2024 My Job Workshops for the NW District

2024 “MY JOB” Workshops

The Northwest District and Arkansas Conference are providing resources to equip you in your ministry. All disciples are called to serve and you have demonstrated your willingness to use the spiritual gifts and talents God has given you to lead your congregation in its disciple-making and world-transforming mission.

As we start a new year, you may be wondering exactly what is expected of you if you’ve agreed to serve in a leadership role that is new to you, while others may desire a current refresher of the Disciplinary expectations for your committee. One of the responsibilities of a district superintendent is to train and equip members of the Book of Discipline governing committees. This year, DS Blake Bradford will be leading a series of online ZOOM sessions to share the “why” and “how” of the different committees and answer some of your questions.

Downloadable PDF Workshop Slides:

January 2024 VIDEO Recordings:

Church Council, Finance, and Trustees “My Job” Video

Workshop Links:

Pastor/Staff Parish Relations Committee “My Job” Video

Workshop Links:



Simplified Accountable Structure (Single Board) “My Job” Video

Workshop Links:


Arkansas UMC: Refresher Workshop for Board Leaders

Held at Asbury UMC in Little Rock, Blake led a refresher workshop designed to update leaders on the latest learnings and best practices in simplified accountable structure.

Downloads from Class:

Powerpoint Handout (PDF)

Rules of the Road Board Covenant and Guiding Principles Examples


ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Watch a SAS Board Meeting (Recommended Video). SAS Leadership Boards often struggle with implementing accountability when moving to a simplified structure. Since it is often not used, understood, or modeled, Kay and Blake have provided a 40 minute training video to demonstrate accountable leadership at the Leadership Board level.

For further Board Training: Blake and Kay led a 2-part video webinar for UMC’s Discipleship Ministries: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/new-webinar-series-a-simple-structure-for-missional-effectiveness

Structure and Nominations for Simplified Accountable Structure - "HOW TO" CONVERSATION

A Simplified Accountable Structure (SAS) is utilized as an alternative model for local church governance and is sometimes referred to as the "one board" model. A single Leadership Board serves in the capacity of multiple Disciplinary administrative committees. As we begin our Charge Conference nominations work we invite you to join Dr. Blake Bradford, Northwest District Superintendent, as he walks you through SAS nominations process in this webinar.

Download the slides from the workshop presentation

DOWNLOADS:

How to complete Charge Conference Forms 2022

ARKANSAS CONFERENCE CHARGE CONFERENCE AND COMPENSATION FORM "HOW TO" CONVERSATION

"How To" webinar about the 2022 Charge Conference Forms led by Rev. Blake Bradford, and Becky Neighbors, District Administrator. Including:

  • Membership Report

  • Trustees, Finance, Safe Gatherings

  • Culture of Call and 200K More Reasons

There will be a special emphasis on the CLERGY COMPENSATION FORMS to include the following:

  • Conference Compensation Date

  • Minimum Compensation Requirements

  • Housing Allowance

  • Accountable Reimbursements

LINKS:

https://arumc.org/our-resources/forms-and-documents/

Charge Conference Forms

Individual Forms

District Officers: Training for District Leadership Boards and DBCLB

District Officers: Training for District Leadership Boards and DBCLB

As Dean of the Appointive Cabinet in the Arkansas Conference, I created quick 30-minute training videos for the simplified structure District Leadership Board and the District Board of Church Location and Building. In addition to each video, I have a PDF of the slides I used and some helpful resources.

District Leadership Board

District Board of Church Location and Building (DBCLB)

2022 "My Job" District Workshops: Finance and Trustees

Blake presented a District Superintendent Q&A session as part of a 2022 training series for local church leaders

PowerPoint Slide Links:

Finance Job Description (PDF)

Trustees Job Description (PDF)

Link to Blake’s Recorded Zoom:

Recording of Blake’s Zoom Workshop for Trustees and Finance

Links to recorded 2019 Cabinet & Conference Staff Interviews:

Finance Committee and Treasurer Orientation: https://youtu.be/AWnKlQf1Cwg

Trustees Orientation: https://youtu.be/PFRj7FykYGE

2022 "My Job" District Workshops: Church Council/Nominations and the SPRC

Blake presented a District Superintendent Q&A session as part of a 2022 training series for local church leaders, linking the Q&A sessions to pre-recorded interviews with other DSs and Conference Staff.

