Metropolitan District of New YorkAnnual Meeting

May 3, 2008

The empowering system finds ways to help each person discover his or her spiritual gifts and passions; it supports people in using them for the benefit of the entire congregation.

Larry Peers

Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways

to kneel and kiss the ground.

Rumi

Shared Ministry:

Lessons from the

Dance Floor

Lesson 1Start as you mean to continue

What does it mean to bring your whole self into sharing ministry? How do you begin? With honor & respect?

Lesson 2Connection: it’s not just lead and follow.

Describe the connections in shared ministry? Muscle tone? Active? Mutual? Tension/ resistance? Mistakes/ recovery?

Lesson 3There is always more to learn.

What is your learning curve like? What are you working on?

Lesson 4Interdependence: what goes around comes around.

What does interdependence look like in shared ministry? How do we make it easier/get in each other’s way?

Lesson 5Know how to navigate the terrain.

How’s your congregational floor craft? What are you navigating through or around right now? How’s it going?

Lesson 6Build your repertoire, make sure your tool kit is rich and varied; one size does not fit all.

How’s your repertoire? Transferable? Adaptable? Doesn’t work? Yours and your partner’s skills – how do they fit? What are your passions? How do you develop, share them within your congregation?

Lesson 7Leadership comes in many styles.

What’s your preferred style? Pace? Timing? Rhythm? Emotional tone of your leadership?

The empowering system finds ways to help each person discover his or her spiritual gifts and passions; it supports people in using them for the benefit of the entire congregation.Larry Peers

Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways

to kneel and kiss the ground.

Rumi

Movement never lies.

It is a barometer telling the state of thesoul's weather to all who can read it. . . .And there is grace. . . The graceresulting from faith: faith in life, in love, in people, and in the act of dancing. All this is necessary to any performance in life which is magnetic, powerful, rich in meaning. Martha

Graham