It is easy to fill this report with statistics and with a restating of the ongoing, necessary, and vital programs and activities of our congregation.

I officiated at four funerals, two weddings, and one reaffirmation of the wedding vows. I preached 50 sermons for the regular Sunday worship and four additional sermons for Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Sunday Sunrise Service. I continue to conduct worship once a month at Greenway Manor in Spring Green. We have a lively Bible Study group which meets on Wednesday evenings. The monthly Men's Breakfast continues to provide a time of great food and fellowship. A number of home, hospital and nursing home visits have been made.

In this report I would also like to speak about my leadership style which impacts the way in which I perceive how a pastor functions in a congregation. This was brought to my immediate attention by an article in Leading Now ⁽¹⁾

"In an interview in the May 1999 issue of Fast Company magazine, Peter Senge (author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization) talked about leadership, learning and change. It is a fascinating discussion, and you can find it at http://www.fastcompany.com/online/24/senge.html. Here's a brief excerpt:

"'The first problem with all of the stuff that's out there about leadership is that we haven't got a clue about what we're talking about. We use the word 'leader' to mean 'executive': The leader is the person at the top. That definition says that leadership is synonymous with a position. And if leadership is synonymous with a position, then it doesn't matter what a leader does. All that matters is where the leader sits. If you define a 'leader' as an 'executive,' then you absolutely deny everyone else in an organization the opportunity to be a leader...We developed our own definition of 'leadership.' To me, the simplest definition of that word is 'the ability to produce change': 'We used to operate that way; now we operate this way.' Then, using what we saw inside companies, we identified three leadership communities: local line leaders, internal networkers or community builders, and executive leaders. For significant change to take place, you need to create an interplay among those three communities. One community can't be substituted for another. Each community represents part of a necessary set.'"

Several years ago I was acquainted with a credo written by Anselm of Canterbury,

"Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam." which is the Latin for: "For neither do I seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand." --Anselm of Canterbury

I have taken this as my credo and adding to it I developed a Vision/Mission statement for myself and my ministry which reads:

I will seek to preach and teach by word and role model the love and truth of God so as to encourage, comfort, and challenge the growing Christian to develop a deeper understanding of the Christian faith and to cultivate an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ for the benefit on one's own self and the benefit of all other people.

My main concern is to help you develop a growing, exciting, satisfying and rewarding relationship with Jesus Christ. If this is taking place then leadership will be exercised that will enable each member of a congregation to be inspired to discover and fulfill their own leadership skills. It also means that the major social, political, educational, and other issues which confront a congregation will be engaged by the membership and worked through with a deep concern for the beliefs and rights of others.

It is my prayer that we can all work together, in covenant relationship, for the enduring and endearing good of one another and the Arena Congregational Church.

Respectfully submitted,

Pastor Leslie R. Shultz

1. Retrieved from: LeaderLinks [newsletter@leaderlinks.com]