The New Year is a time when humans think about creating healthier beings! People buy gym memberships, schedule walks with their dogs, and consider new eating habits. It can also be a time of recommitting to being a healthier follower of Jesus. We begin new devotional habits, decide to pray more, or join a Bible study. Even churches need to commit to new habits. Some of the habits, or signs, of a healthy church are volunteerism, a clear sense of purpose, biblical teaching, and a focus on the gospel. I have also heard that a healthy staff is one of the barometers of a church’s health and wellbeing!

With a desire to develop the health of our church staff, the three full-time members will be participating in the Emerging Teams program led by North Group, Consultants. I believe that our staff is a strength of Neffsville, but I also trust there is room for growth. Input from others outside our system can keep us heading in the right direction. To that end, Eszter Bjorkman, Dean Smith, and Hunter Hess, will meet with North Group consultants and other leadership teams Tuesday afternoons once a month during 2024.

North Group states that the purpose of the training is “to support the development of leaders and teams toward their highest potential.” They will help us “develop an understanding of, and the skills associated with, organizational health, effective leadership behaviors and high performing teams.” They will help us to reflect on organizational health by building trust and working at healthy forms of conflict and mutual accountability. We will discuss the power of purpose and clarity, effective communication, the creation of structure and process, as well as building more productive team meetings.

It will be an interesting year. We look forward to working at developing the best church staff possible to empower and equip the volunteers of Neffsville Mennonite Church. You can expect to hear updates from us on how the training is going as we reflect on the process. We do want to send a quiet shout out of thanks to the anonymous donor who is making this training possible and to North Group for leading us on the way!