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Church leadership conference to address strategic planning, staff development

By Amy Gage
March 8, 2002

NORTHFIELD, MINN. - How should churches establish a policy on sexual harassment? How can they utilize the professional expertise of their members and lay leaders? How do they write a crisis management plan or a vision statement for the future? How do they boost the morale of volunteers?

Those questions are pondered often in the business world, but they're asked less commonly in faith communities. That's why St. Olaf College and Emmaus Partners, a Twin Cities-based church management group, have teamed up to offer "Church Leadership Skills," a one-day workshop for church staff, lay leaders and pastors.

The conference will be held Friday, April 5, from 9:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on the St. Olaf campus in Northfield. College President Christopher Thomforde, a Lutheran pastor who holds a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, will visit with conference participants.

Sessions will cover strategic planning, technology, church administration, and leadership and vision. "I was a pastor for 43 years, and I was reluctant to say, 'I don't know how to train our church leaders or craft a strategic plan,'" says Reuben Groehler, a retired pastor who served large Lutheran congregations in the Twin Cities area and is a co-leader of the St. Olaf conference.

Because lay leadership turns over frequently in congregations, it is important to teach potential leaders how to computerize records, screen youth workers and Sunday school teachers, and assemble and maintain a staff, according to conference organizers. "One-third of church leadership turns over every year," says Groehler, a St. Olaf regent.

Once the basics are covered, he explains, future leaders are freer to think big. "We have people at my church who make multi-million-dollar decisions at their jobs during the day and then we ask them to come to committees and hang up their brains along with their hat."

Designed for people of any religious faith, "Church Leadership Skills" will focus practical advice and hands-on experience. "We don't come in as consultants and hand off some materials and walk away," Groehler says. "We will walk with people and share our understanding of how a parish can be more vital and alive and better managed."

The workshop costs $40 per person or $100 for three people from the same congregation who register together. To register or for more information, contact the Office of Conferences and Events at St. Olaf: 507-646-3043 or events@stolaf.edu.

St. Olaf College, a national leader among liberal arts institutions, fosters the development of mind, body and spirit. It is a residential college in Northfield, Minn., and affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college provides personalized instruction and diverse learning environments, with more than two-thirds of its students participating in international studies. For more information, see www.stolaf.edu.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.