Links to 2019 Recorded Interviews with Conference Staff and Cabinet:

Pastor/Staff Parish Relations Committee Orientation: https://youtu.be/yB26FUtBTrY

Church Council Orientation: https://youtu.be/f1GNsFyCCFA

Church Council/Nominations My Job Workshop and Q&A

¶ 252.1. Purpose - The church council shall provide for planning and implementing a program of nurture, outreach, witness, and resources in the local church. It shall also provide for the administration of its organization and temporal life. It shall envision, plan, implement, and annually evaluate the mission and ministry of the church. The church council shall be amenable to and function as the administrative agency of the charge conference (¶ 244).

Slides from Presentation (PDF)

Recording from Workshop/Q&A Session (Zoom Video Link)

SPRC My Job Workshop and Q&A

¶ 258.2. There shall be elected annually by the charge conference in each local church a committee on pastor-parish relations or staff-parish relations who are professing members of the local church or charge or associate members (¶ 227), except in cases where central conference legislation or local law provides otherwise. People serving on this committee must be engaged in and attentive to their Christian spiritual development so as to give proper leadership in the responsibilities with which the committee is entrusted.

In conducting its work, the committee shall identify and clarify its values for ministry. It shall engage in biblical and theological reflections on the mission of the church, the primary task, and ministries of the local church.

The committee shall reflect biblically and theologically on the role and work of the pastor(s) and staff as they carry out their leadership responsibilities. The committee shall assist the pastor(s) and staff in assessing their gifts, maintaining health holistically and work-life balance, and setting priorities for leadership and service. It is the responsibility of the committee to communicate with the committee on nominations and leadership development and/or the church council when there is a need for other leaders or for employed staff to perform in areas where utilization of the gifts of the pastor(s) and staff proves an inappropriate stewardship of time.

Slides from Presentation (PDF)

Recording from Workshop (Zoom Video Link)

LEADING THE SMALL CHURCH FROM THE PORCH SWING

Leading from the porch swing, not the board room!

The smaller the church, the more the pastor’s leadership exists outside the committee meeting room or even behind the pulpit. Instead the leader rests on the metaphorical porch swing. In my home state, Arkansas, especially in the evening, we enjoy banter from the front porch swing. You sit side-by-side on a porch swing. You can’t sit in the adversarial position across from someone, hoping to win them over or tire them out. Side-by-side it is, looking in the same direction, leaning over and talking with each other, loving each other as fellow servants of God.

Read the full article on “Ministry Matters”:

https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/11074/leading-the-small-church-from-the-porch-swing

2021 Webinar: Blake Bradford & Kay Kotan: Understanding the Simplified, Accountable Structure

We’ve all heard about SAS, the Simplified, Accountable Structure. But what is it? During this session, SAS experts Kay Kotan and Blake Bradford will discuss:

  • Understanding What SAS Is

  • The Three Phases

  • Important Shifts in the Model to Know

  • Most Common Mistakes in its Practice to Avoid

MP3CoverKotanBradford.jpg

During this one-hour session, Kay and Blake will focus on ministry while making meetings fewer in number but larger in meaning. In this session, aimed at clergy and congregational leaders, particularly United Methodists, the authors provide practical, tested steps to simplify your church structure and unleash more people into ministry.

Too often churches try to simplify their structures by just having fewer people at the meeting table. But real simplification and accountable leadership means that meetings – and leaders – are transformed. Kay and Blake walk you through both the technical and adaptive changes to simplify your structure for missional effectiveness.

ClergyEducation.com is a resource for clergy and church leaders, offering CEUs accepted by most United Methodist annual conferences. ClergyEducation.com is a division of Market Square Publishing LLC.

ClergyEducation.com is a resource for clergy and church leaders, offering CEUs accepted by most United Methodist annual conferences. ClergyEducation.com is a division of Market Square Publishing LLC.

Small Church, Big Impact

Tuesday, October 5

2:00 – 3:00 PM Eastern

Most congregations in the nation have a membership under 100, but most books and workshops are created by mega-churches. In this webinar, Dr. Blake Bradford shares how smaller congregations can use their unique giftedness to fulfill God’s mission. He says smaller churches can enhance their vitality by clarifying their purpose, engaging their local community, leveraging small church relational intimacy to reach people and nurture disciples, rightsizing their leadership and governance structures to empower laity, and strategically utilizing pastoral leadership.

