Spiritual practices for ruling elders, speed-dating style
Luncheon invites ruling elders to claim their primary calling as followers of Christ and spiritual leaders
MILWAUKEE — Spirits ran high — even as time ran low — during the lunch break on Monday as some 100 ruling elders gathered for both nutritional and spiritual sustenance amid the rigorous demands of an Assembly schedule.
“I can’t keep ministering to the people without filling myself up,” said Susan Sumrall, a ruling elder at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi, who has served as Stated Clerk for the Presbytery of Mississippi for 10 years.
“It’s like the water pitcher on this table,” she said. “There’s no more water until you refill it. I have to personally look for refilling. That’s why I haven’t missed one of these lunches in 10 years.”
Sumrall came to the right place.
Following a brief greeting from the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) and Executive Director of Presbyterian Life & Witness, who thanked those gathered for “saying yes to being a ruling elder,” the luncheon’s host, Martha Miller, set the tone.
“Whenever we gather you in a room, it’s a wonderful gift,” said Miller, an assistant stated clerk within PL&W’s Leader Development supporting ruling elders and deacons. “This is a great place to make connections and learn each other’s stories.”
In addition to inviting attendees to enjoy the lunch and one another, Miller outlined the goals for the gathering, mindful of the shortness of the hour.
“We’re followers of Christ, and we shouldn’t get too caught up in the action of leading and attending to issues of polity that we forget that first and foremost we are followers and spiritual leaders,” Miller said. “We’re taking intentional time today for some practices to help us move forward with this in our ministries.”
Toward that end, Miller welcomed two of her colleagues, Dr. Natarsha Prince Sanders, associate for leader development for PL&W, and the Rev. Destini Hodges, manager for the Young Adult Volunteer program.
Helpful handouts on each table introduced participants to “small, low-maintenance practices” to take back with them to their congregations, beginning with the popular lectio divina.
Teaching the practice, Sanders and Hodges invited attendees to read Luke 10:1-9 — “not theologically, no exegesis, just how it is resonating with you in your current context and what words or phrases jump out at you” — and find a stranger at their table and share their response.
“You have one minute to talk about what stands out for you and then switch,” said Hodges to peals of laughter. “In a congregational setting, you’d have five minutes.”
Shifting the focus to ruling elders as individuals in their call to lead, Sanders — a lifelong educator — then offered the group her wisdom on how “to come to the table as your best self.”
“The leader is best equipped when you are well,” she began.
Sanders offered — and briefly elaborated on — an acronym she devised, “MADE,” that she uses “to reimagine self-care for ruling elders in the PC(USA).”
- M: Meet with God daily
- A: Acknowledge/accept how you feel
- D: Dedicate yourself to …
- E: Embrace your community.
Hodges returned to the dais to lead the final exercise, a “Session Discernment and Deliberation Guide,” which is also appropriate for use in other committees or groups.
Using “changing the carpet in the sanctuary” as a case study — which again elicited laughter — Hodges outlined the following steps and invited attendees to call out their responses.
- Step 1: Frame the Question
- Step 2: What Does Scripture Say in Favor?
- Step 3: What Does Scripture Say in Opposition?
- Step 4: What Does Society Say in Favor?
- Step 5: What Does Society Say in Opposition?
- Step 6: What Do Contemporary People of Faith Say in Favor?
- Step 7: What Do Contemporary People of Faith Say in Opposition?
- Step 8: Prayer for Discernment.
Calling for a volunteer to model step 8 — to pray — Ruling Elder Commissioner Jim Nedelka, a member of avenue church nyc in the Presbytery of New York City, rose to the occasion.
“Dear God,” he began, “help us to make this earth-shattering decision.”
After peppering his prayer with some choice petitions, he closed by saying, “Thank you for having us come together to make a decision, because God knows sometimes we can’t make a decision, but we still get to lead together.”
The lunch program closed with Miller reviewing the many online resources that are available to ruling elders on the Leader Formation website, including Regarding Ruling Elders, monthly articles that began publishing in early 2014; Leader Formation webinars; and the Along the Road podcast series.
Before closing with a reading from 1 Corinthians 12, “Spiritual Gifts,” Miller announced that many books designed for ruling elder leadership training are available at a 40% discount with the use of the promo code LEADER40, courtesy of PL&W’s partners at the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation.
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