Next week starting, Monday, March 11, 2013, Ministerial Directors in the North American Division will gather in Berrien Springs, Michigan at the Adventist Frontier Mission Center for a NAD Ministerial Summit.  

The annual career fair will kick off the "Summit" beginning on Monday at the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University.  Tuesday's Advisory will focus on pastor and church assessments, continuing education, pastoral maturation-from the call to retirement, and the 2015 NAD Ministerial Convention.  On Wednesday we will take a trip to the Adventist Heritage Village in Battle Creek, Michigan.  The trip will be hosted by the General Conference Director of the Ellen White estate, Jim Nix. Finally, on Thursday, the ministerial directors boot camp will be a training session targeted for ministerial directors serving with less than three years of ministerial service.   

Ministry is better when we're connected.

January 2013, the Southern Union held its Ministerium. It's a convention for pastors and families from the eight conferences that compose our union. The theme was:

Connecting. To God. To family. To each other.

It took Pr. Dennis Ross and Jackie along with the conference ministerial directors three years to prepare for the event, for close to 1,600 people. As I reflected on the event after its conclusion, one phrase described our objective:

Ministry is better, when we're connected.

Here are 4 principles we learned:

Ministry is better when we are united.

Unity multiplies impact. That is one key lesson we wanted leaders to understand. We need each other. We can grow as we learn from each other. One of the most beautiful moments in the Ministerium was communion, where there were no conferences, no small or large churches, no titles or degrees, just pastors, washing each other's feet. Ministry works better when instead of building silos we build his kingdom. In order to finish the work God has entrusted to us we need everybody. Traditional and contemporary, men and women, youth and adults, 1st and 2nd generation, accredited colleges and self-supporting ministries, lay members and paid denominational employees. We are one church. When we attack each other it creates confusion in our youth, discouragement in our members, and delay in our progress. Among the 1,600 pastors and families, we had a wide diversity. African American. Anglo. Hispanic. Korean. Russian. Africa. West Indies. Europe. It looked a lot like heaven. It's interesting to note that when Jesus selected his disciples, he did not chose 12 carpenters from Nazareth.

Ministry is better when we strive for excellence.

Excellence honors God and inspires people. Someone has said that good is the enemy of great. One of the greatest dangers in our lives can be summarized in two words: Routine. Average. At the Ministerium pastors were encouraged to never settle for good, when best is available. Great attention to detail from the organizing group, sought to model the principle of excellence.

Ministry is better when we're challenged.

The speakers not only inspired us, but also challenged us. One of the most powerful messages was given by Pr. Alejandro Bullon. His title was catchy: Pastors can also be saved. He related a story about a young boy that wanted to work in a chocolate factory. The first day of work, his boss told him he had one assignment. To eat chocolate all day. Every ten minutes the boss would come to check on the boy to make sure he was eating chocolate. After one day, even while working in the chocolate factory, the boy never touched the chocolate again. Pr. Bullon told us that the "greatest temptation for pastors that work for God, is to neglect personal communion with the God they work for". We don't want to end up like the people that built the ark, and then drowned in the flood. We were challenged, stretched, and encouraged at the same time.

Ministry is better when we are connected to God.

As a kid, I loved flying kites. Living in Puerto Rico, a tropical paradise, we were almost never short on wind. Once in a while, however, there was a windless day.   On those days, if you still wanted to fly a kite you could, only it was much harder. First you needed to go to a big field. Then, get a running start. Follow that with run, run, and then run some more. Needless to say, kite flying soon became a bothersome chore, instead of a pleasant endeavor. Same thing happens in church. When you are running around, doing things in your own strengths, eventually you will wonder where did all the "pleasure" of serving the Lord go. Kites fly with almost no effort when there is wind present. Is there wind in your church? In order to fly a kite we need wind. In order to pastor a church we need to stay connected. To God. To family. To each other.

Access the presentations at the Southern Union Ministerium by the link below:  The password once online is: LEAD13