Appreciation

Rev. Joshua Patty
Regional Minister and President

October is a time when we are explicitly encouraged to share our appreciation and support for ministers. I do hope that many people have found ways to honor your service.

I want to add my appreciation for your ministry over the past year. I can imagine that there have been plenty of challenges. Hopefully, there have also been times of deep affirmation of your calling and your service is Jesus' name.

As regional minister, I look for ways to offer support and encouragement for you and all of our colleagues. I pray for you, for your ministry, for those close to you, and for the people impacted by our efforts. I also keep an eye out for resources that I think may help you in your ministry.

Many opportunities and resources are shared in this monthly newsletter. In particular, I'm always looking for free and low-cost things that can strengthen us as ministers and really benefit those we serve.

This month, I strongly encourage you to connect with groups that are working with current refugee issues. From November 7-11, Church World Service is hosting an online conference on refugee issues and our Disciples Refugee & Immigration Ministries has some new resources.

One of my passions in this work is helping congregational leaders better understand copyright law. Partially, this comes from an awareness of how often ministers and congregations violate the law, especially online and presumably unintentionally. Last month, the Insurance Board offered a thorough 40 presentation -- I heartily recommend it as a valuable use of your time. (Be prepared: the lawyer covers a lot of ground.)

Lastly, I also think we can learn from good material shared about leadership from a business perspective. This recent reflection by an executive who took maternity leave seemed like a testimony for sabbath to me. And this recent article in the Harvard Business Review suggests ways to recognize and counteract limitations in various leadership styles.