study and discipleship, contributed to her willingness to take on the volunteer role of lead facilitator for Holiness of Heart and Life: The Network of Discipleship and Mission. Bishop Crutchfield will name four additional co-facilitators from across the state.

“Over the past couple of years we have had an opportunity to dream and imagine where we can go and what can be accomplished through the body of Christ,” Watson said. “As we now put these thoughts and prayers into action, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I know great things are in our future.”

Though Watson officially begins work in July, she looks forward to meeting with other leaders before then to begin bringing more pieces of the Network into place.

“This is really different, and it’s not going to be easy to make this work,” Bishop Crutchfield said. “I appreciate Sandy’s willingness to walk along with us in kind of an undefined way to build the future.”

“I am extraordinarily excited to have all three of these people involved in the Annual Conference’s life going forward,” he added.