Download a PDF of the Workshop Slides

Practical Resources for Churches (PRC) is an ecumenical resource center ~ https://www.prcli.org/

2021 Webinar: Tips for Cultivating Fruitfulness in Ministry

Blake Bradford: Tips for Cultivating Fruitfulness in Ministry
The enormous challenges of today’s world require clergy leaders to encourage new seeds of creativity and innovation, prune back ministries that are no longer effective, and cultivate ministry fruitfulness in a post-COVID world that feels shockingly different than it was just a few months ago.
In this webinar, United Methodist District Superintendent and co-author of Mission Possible: A Simple Structure for Missional Effectiveness and Impact: Reclaiming the Call of Lay Ministry, will share tips on pastoral leadership in this strange new era.

Download Workshop Slides (PDF)

ClergyEducation.com is a resource for clergy and church leaders, offering CEUs accepted by most United Methodist annual conferences. ClergyEducation.com is a division of Market Square Publishing LLC.

ClergyEducation.com is a resource for clergy and church leaders, offering CEUs accepted by most United Methodist annual conferences. ClergyEducation.com is a division of Market Square Publishing LLC.

Catching up & Unpacking

Having recently moved into a new office in the Northwest District, I did some unpacking, some recycling, some giving away, and some outright tossing in File 13. Also, I needed to do some redecorating!! My wife Kerri has told me that I needed to make sure my office was not decorated with the style sense of a mid-1990’s TGI Fridays. “Flair” begone! so, now I will be shifting things around and this (blog?) page will be the landing spot for recorded presentations, old articles, etc.

2021 DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRIES WEBINAR: “A SIMPLE STRUCTURE FOR MISSIONAL EFFECTIVENESS”

dm logo sas.jpg

2 SESSION DISCIPLESHIP MINISTRIES WEBINAR:

“A SIMPLE STRUCTURE FOR MISSIONAL EFFECTIVENESS”

MP3CoverKotanBradford.jpg

Church leaders want to equip more people for ministry. They long for a simpler decision-making process focused on discipleship, not endless meetings. But simply having fewer meetings won’t inspire more people to live into their calling. What will? Creating a clear and focused accountability structure that places the church’s disciple-making mission front and center.

This two-session 2021 webinar series with leadership coach Kay Kotan and District Superintendent Blake Bradford looks at how simplified, accountable leadership structure (often called the “one-board” model) can empower, equip, and set laity and clergy free to focus on the mission of making disciples of Jesus who change the world.

WEBINAR ONE (08/12/21):

What is a Simplified, Accountable Structure (SAS)?

Participants will discover:

  • What simplified, accountable structure is

  • Why churches should consider this model

  • How accountability plays a significant role in simplification

Watch the video archive of this webinar:





WEBINAR TWO (08/19/21):

How to Implement a Simplified Structure in Your Church

An overview of:

  • The three distinct phases of simplified, accountable structure

  • What players are involved in each phase

  • The elements of each phase and what the timeline looks like

Watch the video archive of this webinar:

Small Church Big Impact

Small Church Big Impact

In this Leading Ideas Article for the Lewis Center for Church Leadership, Blake Bradford shares how smaller congregations can use their unique giftedness to fulfill their mission. He says smaller churches can enhance their vitality by clarifying their purpose, engaging their community, leveraging relational intimacy to reach people and build disciples, and rightsizing their leadership and governance structures.

2020 LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE AT THE CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION

li2020 copy.png

Small Church/Big Impact Breakout Session

Most congregations in the nation have a weekly worship attendance under 150.  This workshop will assist you in adapting the BIG experience of the Church of the Resurrection and the Leadership Institute to your smaller context.  In this Breakout Session, author and mission strategist Dr. Blake Bradford will join leaders of smaller churches in rethinking and right-sizing their ministry to make a God-sized impact in their communities. He will share models and practical steps for smaller congregations to simplify their decision-making, rethink community engagement, be intentional about discipleship formation, empower laity, and strategically utilize pastoral leadership. 

Breakout Session and materials are available through ShareChurch

The Arkansas Conference (UMC) Trajectory

Creating vital congregations that make disciples of Jesus Christ, who make disciples equipped and sent to transform lives, communities and the world.