Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference

PASTORAL LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference
March 1, 2001

The committee convened at 6:30 p.m. and concluded at 7:30 p.m.  This was a
phone conference meeting.

Present:  Ken Seitz, chair;  James Brenneman, Minka Vanderzwaag, and
          Kathy Shantz,
          Jeff Wright, conference minister, Southern California
Absent:   Al Whaley, conference minister, Arizona
          Brian Bauman, conference minister, Northern California

1.  The chair welcomed all present, a special welcome to Kathy Shantz, new
to the committee.  In the opening prayer the chair remembered Brian Bauman
working with pastor-congregation relationships at Mennonite Community
Church, Fresno.  Dale Stoltzfus of the Ministerial Leadership Office,
Elkhart, Indiana, has been invited to serve as a consultant with meetings
in
progress even as we met.

2.  The chair outlined the agenda for the hour:
     a.  The role and function of the committee.  Are we sufficiently
         out front on the issues of pastoral leadership facing the
         conference?
     B.  Preparations for our March 31 meeting in Southern California.

3.  Minka's concerns:
The committee functions well as a board for credentialing and in a few
cases
censuring of pastors, but wonders whether we are an adequate resource to
pastors, conference ministers, and congregations.  Jeff responded with the
comment that conference ministers have a handbook for dealing with such
matters.  We need to sort out what is committee and conference minister
responsibility in certain areas.

Minka wonders further whether we adequately communicate to persons we are
credentialing what it means to pastor in the overall sense.  She questions
wheter we have done all we can do in this regard.

4.  Jim speaks
If one goes back to the mid-80's and looks at conference pastoral
leadership
practices then, we can see we've come a long way in terms of having some
policies and established ways of doing things.  Yet he questions whether
we
are adequately prepared as a committee to deal with areas where pastors
may
be in divergence with conference and denominational standards.

Further, we could improve our communication to be less ad hoc and more
routinized inour work.  If conference ministers and congregations knew how
the committee worked with dates and deadlines  we might be able to avert
situations where congregations are installing before the committee has
acted.

5.  Kathy echoes the need to strengthen communication regarding the work
and
workings of the committee.

6.  Jeff contributes
The globalization of mission and congregation building is a reality on the
ground in PSMC.  Probably we need further work in contextualizing
denominational guidelines for pastoral leadership.  There is the matter of
"integrity of leadership."  How are conference ministers empowered and
supported by PLC when it comes to having to call pastors to account?  Our
looseness has functioned well in certain areas, but not well in others.

7.  Ken comments
These comments are right on and reflect the growing sense among us that we
need to develop improved avenues to gathering the necessary information,
conferring together, developing resources, articulating guidelines and
policies, and making decisions.  All around the concensus seemed to be
that
as the conference expands and grows in ministry and mission, PLC must
strengthen and expand its role.

8.  Plans for March 31
The committee, rather than provide for open ended reporting from the
conference ministers, will ask specific questions relating to the area
involved.  This is an attempt to shorten and focus the area reporting.
Ken
will get those questions out to conference ministers.  Expect this format
for reporting.

Time will be spent prioritizing committee tasks and issues for the future.
A good suggestion was made (Jeff) that the committee plan a series of
regular phone conferences to take care of routine housekeeping things in
order to save the actual meeting time (twice a year) for interaction over
larger issues.

Whatever housekeeping items and credentialing actions are necessary will
be
done.  Femi Fatumbi ordination request. etc.

The meeting on March 31 will be held in either Pasadena on the Carey
Campus
or in Upland at Mountain View Mennonite Church, depending on ease of
travel
for the Arizona folk flying into Ontario.  Jeff is working with Al and
Kathy
on that matter and will let the chair know exactly where the meeting will
take place.

We are planning to begin at 9 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.

Summary:  We are at an important time in the life of the committee.  There
is a certain healthy restlessness as we are being stretched.  Let us pray
for the insight, time, and Holy Spirit guidance to respond in fitting
ways.

Thanks, all, for being present.

Ken Seitz, chair and recording secretary
March 2, 2001