This week I am at the New DS/DCM training. Some of you will recognize that alphabet soup, but for those who don’t, these are folks who have been newly appointed to regional leadership (District Superintendents and Directors of Connectional Ministry) in the United Methodist Church. I have led worship for this particular event five times and it remains a favorite because I think it is always powerful to be the presence of those who are making transitions. I often teach about the role of ritual in “liminal” times. Liminality is the “betwixt and betweenness” of our lives–times when we are no longer who we were and not yet acclimated to the new thing that God is doing in our lives. Ritual is especially important for helping us name and claim new identities and asking the Spirit to move in and through us in fresh ways. (Find an example installation service at the end of this reflection) For these new leaders, worship at this event also serves to strengthen, comfort and motivate for the sometimes arduous task ahead.

Click below for the rest of the reflection and to find the downoadable files…

Regional church leaders–whatever their denominational title–are often called upon to lead rituals (worship) in contexts that are not the usual Sunday morning worship gathering–regional gatherings of pastors, devotional times at meetings, church conferences, staff or clergy retreats. They are also called upon to be a spiritual guide in moments of a congregation’s or conference’s life that may be rife with intensity and grief, conflict or great celebration. And so, I designed services for the training event that could be “take home” liturgies for use and adaptation for various gatherings. (Download the full scripts of worship for this training event at the end of this reflection) And there are times when the “work” of administrative business needs an infusion of “worshipful work!” (Download an example of a church conference below) I hope the following resources will be useful for those of you who find yourselves in these contexts. And thank you for the work that you do.

Download: DS/DCM Training Worship Scripts Download rituals_for_regional_leaders_worship_scripts.pdf

Sample DS Installation Worship Download ds_installation_celebration.pdf

Sample Church Conference Worshipful Work Download church_conference_worship_example.pdf